jErAwAt

Salaam...
Sempena meraikan 4 biji jerawat yang baru bertapak pagi tadi, yess!! I will post an entry about acne, the so-called jerawat..hehe

A few facts regarding acne

• it affects 85% of people between the ages of 12-24 (hoh..ramai tu!)
• onset usually at puberty (bila baligh)
• kalau ikut sexes, remaja laki lebih ramai yang dapat jerawat ni tapi kebanyakannya (remaja laki..chewah..pelik pulak type remaja laki hehe) pulih (atau jerawat hilang) by late teens or 20s
• 30% perempuan dan 1% lelaki masih mempunyai masalah jerawat sehingga berumur 25 tahun dan yang paling tak best - 10% of the affected women may continue to have acne problems up until they reach 40's

the picture below shows the most common type of acne - black/white heads ataupun nama saintifiknya - open/closed comedones (lepas ni kalau orang tanye boleh cakap, "what, these?..oh, they are just comedones" bestkan?..hehehhe) what causes acne?

• poor hygiene
• chocolates (oh no!!!)
• fatty foods a.k.a nasi lomak, french fries, ayam gorem kfc yadayadayada..

TIDAK..TIDAK..SAMA SEKALI TIDAK. The 3 points above DO NOT cause acne...i saje je wat drama..hehe.mereka hanyalah mitos belaka (fuh, lega!), disebar oleh golongan2 yang dengki dengan orang cantik yang suka makan coklat dan makanan berlemak muahahaha..

Yang sebenarnya, dragon ball ade 7 biji kesemuanya..eh tak..acne is caused by an increase in the sebum excretion rate resulting in the abnormalities in follicular keratinisation and desquamation. this area of follicle is then colonised by bacteria called Proprionibacterium acne causing inflammation.

The inflammatory lesions can be erythematous papules (biji2 merah), pustules (biji2 bernanah), nodules (biji besar merah, berdarah atau bernanah), cysts (ape malay translation die ek?) and abcesses (ni pun i tak pasti bm nye translation, gomenassai..)

Biasenya, acne resolve by themselves, with a few exceptions in which severe ones do need intervention and medical treatment. some examples of bad acnes can be viewed in the photos below:ni gambar jerawat2 merah (erythematous) yang ada nanah sekali. blackheads can also be seen all over the face.ini pula kes jerawat yang parah dan memerlukan rawatan intensif (kes berat ni..kalau kat UK ni, budak laki yang ade jerawat camni siap boleh bunuh diri tau..due to depression and very low self-esteem).the above and the last picture shows a woman with acne scars.

How do we treat acne

• retinoids (eg: isotretinoin, adapelene)
• antibacterials (eg: benzoyl peroxide)
• antibiotics (eg: erythromycin)

but bear in mind that these drugs have side effects and some of them are even teratogenic (teratogenic=able to disrupt the growth and development of an embryo or fetus) so one must seek medical advice from doctors before commencing treatment. in addition, avoiding factors which aggravate acne will also help such as:

• occlusive cosmetics
• hair products
• heat/humidity (patutla ramai org ade jerawat kat malaysia termasuk saya..huhu)
• excessive washings

ok tu je..hope it helps!

p/s: gambar2 di atas bukan diambil dari jerawat AA. Sekian, terima kasih =p