Your Daily Acne Treatment Blog

Oral contraceptives (AO) have been available since 1960 and have been modified since then to reduce the risk of side effects. They are in favour of contraceptive methods by most young couples. Oral contraceptives prevent ovulation and make conditions difficult for a fertilized egg is implanted in the uterus on the wall.

Oral contraceptives can be formed by progestin alone (called the minipill), or a combination of synthetic estrogen and progestin. The combination pill has estrogen, which is usually in the form of ethinylestradiol or mestranol (only occasionally).

The vast majority of contraceptive pills used as the estrogen ethinyl etradiol, acting at the lowest levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) and increasing sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG). This in turn lowers testosterone, thereby reducing the unity of the oil glands that are responsible for acne to produce excess oil.

The level of testosterone in women with acne is within the normal range, but the level is reduced to those on the OL. Some experts believe that the normal range of testosterone for women that is set by laboratories is higher than it should be. If this is true, it could mask the results for some people whose level, but believes that within the normal range, is really high for them individually. In these women, improving their acne when their testosterone is reduced by taking the pill OC.

A number of different forms of progestin are used depending on the brand. The progestogens can be used in a dose constant over the cycle (single phase), or the daily dose may vary (biphasic or triphasic). Progestogens are hormones that have an influence on your body differently, depending on their molecular structure.

Some progestins have effects that can be androgenic (acting as male hormones), while others are anti-androgenic (blocking the production of androgens or blocking androgen receptors, which allow your body to absorb and utilize androgens) , And some are even estrogen (estrogen-like). These different actions can certainly influence the side effects, as well as the effect on the skin and acne. To treat acne, the pills that produce little or no androgens, or even those that block the production of androgens (anti-androgens) are best.

By reducing the effect of androgens, hormones at sebaceous glands, organized crime can reduce the amount of oil production glands, which means that their pores are less likely to be blocked. Recent studies have shown that some contraceptives are also effective for treating acne.

Many women who have minimal to mild acne and that they are also looking to use some form of contraception is this very useful. In addition, women who have moderate to severe acne can consider this as primary care, along with topical therapy. It is also considered one of the two preferred methods of contraception for women, using treatment with oral isotretinoin (Accutane ®) for treatment of severe acne. Mini pills may not offer adequate protection for this purpose.
Acne approved hormone therapy:

Alesse ® – 0.020mg EE + 0.10mg levonorgestrel
This has been shown to have greater anti-acne effect compared to placebo. It has a smaller dose of estrogen (0.020mg) than most other oral contraceptives, which can reduce the potential for cardiovascular side effects of estrogen. Moreover, tests show that weight gain does not appear to be a side effect of this pill.

Two parallel double-blind placebo-controlled randomized trials involving 700 women in the reproductive age group treated for 6 months, showed a 46% reduction of inflammatory lesions compared with 29.3% for the placebo group.

In: Gynecological Endocrinology 24: RT61 (2000). Ortho-tricycle ® – 0.035mg EE + norgestimate

It is a combination of ethinylestradiol (0.035mg) and norgestimate in increasing doses of 0.180mg, 0.215mg and 0.250mg. Two clinical trials, involving 507 women with moderate acne, showed that this medicine provided a significant improvement in their acne after 6 months of therapy compared with those using a placebo. Orhto-tricyclens approved in the U.S. and Canada for acne.

In another study, 256 women with moderate acne was Ortho-tricycle ® or placebo for 6 months among women taking Ortho-tricycle ®, 53.1% had their acne completely cleared compared with 26.8% of using placebo.

Diane-35 ® – 0.035mg ethinyl estradiol (EE) + 2.0mg cyproterone acetate (CPA)

Cyproterone acetate acts as an anti-androgens, several clinical studies have shown that this drug is effective for treating acne. Diane-35 ® is approved in Canada, and has been approved by two decades in Europe (Note: This product is not approved by Health Canada for the indication of oral contraception).

The results have shown that Diane-35 ® is as effective as tetracycline or oral minocycline after 6 months of use. The largest study to date (in 1161 patients) showed that 192 patients had 100% improvement after 18 months.