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Rosacea
What causes it?
Relatively little is known about possible causes of rosacea. Changes in the ways that the body reacts to micro-organisms (such as bacteria that ordinarily live on the surface of the skin or mites that live in oil glands and hair follicles of the face) may be involved. Fungal infections of the skin may also play a role in developing rosacea. Recently, some cases of rosacea have been identified in patients who also have food allergies or stomach ulcers, but no definite links have been established. Another theory associates rosacea with the breakdown of connective tissues (such as collagen) that usually support the tiny blood vessels under facial skin. None of these possible causes has been proved and most researchers believe that several different factors may be involved in rosacea.
Although rosacea?s causes are still a mystery, it is well known that many factors can start (or trigger) a rosacea flare-up. Alcohol, caffeine, exercise, menopause, hot baths or showers, hot beverages, spicy foods, smoking, stress, weather, wind, long-term use of topical steroids, and ultraviolet light (from natural sunlight or tanning beds) may all trigger and/or aggravate the condition for susceptible individuals. Specific triggers do not always cause a flare-up for the same individual, however; and different factors may produce flare-ups for different individuals.
Rosacea is not contagious ? direct contact with a person who has it will not result in developing it. Similarly, rosacea is not associated with poor hygiene. Also, even though a reddish complexion and a large, bumpy, rounded nose are often attributed to alcoholism, no evidence links alcohol consumption with causing rosacea. Drinking alcohol causes blood vessels to widen, though, so drinking may trigger or worsen a flare-up. Rosacea has a strong ethnic relationship and an inherited tendency to blush easily is common among rosacea patients. Probably, both genetic and other factors contribute to developing rosacea.
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What causes it?
