
By Adam Friedman, George Washington University.
Acne is one of the most common dermatologic diseases. While best known as a bothersome part of puberty, affecting approximately 85 percent of young people, acne can persist (or even start) in adulthood, causing emotional and physical distress and sometimes permanent disfigurement.
Many people with acne will be prescribed antibiotics for treatment at some point. In fact, about five million prescriptions for oral antibiotics are written each year for the treatment of acne in the United States. While dermatologists comprise 1 percent of physicians overall, they are responsible for 5 percent of all antibiotic prescriptions written.
Even though national recommendations say that a course of antibiotics to treat acne shouldn’t last more than three months, a study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology found that the average amount of time a patient is prescribed an oral antibiotic is actually over 300 days.
Antibiotics may be prescribed at higher doses than what is really needed to treat acne. While antibiotics can kill the bacteria associated with acne, it’s their anti-inflammatory effects, not their antimicrobial effects, that yield the biggest skin-clearing benefits. (Post continues after video.)