Acne and Zinc – A weird link.

Acne is one of the most psychologically scarring skin conditions. It often starts in adolescence, but usually resolves as people enter adulthood.
It is usually triggered by hormones such as Testosterone or Estrogen, with diet and other factors playing a role.
Off course genetics play a huge role too.
I stumbled across a paper yesterday which made an interesting link between zinc and Acne.
Researchers compared the levels of zinc in the blood of healthy volunteers and acne patients.
They noticed those who had acne had lower levels of zinc in their blood.  Not only that, but the more severe the acne the lower the level of zinc.
So the conclusion can be one of two.
Firstly, low levels of zinc can trigger acne.  Or secondly, the process of acne eats up the zinc in the body.
It's hard to tell which is true; or perhaps they're both true.  I'll probably need to read a few other papers to arrive at a more firm conclusion.
By the way, Some acne treatment lotions contain zinc in them.
Till next time