Para ahli menganjurkan tidak makan buah dikupas, tidak makan sayuran, daging, ikan atau telur mentah atau setengah matang dan minum air botol saat bepergian ke luar negeri, terutama di tempat-tempat eksotis, untuk mencegah “traveler’s diare”.

Sangat penting untuk berhati-hati dengan salad, karena mereka mungkin telah dicuci dengan air kotor, dan berhati-hati dengan produk kue, es krim, mayones dan saus buatan sendiri.

90 persen kasus disebabkan oleh infeksi terutama oleh konsumsi makanan atau air yang terkontaminasi. Di negara-negara tropis atau dalam mengembangkan berisiko tinggi daerah, hal itu dapat mempengaruhi antara 30 persen dan 50 persen dari wisatawan.

Di sisi lain, menjelaskan bahwa kejadian masalah ini tergantung pada wilayah di mana mereka melakukan perjalanan. Secara khusus, berisiko rendah negara Amerika Serikat, Kanada, Eropa Barat, Australia, Selandia Baru dan Jepang, sementara risiko rata-rata adalah orang-orang dari Eropa Timur, Afrika Selatan dan beberapa pulau-pulau Karibia. Selain itu, berisiko tinggi negara mencakup sebagian besar negara di Asia dan Afrika, Timur Tengah dan Amerika Tengah dan Selatan.

Flu cenderung datang tiba-tiba – Anda baik-baik saja di pagi hari dan sakit dan menggigil malam itu – sementara yang dingin biasanya berkembang secara bertahap selama dua atau tiga hari. Flu biasanya menyebabkan demam dan sakit; yang dingin biasanya tidak. Gejala lain dari flu termasuk sakit kepala, kelelahan, batuk, sakit tenggorokan, hidung tersumbat, badan nyeri, menggigil dan, biasanya pada anak-anak, muntah atau diare.

Bagaimana saya tahu kalau itu novel H1N1 strain?

Kecuali jika dokter Anda perintah ujian, Anda tidak. Tes itu, yang melibatkan diambil sampel dari lendir hidung, tidak secara rutin dilakukan. Kemungkinan besar, jika dokter Anda berpikir Anda memiliki flu, Anda akan dikirim pulang dengan nasihat mengenai perawatan.

Dalam beberapa kasus, dokter akan menginginkan diagnosis yang lebih tepat, yang membantu menginformasikan para pejabat kesehatan masyarakat tentang wabah. Sebuah tes flu juga kadang-kadang diberikan kepada orang-orang beresiko menjadi sangat sakit, seperti pasien di rumah sakit, bayi dan orang-orang dengan kondisi kesehatan yang mendasarinya. Pekerja kesehatan mungkin juga menerima tes flu.

Secara umum, itu tidak perlu bagi Anda untuk mengetahui apakah Anda H1N1 atau flu musiman tegang. Mereka diperlakukan sama dan memiliki efek yang serupa, meskipun galur H1N1 ini tampaknya mudah menular terutama di kalangan anak-anak dan dewasa muda.

Bagaimana seharusnya saya mengurus diri sendiri?

Tinggal di rumah dan beristirahat. Anda tidak ingin pajak tubuh Anda pada saat dibutuhkan kekuatannya untuk melawan virus.

Minum banyak cairan untuk menghindari dehidrasi.

Jangan minum alkohol karena dapat meningkatkan risiko dehidrasi dan memperlemah sistem kekebalan respon.

Jangan merokok; yang dapat memperburuk gejala pernafasan.

Apakah mengambil alih-the-counter penghilang rasa sakit (tetapi jangan berikan aspirin pada anak-anak atau remaja) untuk kepala dan nyeri otot.

Untuk menghindari menjangkitkan kepada orang lain, tinggal di ruang yang terpisah dalam rumah tangga dan mencoba untuk menggunakan kamar mandi yang terpisah. Memakai masker, jika ditoleransi, ketika di sekitar orang lain, bahkan orang-orang terkasih.

Kapan saya harus pergi ke dokter?

Dalam kebanyakan kasus, perjalanan ke dokter tidak diperlukan karena orang yang sehat akan sembuh sendiri dalam waktu sekitar lima hari. Namun, jika Anda baru saja menjadi sakit, Anda mungkin ingin menghubungi dokter untuk mendapatkan resep untuk obat antivirus. Mengambil antivirus, seperti Tamiflu atau Relenza, dapat mempersingkat perjalanan penyakit oleh satu atau dua hari jika obat diberikan dalam waktu 48 jam setelah timbulnya gejala.

Dokter bervariasi dalam kesediaan mereka untuk meresepkan obat antivirus. Dalam update terbaru dari Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, dokter disarankan untuk resep obat antivirus hanya dalam kasus tertentu – untuk mengobati atau mencegah penyakit pada orang yang mengalami sakit atau dirawat di rumah sakit atau resiko lebih tinggi mengalami komplikasi serius dari flu, seperti bayi dan orang-orang dengan penyakit yang mendasarinya. Antivirus tidak direkomendasikan untuk pencegahan atau pengobatan orang sehat. Pedoman tersebut dikeluarkan untuk meringankan kekhawatiran atas potensi kekurangan obat anti-virus.

Pertimbangkan melihat dokter Anda jika Anda memiliki resiko tinggi untuk komplikasi, seperti radang paru-paru berkembang, sepsis atau mengalami serangan asma yang parah. Ini termasuk orang-orang usia 65 dan lebih tua, orang-orang dengan kondisi medis yang kronis, wanita hamil dan anak-anak.

Haruskah orang yang sakit pergi ke rumah sakit?

Biasanya, tidak. Tetapi virus dapat menyebabkan penyakit lain, seperti bronkitis, pneumonia, sepsis dan asma suar-up.

Berikut adalah beberapa tanda-tanda darurat pada anak-anak:

* Cepat atau sesak napas, menunjukkan pneumonia atau sepsis.

* Bluish warna kulit, menunjukkan anak mungkin tidak akan mendapatkan cukup oksigen.

* Tidak minum cukup cairan, yang menempatkan anak berisiko dehidrasi.

* Tidak terbangun atas atau berinteraksi, yang dapat mengindikasikan kasus yang lebih parah.

* Menjadi begitu mudah tersinggung bahwa anak tidak mau dilaksanakan, yang juga dapat mengindikasikan penyakit yang lebih parah.

* Sebuah kembalinya gejala flu setelah anak tampaknya semakin baik, yang dapat menunjukkan bahwa anak telah mengembangkan sebuah penyakit sekunder atau misdiagnosed dengan flu.

* Demam dengan ruam, yang dapat menunjukkan penyakit selain flu.

Dan pada orang dewasa:

* Sulit bernapas atau sesak napas, yang bisa menunjukkan pneumonia atau sepsis.

* Rasa sakit atau tekanan di dada atau perut, yang dapat mengindikasikan kasus yang lebih serius atau flu tidak diagnosis yang tepat.

* Tiba-tiba pusing, yang bisa berarti orang tersebut tidak mendapatkan cukup oksigen.

* Kebingungan, yang bisa berarti orang tersebut tidak mendapatkan cukup oksigen.

* Muntah parah atau berkelanjutan, yang dapat menyebabkan dehidrasi.

Berapa lama saya harus tinggal di rumah?
Itu tergantung. Anda harus menjadi tujuan utama untuk menghindari menjangkitkan kepada orang lain. Selalu tinggal di rumah jika Anda mengalami demam atau berpikir Anda mungkin akan turun dengan flu. Orang dewasa dapat menyebarkan flu kepada orang lain selama sampai lima hari setelah sakit, jadi tinggal di rumah sampai Anda merasa lebih baik dan selama 24 jam setelah demam hilang (tanpa menggunakan obat penurun panas). Anda mungkin harus berlama-lama gejala, seperti hidung tersumbat, batuk atau kelelahan. Itu adalah normal. Tetapi jika Anda kongesti atau batuk atau gejala apapun tidak mereda banyak dari puncaknya, Anda masih dapat menular. Sumber: US Centers for Disease Control dan Pencegahan; Dr Harun Getty, juru bicara Infectious Diseases Society of America; LA County Department of Health Services.

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The main concept behind the pH miracle diet is to maintain a balance of pH in the foods that you eat. The human body is slightly alkaline and therefore it is better for your health to eat a diet composed of alkalizing foods. When you eat too many acidic foods, your system becomes unbalanced and it can cause a whole host of problems, including weight gain, poor concentration, fatigue and depressed immunity that can lead to more serious conditions.

The pH miracle diet relies on lists of foods that are acidic (to be avoided) and alkalizing (to be emphasized). The alkalizing foods are better for your health and help to balance the pH of your body. While acid, alkaline and pH are common terms, many people do not understand exactly what they mean and what they have to do with nutrition and health.

The word “basic” comes from the Greek word “basis” which means foundation. “Basic” relates to the properties of acidity and alkalinity. These conditions are determined at the foundation of the cells that the foods are made up of. So an external treatment does not change a food from acid to alkaline. Foods are acid or alkaline at their base, or foundation.

Acid and alkaline are chemical opposites. Whenever these bases interact with acids, there is a struggle between them and salt is the result. In the chemist’s lab, these interactions are very simple and straightforward. However, in our bodies, the interaction becomes more complex because of the scale at which acids and bases meet.

However, science can make some generalizations about the effects of acids and alkaline in the human digestion system. Acidic foods are acid forming in the human body. They make blood, lymph and saliva more acid and cause a lower pH number. Alkaline foods make blood, lymph and saliva more alkaline and cause a higher pH number.

Just for reference, the “normal” range for saliva pH is between 7.3 and 7.4. Most people, however, are too acidic and have a pH that is much lower. They are burned out, tired and their bodies are starving for balance. Under the influence of acidic foods the muscles fatigue easily. You literally slow down because your body cannot produce the same physical results as before.

The free radical oxidation that occurs when you eat acidic foods makes you age faster. Vitamins and minerals are not absorbed as readily. Friendly bacteria in the small intestine die, which puts the digestive system off balance. Further hurting the function of the intestine is the fact that a high level of acidity inhibits the ability for intestinal walls to absorb nutrients. Cells become stressed with the toxins that build up and cannot remove them. The vast majority of bodily systems cannot run at full capacity.

On the other hand, alkaline foods have a wide variety of benefits to your health. Eating them improves your muscle output. They also have antioxidant effects in the body. They increase assimilation at the cellular level and allow cells to operate in the manner that they should. There is a reduction of parasites and yeast overgrowth with the use of alkaline foods. Alkaline foods promote deeper and more restful sleep, more youthful skin and relieve suffering from colds, headaches and the flu. Alkaline foods promote abundant physical energy.

Perhaps the most important differences between acid and alkaline foods are their relationship to cancer. Cancerous tissues are acidic, and health tissues are alkaline. When oxygen enters an acidic solution it combines with hydrogen ions can form water. Oxygen helps to neutralize the acid, but acid prevents oxygen from reaching tissues where it is needed. When oxygen enters an alkaline solution, the two hydroxyl ions combine with the solution to create one water molecule and one oxygen atom. The sole oxygen atom is free to go to the next cell and bring the benefits of oxygen to all of the tissue in the body. At a pH of slightly above 7.4, cancer cells become dormant. Studies show that at pH 8.5, cancer cells die and healthy cells live.

Alkalizing the diet has many benefits, in addition to cancer prevention. The alkaline food list is a selection of choices that will benefit your health when you start incorporating them into your body.

From Harvard Medical School – Diabetes mellitus is a common disorder marked by elevation of the blood sugar. Diabetes develops most commonly because the pancreas is injured and is unable to produce enough insulin (type 1 diabetes) or because the body’s tissues become resistant to insulin and the pancreas releases too little (type 2 diabetes). Although the majority of patients with type 1 diabetes develop this disease in childhood or early adulthood and the majority of patients with type 2 diabetes are well into adulthood when they develop the disease, the terms juvenile-onset diabetes (for type 1) and adult-onset diabetes (for type 2) have fallen out of favor — either type may occur at any age. In addition, either type of disease may or may not require insulin therapy, though it is typical of Type 1 – therefore, the terms “insulin-dependent” and “non-insulin-dependent” have also been retired.

The most common complications of diabetes include eye damage, nerve disease and problems with kidney function, although other problems — including heart attacks, stroke, joint and tendon disease and infections — may occur with increased frequency. Medical treatment can often delay the development of complications or prevent them altogether. Given how common diabetes is and how many problems can develop as a result, a clearer understanding of the cause could lead to effective means of prevention.
The Cause of Diabetes

The cause of diabetes in any individual is usually unknown, although there are a host of theories, Ongoing research is attempting to get a better understanding of how this disease develops. Well-recognized risk factors include:
#Heredity
#Obesity
#Medications
#Viral infection (probably rare)

In recent years, regular consumption of foods with a high “glycemic index”- those that are better able than others of increasing blood sugar soon after it is eaten – has been identified as a possible risk factor for an individual developing diabetes. However, plenty of people eat these foods and never develop the disease; in addition, foods with high glycemic index (one able to increase one’s blood sugar over 2 hours) may have similar sugar content as ones with a low index. This remains an area of active investigation, including the possibility that maintaining a diet with a low glycemic index may reduce the risk of diabetes, especially among persons with a family history of the disease.
Sugar and Diabetes: Dispelling the Myth

A person with diabetes is generally advised to avoid foods with a high sugar content and to maintain a diet and medication schedule that maintains as normal a blood sugar level as possible. Improved blood sugar control may reduce the chances that certain complications of the disease will develop. But just because the disease is characterized by an elevated blood sugar level and because lowering the blood sugar level is an important goal of therapy, the sugar content of one’s diet does not by itself cause the illness. An elevated blood sugar level is a result of having diabetes, not the cause.

Assuming an elevated blood sugar level is the cause of diabetes is like assuming that coughing is the cause of pneumonia. And not only does sugar itself not cause diabetes, there is no convincing evidence that sugar causes other problems that it has been blamed for, such as hyperactivity. Many medical myths develop along these lines.

Dispelling this myth regarding sugar may correct the assumption many people have about the development of diabetes – that people with this illness have brought it on themselves by eating the wrong kinds of foods. Although it is true that avoiding obesity may reduce the chances of developing type 2 diabetes, the specific types of foods you eat may play little or no role. And not all persons with diabetes are overweight – that’s another myth. For these patients, heredity and perhaps other undiscovered factors are more important.
The Bottom Line

Unfortunately, other than maintaining an optimal body weight, there is no known way to prevent diabetes through diet or any other means. Research is underway to identify genetic, immune, dietary or other environmental factors that contribute to disease development in the hopes of preventing disease, especially in persons at high risk. But, for now, the notion that a high-sugar diet causes diabetes is a medical myth that demonstrates how the effect of an illness may be mistaken for its cause.

Geri Metzger wrote: What are triglycerides?

Triglycerides are a type of fat found in your blood. They are a major source of energy and the most common type of fat in your body.

When you eat, your body uses the calories it needs for quick energy. Any extra calories are turned into triglycerides and stored in fat cells to be used later. The excess calories are stored as fat regardless of what kind of food you eat—fat, carbohydrate, or protein. If you regularly eat more calories than you burn, you may have high triglycerides.

In normal amounts, triglycerides are important to good health. When triglyceride levels are high, it is not clear whether these high levels directly increase your risk for heart disease. But high triglycerides are often part of a group of conditions called metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome is the combination of increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess weight, low HDL (“good”) cholesterol, and high triglycerides. This syndrome does increase your risk for heart disease as well as for diabetes and stroke.

Triglycerides are measured as part of a blood test that measures your cholesterol. Normal triglyceride levels are below 150. Levels above 200 are high.
What causes high triglycerides?

Obesity, poorly controlled diabetes, underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism), kidney disease, and regularly eating more calories than you burn can cause high triglycerides.

Certain medicines may also increase triglycerides. These include tamoxifen, steroids, beta-blockers, some diuretics, estrogen, and birth control pills. Drinking a lot of alcohol may also cause high triglycerides.

Certain types of high cholesterol and high triglycerides run in families.
What are the symptoms?

High triglycerides do not usually cause symptoms. People who have a family history (genetic cause) of very high triglycerides may have visible fatty deposits under the skin called xanthomas.

In rare cases, people who have very high triglycerides may develop inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis). This can cause sudden, severe abdominal pain, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, and fever.
How can I lower my high triglycerides?

You may be able to lower your triglycerides by eating fewer calories and increasing your activity. Reducing fats in your diet and not drinking alcohol may also help.

If increasing your activity and watching calories do not work, you may also need medicine. Medicines called statins are commonly used to lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol. But drugs called nicotinic acids and fibrates seem to work better for lowering triglycerides. If you have high triglycerides, high LDL cholesterol, and low HDL (“good”) cholesterol, it may help you to take a combination of medicines, such as a statin and a fibrate.

From Yahoo Health articles reported that – Anyone who has ever held a baby knows they often spit up when they eat. For most babies and their parents, this just leads to a lot of laundry. But for some, spitting up too much, too often can be a sign of gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD.

Reflux, which is when stomach contents leave the stomach and come back into the esophagus (the tube that connects the mouth to the stomach) or even the mouth, happens to just about everyone. When the acid that breaks food down in the stomach gets into the esophagus or mouth it can be painful, causing a child to cry or have trouble sleeping, and giving an adult heartburn. But while some amount of reflux is normal, GERD occurs when complications from reflux arise.

Here are some signs and symptoms of GERD in babies:

* Vomiting and/or spitting up regularly during or after feedings
* Choking, gagging or coughing during or after feedings
* Extreme fussiness in babies, especially after feedings
* Arching the back during or after feedings

While it’s not usually possible to stop a child from getting reflux, mild symptoms will almost always go away by the time a child is a year old. As long as your infant is comfortable and gaining appropriate weight, no major interventions are needed. If your child’s symptoms are more severe, your health care giver may prescribe a medication that will decrease the acid in your child’s stomach and decrease the painful symptoms of GERD. You also may be able to relieve your baby’s reflux with some simple home measures:

Head up at a gentle angle

Place your baby in an infant seat at a gentle angle after feeding, hold her upright for a half hour, or lay her on her stomach while awake at a 30 to 45 percent incline with her head up. This will help prevent food from backing up into the esophogus. However, do not allow your infant to sleep on her stomach because it can increase the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Also, sitting your baby up straight in an infant seat may actually put pressure on her stomach and make reflux worse.

Try smaller, more frequent feedings

Many children have an easier time keeping down small meals. But when you cut back on the size of the meals, you’ll have to increase their frequency so your baby gets enough to eat.

Thicken the milk or formula

Adding up to a tablespoon of rice cereal to 2 ounces of milk or formula will thicken it which makes the liquid less likely to slosh up out of the stomach into the esophagus.

Burp early and often

Too much gas or air in the stomach can increase reflux for infants. So if you’re bottle feeding, find a nipple that allows your baby’s mouth to make a good seal during feeding and keep the nipple filled with milk so your infant doesn’t swallow too much air. Burping your baby after 1 or 2 ounces of formula or milk, (the equivalent of feeding on each side for breast-fed infants) also can help prevent a build up of gas in the stomach.

When to Call the Doctor

Call the doctor immediately if:

* your infant spits up blood or green or yellow liquid
* your infant appears to be having trouble breathing

Call the doctor today if:

* your infant vomits forcefully after every feeding or the amount of vomit increases
* your child is not able to hold any fluids down

Talk with the doctor at your child’s next checkup if:

* your infant spits up and/or vomits often and doesn’t seem to be gaining weight
* your infant consistently fusses after feedings, especially when lying on her back
* your infant continues to spit up or vomit after the age of one

Testing for Reflux

Testing for reflux is usually done by doctors only when symptoms are not relieved with routine treatment or when complications occur. Your gastroenterologist may decide to do x-rays, or endoscopic procedures. For those children with more persistent and difficult symptoms, other tests may be necessary.

Until recently, standard reflux tests that measure acid level in the esophagus, have not been able to diagnose non-acid reflux. This type of reflux occurs when non-acidic substances, such as bile, come back up out of the stomach into the esophagus. A new technique called multilumen intraluminal impedance was recently developed to determine if your child has non-acid reflux.

Source: Children’s Hospital Boston physicians Alan Leichtner, MD, and Sam Nurko, MD, are both experts on gastroesophageal reflux in children.

LAURAN NEERGAARD of AP Medical Writer reported from Washington about The popular anti-wrinkle drug Botox and a competitor Myobloc have been linked to some deaths and other severe side effects suggestive of botulism, the government warned doctors Friday.

The drugs use botulinum toxin, which blocks nerve impulses to muscles, causing them to relax.

But in rare cases, the toxin may have spread beyond the injection site to other parts of the body, resulting in such problems as paralysis of respiratory muscles and difficulty swallowing, the Food and Drug Administration said.

The FDA said the deaths were all among child patients, mostly those with cerebral palsy treated for limb spasms, a condition the FDA has never formally approved for the drugs’ use in this country although other countries have.

The problems may be caused by overdoses of the drugs, the FDA said.

Caroline Van Hove, a spokeswoman for Botox maker Allergan Inc., said children with cerebral palsy have far larger doses injected into their leg muscles than the doses given adults seeking wrinkle care.

But the FDA warned that it also has reports of side effects in people of all ages given the drugs for a variety of conditions.

Friday’s warning came two weeks after the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen petitioned the FDA to strengthen warnings to users of Botox and Myobloc — citing 180 reports of U.S. patients suffering fluid in the lungs, difficulty swallowing or pneumonia, including 16 deaths.

It is not the first warning about the potential for botulinum toxin to spread after the drugs’ injection; the products’ labels say it can happen.

Still, the FDA said Friday that its investigation into the side effects is still in its early stages.

For now, the agency said doctors should warn all patients receiving a botulinum toxin injection, whether for cosmetic purposes or as a medical treatment, to seek immediate care if they experience difficulty swallowing or breathing, slurred speech or muscle weakness.

That falls short of Public Citizen’s request that the agency put a black-box warning, the FDA’s sternest, on the drugs’ labels and require that every patient receive a pamphlet outlining the risk before every injection.

“Every doctor needs to notified about this, every patient needs to be notified,” said Public Citizen’s Dr. Sidney Wolfe. “Children are showing the way, unfortunately some dead children.”

He said drug regulators in Britain and Germany last year required sterner warnings be sent to every doctor in those countries.

There’s no such thing as a “normal” cholesterol level, but we do have targets to aim for.

HDL (“good cholesterol”): The higher your HDL is, the more protection you get against atherosclerosis. I tell everyone to try to get their HDL up to at least 40. Low HDL values, below 35-40 mg/dl, are considered dangerous, while numbers above 60-65 mg/dl actually reduce your risk.

There is a little disagreement on the specific thresholds. Men are generally told to strive for higher levels than women, because men have greater risk of atherosclerosis than women the same age. The best way to increase your HDL is with exercise. Diet and current medications don’t have very much effect.

Triglycerides: High triglyceride levels not only increase the risk of atherosclerosis, they can also cause liver disease and pancreatitis. Most experts agree that everyone should try to keep their triglycerides below 150 mg/dl.

Our bodies produce triglycerides as a way of storing excess energy to be used later. Even though they are the building blocks of fat, the main cause for high triglycerides is too much sugar and simple starch in the diet. Cutting down on sweets, sodas, bread, rice, noodles, potatoes and similar starchy foods can help a lot.

LDL (“bad cholesterol”): Safe levels of LDL are the most complicated to determine. Because people at higher risk for heart attack and stroke will benefit most from reducing their LDL, we set the lowest target values for them. There are also two different sets of goals, depending upon how aggressive you want to be. But in any case, lower is almost always better for both LDL and triglycerides.

Studies show that heart attack risk continues to drop as you lower your LDL level, regardless of your other health problems. The best way to reduce your LDL is to cut down on fat in your diet. A few common sources of fat include fried foods, milk, cheese, egg yolks and creamy sauces or dressings.

Treatment at home can help reduce acne flare-ups.

* Wash your face (or other affected skin) gently once or twice a day.
* Do not squeeze pimples, because that often leads to infections, worse acne, and scars.
* Use water-based skin care products that gently clean your skin. Avoid products such as milky cleansers, cold creams, lipsticks, and lip glosses that contain oils.
* Use nonprescription medicated creams, soaps, lotions, and gels to treat your acne. Always read the label carefully to make sure you are using the product correctly.

Examples of some nonprescription products used to treat acne include:

* Benzoyl peroxide (Benoxyl, Benzac, Clearasil), which unplugs pores.
* Alpha-hydroxy acid, which dries up blemishes and causes the top skin layer to peel. You’ll find alpha-hydroxy acid in moisturizers, cleansers, eye creams, and sunscreens.
* Salicylic acid (Clearasil, Propa pH, Stri-Dex), which dries up blemishes and causes the top skin layer to peel.
* Tea tree oil, which kills bacteria. You’ll find tea tree oil in gels, creams, and oils.

Other products that may help your overall skin condition include skin pore-cleaning strips. When you peel off these bandagelike strips from your skin, dirt and makeup stick to the strip.

You’ll have better results if you follow the directions for using topical medications. If you use a product too often, acne can get worse.