Over the past twenty years of my career I have found Adult Onset Acne epidemic in females over or near the age of thirty years old. How can this be, when physiologically we are well past puberty?
The answer lies in the role of androgens in stimulating the endocrine system to overindulge itself. While monthly hormonal surges may give us an occasional pimple, a chaotic and ongoing hormonal surge will rend us looking like we should be in training bras!
The phenomenon of female adult acne was first observed in the nineteen seventies when women began to flood the work force. The incidence of occurrence has tripled in the ensuing years! As women began to aggressively seek admittance into male dominated fields, their androgen and cortisol levels increased, making them more vulnerable not only to acne but also to heart attacks.
The culprit behind this hormonal storm is S-T-R-E-S-S. (Of the thirteen aggravating factors (aggravating, not inducing) of acne, stress is number one and leaves the others behind in the dust!)
Let's be real, though. It's stressful "out there". Hell, life itself is stressful. In fact, studies have shown that the body is unable to designate "good" stress from "bad" stress. Since that is the case perhaps the most healthful, and even beneficial way to handle stress is to NOT handle it at all!
In 2010, let's take an easy-does-it -attitude. When bad things happen, let's take a deep breathe and know within that it will pass. When good things happen, let's also take a deep breathe and know it too shall pass. Hanging on to good things make us miss the present. Dwelling on bad things makes us idealize the good things for more than they are worth. Time is just time and life is the passing scenery. Getting all worked up is not worth a zit, much less a heart attack.
