Acne cream eases wrinkles

A prescription acne cream appears to moderately reduce sun damage in older people, says new research. Tazarotene cream (marketed as Zorac in South Africa) is in the same Vitamin A family as Retin-A, another acne drug considered to be a potent wrinkle reliever. While the drug is used by people with sun damage, the study's authors say their research, which was funded by the makers of the cream, offers more proof of its value.

Combatting sun damage

"The cream was better than moisturiser alone for improving fine wrinkling and mottled pigmentation of the skin, in combination with protecting skin from the sun," says study co-author Dr Tania Phillips, a professor of dermatology at the Boston University School of Medicine. Sun damage to skin begins at the first exposure to sunlight and accumulates over a lifetime, says Dr Richard Glogau, a clinical professor of dermatology at the University of California at San Francisco. Ultraviolet light penetrates the skin and damages its internal structure by wreaking havoc on the DNA of cells, he explains. "The initial changes are a loss of 'glow,' change in pigmentation - freckles, splotchiness, brown or muddy tones - and damage to elastic and collagen fibres resulting in wrinkles and fine lines," he adds. In its worst forms, sun damage can lead to skin cancer. More commonly, it simply makes people look old and leathery.

Big improvement in tone, colour and wrinkles

In the study funded by the pharmaceutical company Allergan, which makes tazarotene cream, researchers recruited 563 people with sun damage and told all of them to apply a cream to their face each day for six months. While the subjects didn't know read more