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From: dyer@spdcc.UUCP (Steve Dyer)
Newsgroups: net.med
Subject: Re: a vitamin called Acidophilus
Message-ID: <39@spdcc.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 13-Mar-86 10:48:59 EST
Article-I.D.: spdcc.39
Posted: Thu Mar 13 10:48:59 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 15-Mar-86 18:21:47 EST
References: <620@philabs.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: S.P. Dyer Computer Consulting, Cambridge MA
Lines: 42

In article <620@philabs.UUCP>, jmr@philabs.UUCP (Joanne Renza Mannarino) writes:
> 
> Someone recently told me about a vitamin called Acidophilus which is supposed
> to be better at clearing up acne than any antibiotics that the dermatologists
> prescribe.  It is supposedly made with a "yogurt culture base" and the daily
> dosage is 2 100mg tablets.

Coupla points:

1.) These pills aren't "vitamins", because they don't contain any substances
    which satisfy the criteria for vitamins.  "Dietary supplement" would be a
    better word.

2.) Lactobacillus acidophilus is one of the bacteria which convert milk to
    yogurt, and most yogurts have active cultures still present when you
    purchase them.  Species of lactobacilli are also part of the normal
    intestinal flora.  

3.) If you ingest live lactobacilli, they either are killed by your stomach
    acid, or survive to become part of your normal flora.  But, they stay in
    your gut.  They do not travel elsewhere (like to your skin surface.)

4.) Acne is a condition of the sebacious glands associated with infection by
    Propionibacterium acnes.  Lactobacilli are not normal flora on the skin,
    and if you gave yourself a mudpack of yogurt, the lactobacilli probably
    wouldn't last very long, and would have no effect on the P. acnes
    population.

So, it's hard to imagine acidophilus tablets yaken orally having any salutary
effect on acne.  What's more, with the popularity of yogurt these days, 
especially among the acne-prone teenagers, you'd think that this discovery
would have been made a long time ago, and without the necessity to purchase
expensive dietary supplements.

REALLY severe acne can now be treated orally with a compound called
isotretinoin, a retinoid.  It has a lot of side-effects, and requires a
doctor's supervision.  But for those people whose present condition outweighs
the potential side-effects, it's a miracle drug.
-- 
Steve Dyer
dyer@harvard.HARVARD.EDU
{bbncca,bbnccv,harvard}!spdcc!dyer