Does alcohol make acne vulgaris worse and does alcohol have an effect on the acne medications and treatments available on the market? It appears the link concerning alcohol abuse and acne has not been reported, as alcohol abuse may go unnoticed (as this is thought, the least of the patient’s issues with alcohol abuse!) in a general clinic, unless specifically pointed out. Pertaining to acne vulgaris, alcohol has a strong influence on the disease fighting capability function and induces alterations in the small blood vessels in the skin. We are all aware of the vasodilator effect (widening of blood vessels in the skin) of alcohol consumption by flushing of the face area, in particular the cheeks and the nose.
Some skin conditions have now been shown to be dramatically affected by alcohol abuse, for example Psoriasis and Eczema. Acne rosacea, post-adolescent acne vulgaris and superficial infections may also be indicators of alcohol abuse. The relevance of these effects to alcohol-related to acne is found to be quite important.
A medical research study, by Doctors Larsen, Held and Nielsen-Kudsk investigated the effects of alcohol on isotretinoin, the effective acne medication for extreme acne. In the existence of alcohol, 7 of 11 patients had a reasonable weekly alcohol intake, no changes were reported in the effectiveness of isotretinoin. Therefore, during long term isotretinoin treatment, alcohol does not influence the action of isotretinoin on acne treatment. The other four patients in the study showed no worsening of their acne with quite significant consumption of alcohol.
Now, this begs the question how much alcohol can be consumed before having effects on the body. Certainly, some physicians suggest really small quantities of alcohol, to increase the flow of blood, particularly in the small arteries that supply blood to heart muscle. And so the overall scientific and medical consensus, at the moment, is that firstly alcohol doesn’t have an effect on the efficacy of a number of the acne vulgaris medications and second of all, does not make acne a whole lot worse. However, this does depend upon patients consuming small quantities of alcohol. As we all know, acne vulgaris and subsequent scarring can have profound psychological affects upon some patients which does lead to those patients consuming considerable amounts of alcohol. It is these patients that need to be monitored very closely, for these unfortunate cycle of events, to stop the careless drinking and subsequent liver problems.
Reference British Journal of Dermatology. 2009. F. G. Larsen; P. J. C. Larsen; M. E. Held and F. Nielsen-Kudsk. The metabolism and pharmacokinetics of isotretinoin in patients with acne and rosacea are not influenced by ethanol! 161, Issue 3, Pages 664 – 670
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