Oh, The Strain! Does Stress Cause Acne?

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Okay, once again, we have a missing-the-wood-for-the-trees situation, because recent medical research has proved that stress can aggravate acne. And that is definitely not the same as saying that stress causes acne. In the process of earning my doctorate on acne, I have learnt that Stanford University School of Medicine conducted a study in 2002 involving 20-odd students who suffered from acne.

Well, these guinea pigs helped the researchers prove that exam stress worsened their already existing acne. “Subjects who had the greatest increases in stress during examination periods also had the greatest exacerbation in acne severity,” the researchers declared, adding for good measure that a worsening diet during stressful times (you know, a hastily gobbled pizza) caused acne flare-ups in the ‘subjects’.

Basically, stress worsens acne in two ways. First, it stimulates the adrenal glands (yes, the ones located right above the kidneys) to produce more hormones and second, it slows down the healing process. Under stress, the adrenal glands secrete norepinephrine and epinephrine, while the adrenal cortex secretes male hormones, those villains (had to be male, of course) that encourage the sebaceous gland to produce excess sebum, which causes the formation of acne. And the healing capacity of immune system, it is reliably learnt, reduces by almost 40 percent under psychological stress. And the adrenal glands are not finished. Under stress, they also over produce cortisol, a steroid that also makes the sebaceous glands produce excess oil to make the skin oily.

Another study conducted in 2003 found that under stress, the part of the brain known as the hypothalamus released a chemical called corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH, to you and me). Since our oil glands produce both CRH and CRH receptors, when these CRH receptors meet all the extra CRH, sebum production increases in leaps and bounds.

So now you know – avoid stress. When you’ve found out how to do that, please let me know