Why Take a Contraceptive to Treat Your Acne?

The rhetorical answer to the headline of this article is very obvious: It"s just another way, thanks to the almighty wisdom of the safety-conscious FDA (an acronym that more accurately stands for Fraud Deceit Always) for Bayer Schering Pharma AG to extend the use and profitability of YAZ, a needless oral contraceptive that may also harm a woman"s health, to treat moderate acne.

It would be my strong recommendation to avoid YAZ to treat either acne or premenstrual dysphoric disorder -- formerly known as PMS -- nor should you use Prozac for PMS (it"s approved to treat PMS under another name).

Just a reminder, any conventional approach -- from YAZ to Accutane -- merely treats the symptom, but never the underlying problem associated with acne.

Your first and best solution for controlling acne for good: Optimizing your insulin levels by reducing, with the plan of eliminating, grains and sugars from your daily diet. When you normalize your insulin levels the underlying inflammatory conditions that promote the bacterial growth on your skin disappears and your skin starts to glow instead of being potmarked with pimples.

And as for birth control, consider techniques such as barrier methods including condoms and diaphragms, and natural methods such as the symptothermal method, which involves monitoring body temperature and saliva.

On Vital Votes, reader Joan from West Allis, Wisconsin adds:

"This is very bad news. There are many blogs devoted to women who are suffering from the effects of Yasmin, which has the same type and amount of synthetic progesterone as Yaz. However, Yaz is taken for 3 more days per month, increasing exposure to these chemicals. Also, acne can be caused by a zinc deficiency, and birth control pills lower levels of zinc, so taking birth control pills for acne could be very problematic!

"... Low levels of zinc, which can be caused by diet, increase the conversion of testosterone to its active form, DHT, which then stimulates the oil glands, causing acne. Zinc has been used successfully to treat acne in women who produce excess testosterone. Normally these women are given oral contraceptives ... which treat the symptoms somewhat but can, ultimately, worsen their condition."

Other responses to this article can be viewed at Vital Votes, and you can add your own thoughts or vote on comments by first registering at Vital Votes.