If acne comes from "western diet", how come it existed thousands of years ago?
"Timeline of acne treatment
The history of acne reaches back to the dawn of recorded history. In Ancient Egypt, it is recorded that several pharaohs were acne sufferers. From Ancient Greece, comes the English word 'acne' (meaning 'point' or 'peak'). Acne treatments are also of considerable antiquity:
* Ancient Rome : bathing in hot, and often sulfurous, mineral water was one of the few available acne treatments. One of the earliest texts to mention skin problems is De Medicina by the Roman writer Celsus.
* 1800s: Nineteenth century dermatologists used sulfur in the treatment of acne. It was believed to dry the skin.
* 1930s: laxatives were used as a cure for what were known as 'chastity pimples'
* 1950s: When antibiotics became available, it was discovered that they had beneficial effects on acne. They were taken orally to begin with. Topical antibiotics became available later.
* 1960s: Vitamin A acid and Retin A were found effective for acne. This led to the development of isotretinoin sold as Accutane and Roaccutane in the 1980's.
* 1990s: Laser treatment introduced
Some old treatments, like laxatives, have fallen into disuse but others, like spas, are recovering their popularity."