Phototherapy, hope for the treatment of acne?

Acne is a skin manifestation difficult to live with his retinue of black spots, often located on the face. Beyond local treatments that are sometimes restrictive, there may be a new way forward: phototherapy.

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In Britain, 1 adult in 20 is subject to events that persistent acne resistant to usual treatments such as creams, disinfectants or antibiotics. Some acne diminish significantly the exposure of ultraviolet rays, invisible. But this process can not agree to a long-term treatment because of the risk of skin cancer. The teame du Dr Tony Chu of Hammersmith Hospital in London, just try a new technique for treatment of acne by exposure to visible light * without any adverse effect.

The principle of the experiment

107 patients with mild to moderate acne were separated into several distinct groups, each corresponding to a different treatment:

1.Traitement by blue light;
2.Traitement by a combination of light blue and red;
3.Traitement by white light without heat radiation;
4.Traitement a special cream.
The distribution of the three light sources was made at random, and exposure to these light sources has lasted 12 weeks, at 15 minutes per day.

Results

At the end of treatment, there was an improvement of 76% of cases treated with a reduction of three quarters of comedones present, and what, specifically, with the combination of two lights: red and blue. According to Dr Tony Chu, the combined therapy had an anti-inflammatory and antibacterial to treat moderate acne without side effects short term. It was more probative than any other treatment tested.

The placebo effect in the treatment of acne

Given the results of this experiment, some scientists have challenged the conclusions of Dr. Chu, arguing that following placebo treatment (neutral product that is substituted for a drug for its psychological effect), patients were saw their acne fade significantly.

For these scientists, there is no significant evidence that the combination of red and blue light has an antibacterial quality. The human body is, in fact, used to live in a light that also contains these two colors.

Stay tuned ...

Too few patients were treated with phototherapy that can be drawn from this experience meaningful statistics. Despite the criticisms raised, Tony Chu decided to continue the experimental treatment. This therapy on patients suffering from acne is strong and combined with their traditional therapies.

 

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