Word: sebum
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...that still doesn't answer the question of what mechanism might be at work. The authors offer a few hypotheses. For instance, stress may somehow stimulate the growth of nerve fibers near sebaceous glands, which in turn contributes to the increased production of sebum - the fatty substance that combines with cell debris and dead skin cells to form those familiar blackheads and pustules. (All together now: Eww.) That theory is unproved, but previous research on the effects of depression and acne drugs suggests the authors may be onto something: we know, for example, that antidepressants can improve acne. We also...
Progesterone breaks down into androgens, Dr. Fisher pointed out, and these stimulate the production of sebum, the waxy substance secreted by the sebaceous glands of the upper trunk and head. These myriad, tiny glands are easily blocked by hardened sebum, which creates a blackhead. In its efforts to get rid of this plug, the body starts the inflammatory process, causing a pimple. Inside the pimple are blood and lymph fluids in which bacteria thrive, creating a pustule similar to a small boil. At the edges of big pustules, bacterial poisons kill skin cells and leave disfiguring scars...
They do know that pores of the face, chest and back, through which sebum oozes to oil the skin and hair, sometimes close up. Sebum, thus suppressed, pushes outward, forms a blackhead or a pimple...
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