Acne: An understanding of the disease and its impact on life Kaisar Raza, Vaibhav Talwar, Arvind Setia and Om Prakash Katare* Drug Delivery Research Group, University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, UGC-CAS, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India-160014 Key words: Pimples, Quality of life, food habits, comedo, acne vulgaris, P.acne How to Cite this Paper: Kaisar Raza, Vaibhav Talwar, Arvind Setia and Om Prakash Katare* “Acne: An understanding of the disease and its impact on life”, Int. J. Drug Dev. & Res., April-June 2012, 4(2): 14-20 Copyright © 2012 IJDDR, Om Prakash Katare et al. This is an open access paper distributed under the copyright agreement with Serials Publication, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Introduction Acne vulgaris is a human skin disease characterized by areas of seborrhea (red scaly skin), comedones (blackheads and whiteheads), papules, pustules, nodules and probably scarring[1]. Acne affects the skin regions with the densest sebaceous follicles populations which include face, upper part of chest and the back. Severe acne is marked by inflammation International Journal of Drug Development & Research | April-June 2012 | Vol. 4 | Issue 2 | ISSN 0975-9344 | Available online http://www.ijddr.in Covered in Official Product of Elsevier, The Netherlands SJR Impact Value 0.03,& H index 2 ©2012 IJDDR Abstract Acne is one of the most common skin diseases affecting majority of the teens and reaching its pinnacle during adulthood. In certain severe cases, it mounts to pronounced skin deformity. This appears to adversely dampen the self esteem of the affected which can eventually lead to depression and even suicides. The disease invariably diminishes in twenties but in some cases, it might even persist in thirties, forties and beyond and there is no such definite way to predict its spell. Majority of females suffer from mild to moderate acne at some stage of life. Although the pathogenesis still stands unknown, but some of the probable reasons could be: increased sebum production, ductal keratinization, bacterial colonization of the pilosebaceus ducts and inflammation. Effective approach towards the treatment of acne primarily rests on thorough understanding of its pathogenesis. An indispensable factor demanding consideration for its treatment is personal and family history. Apart from genetic makeup, food habits also affect the severity of the disease. This review will lay emphasis on a brief disease pathogenesis underlined in the very disease and its impact on life. *Corresponding author, Mailing address: Om Prakash Katare E-mail: drkatare@yahoo.com Article History:------------------------ Date of Submission: 05-03-2012 Date of Acceptance: 29-03-2012 Conflict of Interest: NIL Source of Support: NONE Review Paper Covered in Index Copernicus with IC Value 4.68 for 2010 Int. J. Drug Dev. & Res., April-June 2012, 4 (2): 14-20 Covered in Scopus & Embase, Elsevier 14