Accutane is a member of the drug type called retinoids, which have been shown to affect the way the body reads genes. Use of the drug while pregnant is known to harm fetuses and reduce the quantity of brain cells that they produce. This is why cautions are taken to ensure that women who are pregnant or who may become pregnant do not take the drug. However, recent studies suggest that brain-cell production can be equally important in adolescents and adults. Scientists at the University of Baths and the University of Texas in Austin express Accutane might also interfere with the body's synthesis of the mood hormone serotonin.

While evidence from the more than 13 million consumers of Accutane worldwide suggests that only 5 to 10 percent suffer from side effects, retinoids have also been involved in connections to Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia, so doctors are eager to understand how the drug works.

Depression Linked to Acne Treatment

Acne treatment with the medication isotretinoin (Accutane) has been implicated in an elevation in feelings of depression among adolescent users, and while the link has never been demonstrated, scientists have collected evidence through an animal study.

Although researcher Dr. Sarah Bailey knew that it is impossible to ask a mouse if it is depressed, its behaviour can be analyzed and modeled through two tests. The first involves causing the adolescent mice to experience stress by forcing it to swim, while the other one produces stress by suspending the mice by its tail.

Acne Cure Tested for Side Effects

Normally, a mouse will swim, climb or struggle, and only periodically stop in a phase of resignation. A depressed mouse will remain in its resigned phase longer than one that is healthy. The mice receiving human-equivalent doses of Accutane tended to show increased depression-related behavior.

Accutane producer Roche says, "While no causal link has been demonstrated between Accutane and either depression or suicide, we are constantly monitoring all available safety databases on Accutane worldwide." However, the World Health Organization has reported 720 cases of psychiatric complications associated to the administration of Accutane, including 84 suicides and suicide attempts.

The allegation that isotretinoin promoted depression and suicide has won a few lawsuits, and is in part responsible for the strict control of the drug, especially in the US. Various case studies of depression, suicidal tendencies, suicide attempt, and suicide in patients treated with the acne skin care isotretinoin have been reported to the U.S. FDA Adverse Events Reporting System, with 431 incidences documented between 1982 and May 2001 - of these 37 patients had committed suicide.

Idiosyncratic Effects From Acne Skin Care

Studies have demonstrated that patients with acne, the population group eligible to receive isotretinoin treatment, have an increased chance of clinical depression compared with the general population. Isotretinoin related depression is "an idiosyncratic side effect." Often anxiety can bring on acne and depression, creating more anxiety. Correspondingly, treatment of severe acne with isotretinoin has been demonstrated to minimize anxiety and depression.

One study utilising positron emission tomography (PET) showed functional brain imaging changes in patients treated with isotretinoin, however the clinical significance of this finding is unclear.

Acne can now be safely removed thanks to a natural skin care product that includes one the best curing ingredients that Mother Nature can produce. The biological ingredients cure acne without side effects, and heal your skin in a smooth way.