Fluoride And Acne

While a sugary diet is implicated as the cause of acne, evidence also incriminates fluoride, found in more than just our water...

- Melissa Gallico

The story of acne commonly told today goessomething like this: when your pores becomeclogged with dead skin cells and other debris, they trap oil and bacteria in your skin causing an infection in the form of a breakout. The story has variations. Sometimes hormones are involved, sometimes they are not. Sometimes genetics are involved, sometimes they are not. Sometimes diet is a trigger, but everyone is different. One aspect shared by these acne stories is the lack of a happy ending—there is no cure for chronic acne, only ongoing treatment.

With the story of acne, the dominant storytellers are dermatologists. As physicians who specialise in disorders of the skin, dermatologists pull their main characters from the pages of their textbooks: pores, skin cells, sebum (oil). The farther away a character is from the skin, the less likely a dermatologist is to include it in the story. Their heroes are chosen from the typical doctor's bag: creams, pills, needles. The antagonists are the villains du jour: dirt and bacteria. Dermatologists draw on statistics from the stage as they set it. According to the American Academy of Dermatology's "Acne Stats and Facts" webpage, "85% of people between the ages of 12 and 24 experience acne."

Is that 85 per cent of young people everywhere, or 85 per cent of certain young people from a certain time and place?

Another major voice in the acne story is the commercial skincare industry. Together with dermatologists, they are busy researching products and treatments to cure acne and capture a portion of the $120 billion global skincare market. But for a treatment to be profitable, it must be capable of being bottled and sold or administered in a doctor's office. The standards are even higher for the biggest source of funding in acne research: the pharmaceutical industry. If it can't be patented, what's the point?