Exploring the relationship between stress and acne: a medical student’s perspective

Aryan Maleki, Noorulain Khalid Faculty of Medicine, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, UKWe read with great interest the paper by Zari and Alrahmani1 investigating the relationship between stress and acne among female medical students. These findings are relevant as around 20% of young people are affected by moderate-to-severe acne, and indeed acne severity is associated with increased risks of anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation.2 The authors identified that “stress severity strongly correlated with an increase in acne severity,” and suggested that stress likely has an important role in the pathogenesis of acne.1 However, the paper could have been taken further to better establish the true extent of this relationship, and ultimately whether certain patients will benefit from clinical interventions based on their perceived stress scale. View the original paper by Zari and Alrahmani