Acne: it’s something almost all of us have to deal with at some point - but why does
it exist?
Is it something evolutionary - or is it merely a product of our lifestyle?
Hey guys, Tara here for Dnews - and today, I wanna talk about acne.
Not about what it is, or how to get rid of it.
No, I wanna talk about the purpose behind acne.
The real, evolutionary reason as to why humans suffer from this.
Is there even a reason?
I mean, it can’t do anything good, right?
It just makes our lives miserable.
So why do we get it?
Well believe it or not, there’s still a lot about acne that we don’t know.
But there are a handful of theories out there, that seek to explain why it’s such a common
problem.
One theory, proposed by evolutionary biologists Stephen Kellett and Paul Gilbert, is that
acne evolved because humans lost our body fur too quickly for our skin to keep up.
According to them, our skin’s sebaceous glands - which were at one point, almost entirely
covered in fur - haven’t evolved at the same pace at which we lost our fur.
So as a result, all of the sebum that once existed in order to lubricate our fur - has
no more fur to lubricate, so now, it just clogs our pores instead.
That’s one explanation.
But another study, published in 2004, theorizes that the time frame of acne - the fact that
it’s most prevalent during puberty - suggests that it plays a role in sexual selection.
They refer to acne as a “high-order psychoneuroimmune interaction” that functions to ward off
potential mates until a person is past the age of reproductive maturity, and thus, “emotionally,
intellectually, and physically fit to be a parent.”
Which makes perfect sense - but then why do some adults still get acne?
Are they just unfit parents?
Of course not!
I mean maybe, I don’t really know.
But both of those theories could explain why humans adapted to have acne.
Other arguments say that acne may not be an adaptation at all - but rather, a side effect
of our lifestyle.
Diet, for example, has been shown to have an effect on our skin - and the fact that
the human diet in particular has changed so drastically over the span of our existence
- means that modern agriculture could be the culprit.
Specifically, dairy and grains - both of which HAVE been linked to increased levels of acne.
There was an interesting study about this back in 2005, that talked about tribal people
from Canada and Japan, who broke out after being introduced to dairy.
And a similar story, about aborigines from Paraguay and Papua New Guinea that ate almost
no complex carbs, and likewise had no history of acne.
There could be a lot of reasons for that though, one of which is the basis for another major
lifestyle theory - which is that we simply wash our faces too much.
This is definitely one of the more experimental suggestions, given that there isn’t a whole
lot of data to back it up, but it does make sense.
Early humans almost never bathed, but now - we live in an age where it’s considered
hygienic to wash our faces twice a day.
And by constantly removing the surface oil from our faces, it’s possible that we’re
actually inducing the opposite effect - we’re sending our oil glands into overproduction,
resulting in even more oil than what’s natural.
Again - most of this is pure conjecture, but anecdotally - I will say that I have a friend
who has never washed his face, doesn’t even get it wet in the shower - and he has perfect
skin.
Never had a pimple in his life.
Which is probably more due to genetics than anything else - but still.
Food for thought.
What do you guys think?
Have you suffered from acne, and if so - what did you to do fix it?
Let us know your thoughts, in the comments below - and as always, thank you guys for
watching!