Adolescent Acne and Cause-Specific Mortality
Title: Acne in adolescence and cause-specific
mortality: lower coronary heart disease but higher prostate cancer
mortality: the Glasgow Alumni Cohort Study.
Authors: Galobardes B, et al.
Publication: Am J Epidemiol. 2005 Jun 15;161(12):1094-101.
In this Glasgow Alumni Cohort Study, about 11,000 male students
who attended Glasgow University between 1948 and 1968 were checked
for their medical history of acne. It is found that those with
acne were more often non-smokers from lower socioeconomic position.
Those with acne also had lower risk of heart disease, but higher
risk for prostate cancer. The authors suggested that androgen
or male sex hormone activity during adolescence (which causes
acne) may protect against coronary heart disease, but create higher
risk of prostate cancer mortality.
