in the western world acne is estimated to affect 7 to 95 percent of the adolescent population 40 to 54 percent of individuals older than 25 years and 12 percent of woman and 3 percent of men of middle age so what's going on join us for the acne unplugged episode a better body chemistry TV better body chemistry TV is brought to you by doctor sandy a scientist turned gremlin buster helping you battle sugar gremlins heffa-lumps and other health horribles like acne through better body chemistry small things can make a big difference to your health so how do you wake up one morning with a giant pimple on your nose you need to throw a pool party not that kind of pool the kind of pool you find on your skin this is what the pores look like nomally not too appealling but under the right circumstances the pool fills up and becomes a happening place the story begins when insulin arrives now you might be wondering what insulin is doing in skin pores to be honest insulin is not al that sure either blood insulin levels begin to rise when you develop insulin resistance and it is this that allows insulin to pop into the pores of your skin not insulin's main job is actually to store nutrients insulin is a hormone that makes you fat a little confused the insulin summons one if it's sidekicks insulin like growth factor I G F 1 now this is a mitogen which means it causes tissues to grow in general and skin cells are no exception so the more insulin there is around the more the skin grows now this sounds good in principle but the trouble that extra growth can potentially block the sebaceous follicles blocked sebaceous follicles are step one in pimple formation the sebum does not leave the way it is supposed to insulin and IGF-1 invite some heavyweights to the pool insulin does this by encouraging the ovary in woman and the testes in men to make more male hormone so there is a lot more around but in addition to escalating production insulin also stops the production of sex hormone binding globulin by liver and this interferes with the movement of sex homones about the body the combined result is the skin pore is awash with androgens so step 2 in pimple formation has kicked in extra male hormones mean more skin oil or sebum it doesn't take too long to fill up the pool now all it takes is a bacteria trying to cool off propionoibacterium acnes can't resist the oil pools it pops in for a quick dip and soon there is a pool party going on with hundreds of bacteria splashing about party party the neighbours complain and call the police to shut down the party but the bacteria don't go quietly so the immune system needs to use force in the process things turn red hot and ugly the end result is a huge bright red carbuncle which is not only horrific to look at but damn sore too the pool party is eventually shut down the force of the intervention though leaves lots of little bodies in it's wake and so the pimple changes from a red hot fiery mountain to a yellow wasteland filled with pus so if you don't want to look like a spotty ogre you need to prevent the pool party from happening so how would you stop a pool party one strategy would be to make sure no one gets near the pool this is the thinking behind scrubbing your face regularly keeping everything squeaky clean so that bacteria can't get near the pool should limit the number of pool parties that happen using an antiseptic soap can make this strategy even more effective sometimes this idea is taken one step further and a little bit more force is applied any one who looks suspicious and might stop by the pool for a swim is exterminated swallowing antibiotics or using creams which contain antibiotics pretty much work this way the antibiotic kills every bacteria in sight so there is no one around so the pools are absolutely deserted but other body parts may also end up deserted in the process which can lead to more troubles further down the line the second strategy is to drain the pool that is tor remove all the oil this is the thinking behind most products that treat acne on the market today including the famous Roaccutane final strategy is to stop excess oil production in first place by targeting those hormone imbalances therapies usually focus on getting this sex homones balanced because to much male hormone or androgens is what's causing oil wells to run this is what oral contraceptives do when they are prescribed to treat acne let's just remember how this all started to much insulin so to avoid spots with out spending a fortune this is the guy you need to rein in and its easy to do insulin levels correspond to what you're eating so if you can rein in the insulin you don't need expensive soaps ordinary soap and water will keep the levels of the Propionibacterium acnes low the few that manage to stop by won't want to stay because the pools will be empty beating pimples begins with better body chemistry want to learn more strategies that will help you create better body chemistry pop over to our website www. better body chemistry dot com to browse and be sure to sign up for our free e-course 31 days to better body chemistry the advise on our website is simple to follow and based on real science not hype got friends and family battleing spots spread the word by sharing this video and subscribe to out channel to catch future episodes of better body chemistry TV thanks so much for watching I'll see you next time remember small things make a big difference to your health