Women with persistent acne offered hope by cheap drug
Women who suffer from persistent acne have been given hope by a new cheap drug.
The drug, which is used to treat high blood pressure, could change the way acne in women is routinely treated.
Acne is common in adolescence but can occur during the adult years.
A team of researchers led by the Southampton Clinical Trials Unit carried out a trial on more than 400 women over the age of 18.
All the women had acne that had persisted for more than six months on which oral antibiotics would normally have been the next treatment.
In the first large-scale clinical trial, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), half of the participants were randomly allocated to take the drug known as spironolactone.
The other half were given a placebo or dummy pill.
What were the results?
Researchers found that spironolactone could offer an alternative for women with persistent acne.
After 12 and 24 weeks, women who were taking the drug saw significant improvements in their acne.
Professor Miriam Santer, GP and co-lead of the trial said: “The results showed that the women taking spironolactone saw a significant improvement in their acne after 12 and 24 weeks compared to those on the placebo.
“These results show that spironolactone could offer an alternative to antibiotics for many women with persistent acne to use alongside topical acne treatments.”
She added: “We hope the publication of these results will mean more GPs and dermatologists feel confident to prescribe spironolactone as a treatment for acne.
“The drug is already included in treatment guidelines for persistent acne in the US and Europe, and we hope this trial will lead to a change in the UK guidelines.”
Unfortunately, the drug is not suitable for men, according to Prof Santer and her co-author Alison Layton.
The pair wrote in the British Medical Journal: “Unfortunately, spironolactone is not considered an acceptable treatment option for men with acne. Use of spironolactone reduces blood testosterone levels which can result in gynaecomastia (breast swelling), and concerns have been raised about loss of sexual function in men.”
‘People would stare’
Kelly Cornick, 39, from Dorset, who used the drug, said that she was previously prescribed various creams and the contraceptive pill to try and control her acne.
Kelly Cornick, who suffered from persistent acne
Ms Cornick said she started with a lower dose of spironolactone and saw improvement in her acne. She was then given a higher dose of the drug and within a few months, her acne cleared up.
She said: “It was embarrassing. People would stare and you almost feel that they’re looking at you like you’re dirty and don’t wash properly.
“I think the worst thing for me was when one of my nieces said: ‘Have you got chicken pox?’.”
Ms Cornick continued: “Initially I started on the lower dose and there was an improvement. I then went on to the higher dose and within about three months everything was gone, all the spots had disappeared.
“Knowing how much it’s helped me, I hope that other people will now be given this treatment as an option instead of just trying the antibiotics. I want people to be able to experience it, because everyone should feel confident and happy, and not have spots.”
An alternative to antibiotics
Professor Andrew Farmer, director of the NIHR’s Health Technology Assessment Programme, said: “The treatment provides a valuable alternative to antibiotics and ensures clinicians can also better avoid the harms that can arise from antimicrobial resistance.”
The results come after the Commission on Human Medicines recommended new safety measures for the use of an anti-acne drug called isotretinoin.
This was after a number of people died by suicide while taking the drug – others also reported depression, anxiety and psychotic symptoms.
Cases of sexual dysfunction were also reported by patients who had been prescribed the medicine and in some cases, symptoms continued after patients stopped taking the drug.
The review of this drug has concluded that the benefits of isotretinoin – also known as Roaccutane – still outweigh the risks.
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What is spironolactone?
According to the NHS, spironolactone is an anti-androgen, which means it stops male hormones, such as testosterone, from working.
The drug can be used to treat the build-up of fluid in the body, which can be caused by heart failure, liver disease, kidney disease and high levels of aldosterone.
It is also used to treat high blood pressure (hypertension).
Birmingham band UB40 say the city’s striking bin workers and their union should “keep fighting” in their dispute over pay.
It comes as the government and the council urged them to accept a “fair and reasonable offer”.
“We’re fully on their side,” drummer Jimmy Brown told Sky News. “I think they shouldn’t give up, they should still be fighting.
