Hormonal Acne in Women

For Acne in women, most used are standard therapies such as antibiotics,topical solutions or Roaccutane,but about 60 percent of these women either do not respond to treatment or build up a tolerance over the time.

In most women acne cases,breakouts are caused by an excess of male hormones-androgen . Androgen is guilty for growth of hair on the body or face, irregular menstrual cycles,premenstrual acne flares, and irregular blood levels of certain androgens.

Acne treatment for hormonal acne in women are antiandrogens and oral contraceptives.

Hormonal treatments and oral contraceptives, have long been recognized by dermatologists to be an effective treatment option for women who have acne, no matter how severe.

Antiandrogen treatment of acne are limited to women.It offers a great results when main cause of Acne is hormonal imbalance.This condition affects about 8% of women in their reproductive years. Clinical blood testing can be performed to diagnose this disorder.

Side effects of antiandrogen drugs may include headaches,irregular menstruation, tender breasts, and fatigue.

The doctor may prescribe one of several drugs to treat women with this type of acne:

Oral Contraceptives and Antiandrogens

Oral contraceptives help suppress the androgen produced by the ovaries.Oral contraceptives contain progestins and estrogen (female hormone), and it directly affects androgen production.

Androgens that causing acne are:
5-dihydrodrotestosterone (DHT)
testosterone (T)
androstenedione (A)
dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEA-S)

Oral contraceptives decreases production of Testosterone and Androstenedione and inhibite the enzyme 5-alpha-reductase, which leads to a reduction of DHT levels.

Available Oral Contraceptives:

Diane-35®
Tri-Cyclen®
Alesse®
Yasmin®

They contain progestins with mild anti-androgenic function.
Side effects with oral contraceptives are very rare(irregular menstrual cycles,breast tenderness, headache, and nausea).

Studies in acne women sufferers treated with Tricyclen show that acne were reduced by about 50% over a 5-6 months of use. Improvement may be greater with Diane-35 as patients generally considered Diane-35â to be more effective for treating hormonal acne than other products.