What does the body of evidence say on acne and how to treat it? Plus: you’re going to want to pay attention to this latest study if you have food allergies, and Chris answers listeners’ questions about when to exercise, whether spinal cord stimulators work, and why some older adults are told that surgery would mess with their brain. A Block: Acne (0:59) Who gets acne; what causes acne; what are the risk factors for acne; how to treat both mild and moderate-to-severe acne. B Block: New Food Allergy Drug (34:16) A drug already approved to treat asthma, omalizumab (Xolair), can work against food allergies, including peanut allergy. C Block: Answering Emails (47:32) Questions about when is the best time to exercise (and whether or not you should be fasting); the benefits of spinal cord stimulators for people dealing with chronic pain; and why some older adults are being denied surgery.   * Theme music: “Fall of the Ocean Queen“ by Joseph Hackl * Assistant researcher: Aigul Zaripova   To contribute to The Body of Evidence, go to our Patreon page at: http://www.patreon.com/thebodyofevidence/. To make a one-time donation to our show, you can now use PayPal! https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=9QZET78JZWCZE Patrons get a bonus show on Patreon called “Digressions”! Check it out!   References:   Prevalence of acne 1) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaad.2007.06.045 2) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5788264/   Genetics as a cause of acne 3) https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1523-1747.2002.19621.x   Psychological toll of acne 4) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaad.2008.07.013 5) https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2133.1997.18131897.x   Diet and acne: the impact of milk 6) https://doi-org/10.1016/j.jaad.2004.08.007 7) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaad.2007.08.049 8) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17083856/ 9) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaad.2016.04.030 10) https://doi.org/10.1111/jdv.13835   Diet and acne: the role of carbohydrates (or glycemic load) 11) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaad.2007.01.046 12) https://doi.org/10.1111/ced.12673 13) https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-4632.2009.04002.x 14) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaad.2009.07.043 15) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaad.2009.07.043   Stress and acne 16) https://doi.org/10.1001/archderm.139.7.897   Overview of acne treatments 17) https://doi.org/10.1067/mjd.2003.618   18) The clinical trial of Xolair for food allergies: https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2312382   19) The Nature News Explainer on Xolair and food allergies: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00586-8   It’s Not Twitter, But It’ll Do: 1) Jonathan on The Current to talk about wellness and skepticism: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-63-the-current/clip/16040098-how-tell-wellness-trends-wrong