“Working people shouldn’t have to take a reduction in their incomes, which is what we’re talking about here.
“We’re talking about people being paid less and it seems to me with prices going up, heating, buying food, inflation and rents going up then people need a decent wage to have a half decent life… keep going boys!”
Members of the Unite union in Birmingham earlier this month. Pic: PA
Workers joined picket lines again on Thursday, with some fearing they could be up to £600 a month worse off if they accept the terms.
“We have total utter support for the bin men and all trade unions,” said guitarist Robin Campbell.
“The other side is always going to say they’ve made a reasonable offer – the point is they’re the ones who’ve messed up, they’re the ones who’ve gone bankrupt, they’re the ones now trying to reduce the bin men’s wages.”
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Lead singer Matt Doyle told Sky News: “It’s a shame that what we’re seeing is all the images of rats and rubbish building up, that is going to happen inevitably, but we’ve just got to keep fighting through that.”
About 22,000 tonnes of rubbish accumulated on the city’s streets after a major incident was declared last month by Birmingham City Council.
Rubbish has blighted the city’s streets for weeks . Pic: PA
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Bin situation ‘pains me’ – council boss
On a visit to the city, local government minister Jim McMahon said the union and local authority should continue to meet in “good faith” and the government felt there was a deal that could be “marshalled around”.
He paid tribute to the “hundreds of workers” who have worked “around the clock” to clear the rubbish.
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“As we stand here today, 85% of that accumulated waste has been cleared and the council have a plan in place now to make sure it doesn’t accumulate going forward,” said Mr McMahon.
Sky News understands talks are not set to resume until next week.
Trans women in British Transport Police custody will now be strip searched by male officers – not female – following Wednesday’s Supreme Court ruling.
The force said it is introducing an “interim position” while it digests the Supreme Court’s decision that the definition of a “woman” under the Equality Act 2010 refers to “a biological woman and biological sex”.
A British Transport Police (BTP) Authority spokesman told Sky News: “Under previous policy, we had advised that someone with a gender recognition certificate (GRC) may be searched in accordance with their acquired sex.
“However, as an interim position while we digest today’s judgment, we have advised our officers that any same sex searches in custody are to be undertaken in accordance with the biological birth sex of the detainee.”
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In September last year, BTP, which is responsible for policing the UK’s railways and similar transport systems, published its “position” on transgender and non-binary officers carrying out strip searches.
It said officers would “only be able to search persons of the same sex on their birth or gender recognition certificate (GRC).
Officers who identified as another gender but who did not have a GRC were not allowed to, but if a trans woman had a certificate, they could strip search a female detainee.
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Gender ruling – How it happened
Strip searches involve the removal of more than a jacket, outer coat, gloves, headwear and footwear.
They “expose buttocks, genitalia and (female) breasts”, the BTP guidance says.
The Sex Matters campaign applied for a judicial review of that guidance with the High Court in December.
It said the policy “puts detainees at risk of sexual harassment and sexual assault”, and said it was a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects against torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.
Sex Matters said the policy “also puts female officers in a humiliating and dangerous position, as they may be pressured to search trans-identified men”.
Read more: NHS must stop trans people being allowed on single-sex wars
Campaigners celebrated outside the Supreme Court after Wednesday’s ruling. Pic: PA
One of the High Court judges who made Wednesday’s decision, Lord Hodge, said the ruling should not be read as “a triumph of one or more groups in our society at the expense of another”.
Government minister Karin Smyth told Sky News public bodies have been told to look at how equality laws are implemented following the ruling.
She said: “Obviously, public bodies have been asked to look at their own guidance.
“And we will do that very, very carefully.”
But she warned against public bodies making statements “that may alarm people”, telling them to take their time to look at their guidance.
Baroness Kishwer Falkner, chair of the UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), said the ruling means there is “no confusion” now.
She said the NHS will “have to change” its 2019 policy, which says transgender patients are entitled to be accommodated on single-sex wards matching how they identify.
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