You do not have to be a teenager to suffer from acne. While acne typically appears during puberty, over 50% of adult men and women 30 years of age or older, suffer from acne. So pharmacy shelves are overflowing with acne remedies, celebrities are promoting acne treatments on TV, and there are various supplements, diets and home remedies to wipe out those ugly blemishes dotting your skin. But most acne treatments only treat the symptoms of acne instead of its underlying cause, leaving many suffering with reoccurring acne.

It's the Hormones

Bacteria, clogged pores, chocolate and oily foods have all been claimed to cause acne, but new medical findings have proven that it is our hormones that are the underlying cause. Androgens, which are produced by both men and women, play an important role in the development of acne and the most important androgen in this process is a by-product of testosterone called DHT (Dihydro-Testosterone).

Breakthrough Acne Treatment Allows Users to Adjust Medication Strength

Even by middle age, a full 12 percent of women and 3 percent of men experience clinically significant acne. Thirty-percent of its victims also meet the diagnostic criteria for depression, anxiety, and suicide risk. And, the effects can be lifelong for the third of all acne sufferers who experience permanent facial scarring.

For those with acne, their biggest challenge is that most acne treatments, though powerful therapies, are irritating, and add fuel to the inflammatory fire already burning inside their acne-affected skin. The seemingly insurmountable challenge for skincare formulators has been to develop an effective acne treatment that works across a broad range of skin types.

The AcneRecovery system is based on the scientific premise that human skin is a very dynamic organ, constantly changing depending on a host of factors--personal health and hygiene, fluctuating hormones, surrounding environment, stress levels, et cetera

This innovative delivery system allows the user to easily adjust the strength of the active medications up or down, for maximum acne treatment while minimizing skin irritation, redness, dryness and discomfort.

Acupuncture treatment has its devotees

Terri Malone doesn't even flinch as acupuncturist Kristen Happe inserts fine needles into the patient's shins.

Melone visits Happe at The Grape Seed in Bridgeville for acupuncture treatments two times a week and claims she's addicted to the electrical feeling.

"It works, believe me, it's wonderful," Melone says.

She's even recruited the entire family -- including daughter Alexa, who joins her this day -- to the Shady Avenue business.

Last week's session was targeted toward Melone's hormones. Many of her symptoms, including hot flashes, have subsided or disappeared, she says.

"I have more energy and I sleep better," Melone says.

She can even keep up with Alexa at the gym.

Advisers oppose failure limits for the pill

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Birth control pills sometimes fail, but setting limits on how often that could happen would put newer, low-dose contraceptives off limits to women, federal health advisers said Wednesday.

Throughout the 1960s, the earliest birth control pills to win Food and Drug Administration approval failed just once per 100 woman-years of use. That is, for every 100 women taking the pills for a year, there was fewer than one pregnancy on average among them.