Can Vitamins Fight Acne?

Author: Greg Podsakoff
Source: articleage.com

In the U.S. alone, more than 40 million people who struggle with acne. Many of these people treat acne using chemicals such as antibiotics, prescription drugs, benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid. However, there are growing numbers of people who choose to treat acne on herbal traditional drugs. In general, herbal medicines have fewer side effects, and are not as dangerous as some prescription drugs. The problem however is that the United States does little to regulate the industry of herbal supplements. Unlike traditional chemical drugs, the herbal medicines are not required to be clinically proven to work, or even to be sure. An example of this lack of regulation recently came to light with ephedra-related deaths, and subsequent ban ephedra. This lack of regulation in many different acne products on the market. All those who claim to cure, prevent or even cure acne with few or no side effects. The truth is that there are very few treatments for acne herbal that are scientifically proven to work. Traditional chemical treatments are still the most effective in stopping acne. There are only 2 herbal treatments that have been clinically proven to help stop acne, tea tree oil and green tea cream. Tea tree oil is a natural oil derived from Melaleuca alternifolia, a particular type of tea tree found exclusively in Australia. While it has been used for hundreds of years by native Indians as a treatment for anything, has only recently been accepted by modern medicine as a variable anti-bacterial agent. Although the tea tree oil has been suspected as an anti-bacterial agent for some time, groundbreakings study was conducted in 1990 by IB Bassett, which compared tea tree oil to benzoyl peroxide the treatment of acne. We found that tea tree oil is as effective as a 5% benzoyl peroxide. It takes more time (6 weeks) for tea tree oil to be as effective, but participants in the study reported that none of the side effects associated with benzoyl peroxide, such as redness, skin irritation or skin dry. This study has helped tea tree oil become a recognized and legitimate acne treatment herbal. However, there is no need to buy a face cream that contains tea tree oil. Only by putting a few drops of oil directly on the acne has proven the most effective way to apply tea tree oil. This was the only treatment for acne herbal that had been shown to work until recently, when Dr. Jennifer Gan-Wong conducted a study showing that green tea can also effectively combat acne. Dr. Gan-Wong compared a green tea cream with 3% green tea, to a solution of 4% benzoyl peroxide, and found that the results in the treatment of acne in the same tea and the peroxide . These results were recently presented at the 2003 annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology. These findings are relatively recent and still not corroborated by other independent studies. However, this evidence shows that the natural anti-bacterial properties of green tea may be effective in treating acne. For those of you who are confused by the many acne treatments available herbal, actually there are only 2 that have proven effective in combating acne. Green tea cream and tea tree oil. While many other acne treatments herbal can be good to moisturize the skin, or reduce oils, these are the only ones to be considered truly effective acne treatments. Greg Podsakoff is a former acne sufferer, and editor http://www.acne treatments-guide.com

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