The development of adult acne increases the risk of developing eating disorders

People who suffer from acne are at increased risk of developing an eating disorder, a new study suggests. Adult acne patients are 2.4 times more likely to have an eating disorder, researchers reported in the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.

Researchers found that even after adjusting scores for mood or body image disorders, acne was associated with a 65 percent increased risk of an eating disorder.

Adult acne, or post-adolescent acne, is acne that occurs after age 25. In adult acne, essentially the same factors that cause acne in adolescents are at work. The four factors that directly contribute to acne are: excess fat production, clogging of pores with “sticky” skin cells, bacterial growth and the development of inflammation.

“We found that acne is associated with an increased likelihood of having an eating disorder in U.S. adults,” said study co-author Dr. Jeffrey Cohen, director of the psoriasis program at Yale School of Medicine.

“Our findings will help clinicians treating people with acne be more alert to signs of eating disorders to provide holistic and comprehensive treatment for patients,” he added.

For the study, researchers analyzed data from nearly 7,400 patients with acne and compared them to more than 207,000 people without acne.

“Our results support the relevance of acne as a potential risk factor for the development of eating disorders,” the researchers wrote.

In patients with existing psychological risk factors, acne may serve as a trigger that further increases concern about appearance and provokes cognitive biases (e.g., overestimating body size) and behaviors (e.g., restricting food) that are thought to underlie the development of eating disorders.

Cohen emphasized that only adults 18 years and older were included in this study, although acne and eating disorders are thought to primarily affect adolescents.

This may highlight the importance of acne as a risk factor for developing eating disorders, and future studies should include people of all ages, the researchers said.

They urge anyone experiencing signs or symptoms of eating disorders and acne to seek professional help.