Hello and welcome to the Zero to Finals podcast. My name is Tom, and in this episode I'm going to

be talking to you about Acne Volgaris. And you can find written notes on this topic at zero definals.com

or in the dermatology section of the Zero Definals Pediatrics book. So let's get straight into it.

Acne vulgaris, or simply acne, is an extremely common condition, often affecting people

during puberty and adolescence. Most people are affected at some point in their lives,

and symptoms range from mild to severe. So let's talk about the path of physiology to start off with.

Acne is caused by chronic inflammation with or without localized infection in pockets within the

skin known as the pylosebaceous unit. The pylosobaceous units are the tiny dimples in the skin that contain the hair follicles

and the sebaceous glands.

The sebaceous glands produce the natural skin oils and also a waxy substance known as sebum.

Acne results from increased production of the sebum,

trapping of keratin, which is dead skin cells,

and blockage of the pylosobaceous unit.

This leads to swelling and inflammation in the pylosobaceous unit.

Androgenic hormones, such as testosterone,

increase the production of sebum, which is why acne is exacerbated by puberty and improves with anti-androgenic hormonal contraception.

Swollen and inflamed units are called comodomes.

The propionni bacterium acne's bacteria is felt to play an important role in acne.

This is a bacteria that colonizes the skin.

It's thought that excessive growth of this bacteria can exacerbate acne,

and many of the treatments for acne aim to reduce the number of these bacteria.

So let's talk about the number of these bacteria.

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