Medical professionals sometimes suggest to women struggling with acne that they use oral contraceptives because they have a knock-on effect (besides preventing small people, I mean).
Acne is also represented as a bacterial ailment.
Today's lecture by Diana Santos Fleischman on the effect of ovulation on OCD symptoms - fascinating in its own right - brought to light something I missed previously: that the synthetic hormones used in contraceptives can suppress women's immune systems. What does that say about using it to fight a bacterial ailment?
If acne is indeed an infection, I'd say that suppressing your immune system on a monthly basis would be an outstanding way to give the germs the reprieve they'd need to dig in and fortify. In addition, Fleischman found a higher interest in non-contamination among women with natural cycles versus women on the pill. This seems to me a way to exacerbate the problem.
All of this would be especially bad if acne turns out to be sometimes an infection, sometimes an outcome from hyperactive immune systems. Some of the latter maladies manifest as Xerox copies of acne, after all.
So, que pasa?
Remember the bad old days, when cervical cancer was a dark and deadly mystery and ulcers were "caused" by stress? Perchance a new day could dawn here...
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