Acne And Depression
This common skin condition can be an upsetting right of passage during adolescence and an unwelcome development in adults (it can occur at any age). More troubling, a new Canadian investigation has linked acne with an increased risk of major depression, particularly in the first year after acne is diagnosed. Researchers reviewed information on 134,427 men and women in the United Kindom with acne and 1,731,608 who didn’t report skin problems and followed them for 15 years. At the start of the study most of the people they tracked were under 19 although some were as young as seven and some as old as 50. Results showed that the risk for major depression was 63 percent higher among people within the first year of a diagnosis of acne compared to those who didn’t have skin problems. Study leader Isabelle Vallerand of Canada’s University of Calgary said the findings reveal that acne can significantly influence mental health and she and her team wrote that it is critical that physicians monitor mood symptoms in acne patients and make sure that any who develop signs of depression get prompt treatment.
Source:
Isabelle A. Vallerand, “Risk of depression among patients with acne in the U.K.: a population-based cohort study.” British Journal of Dermatology, February 7, 2018; DOI: 10.1111/bjd.16099
Also in this week’s bulletin:
