The C.A.M. Report
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fair, Balanced, and to the Point
  • About this web log

    This blog ran from 2006 to 2016 and was intended as an objective and dispassionate source of information on the latest CAM research. Since my background is in pharmacy and allopathic medicine, I view all CAM as advancing through the development pipeline to eventually become integrated into mainstream medical practice. Some will succeed while others fail. But all are treated fairly here.

  • About the author

    John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.

  • Common sense considerations

    The material on this weblog is for informational purposes. It is not medical advice or counsel. Be smart, consult your health professional before using CAM.

  • Recent Posts

  • Recent Comments

    Is there a diet-acne connection?

    Drs. Jonette Keri and Rajiv Nijhawan from the University of Miami in Florida have reviewed the evidence.

    Here are the highlights.

    Does diet affect acne?

    • The landmark studies of chocolate and Coca Cola reported no effect on acne.
    • And studies in ethnic groups who do not get acne are problematic because of the inability to distinguish between diet and genetics.
    • Researchers have tried to establish a connection between diet and androgens, insulin, and IGF-1 (aka insulin-like growth factor, which plays a role in growth and has anabolic effects in adults).
      • But there are no studies on their effects in people with acne.

    Milk and acne

    • There are several characteristic of milk that might predispose to acne.
      • An association with increased IGF-1
      • Hormones that might stimulate pimples
      • Other compounds that might affect skin pores and lead to acne
      • Iodine in milk, which might exacerbate acne
    • 2 studies made a correlation between acne and the effects of milk and skim milk.
      • But the studies had design flaws: one retrospective, the other relied on a questionnaire.

    The bottom line?
    The authors concluded that although increasing evidence suggests that diet might contribute to the development of acne, more study is needed to confirm its role.

    9/28/08 15:50 JR

    Comments are closed.