Parents May Contribute Acne Gene to Teens

Posted: September 22, 2009

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In contrast, the rate was 10% among teens with no such family history, the researchers report in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.

The findings point to the importance of genetics in whether a teenager will have more severe acne, according to senior researcher Dr. Christos C. Zouboulis, of the Dessau Medical Center in Germany. "Therefore, children with parents who experienced severe acne have to be followed up on a regular basis and be treated earlier when acne lesions occur," he told Reuters Health in an email.

And mothers' history may be particularly important, Zouboulis and his colleagues found.

Mom's acne tripled teens' risk

Teenagers whose mothers had ever had moderate to severe acne were three times as likely to develop the problem as their peers were. When fathers had the skin condition, their children's risk increased two-fold.