This medicine for acne is very useful, it can reduce the risk of schizophrenia by 30%, a big claim in the new study

Last Updated:December 04, 2025, 17:09 IST

Acne Drug Reduce Schizophrenia Risk: In case of acne, doctors give antibiotics as per the condition of the patient. A new study has revealed that doxycycline, a drug used in the treatment of acne, can reduce the risk of schizophrenia by about 30 percent. A study conducted on 56 thousand youth in Finland found that those who took this medicine in adolescence had a significantly lower risk of schizophrenia later.

The acne medicine doxycycline may reduce the risk of schizophrenia.

Acne Drug May Prevent Schizophrenia: The problem of acne is very common among teenagers. Most of the people have to face this skin problem in adolescence. Doctors give antibiotics for acne, so that relief can be provided quickly. Now a new study has come out, in which it has been found that a common medicine used for acne can reduce the risk of mental disease called schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a serious mental disease in which people often see and hear things that are not actually there. Many times they feel that someone is following them and trying to kill them. Whereas in reality nothing like this happens. Schizophrenia requires lifelong treatment.

According to the report of Science Alert An international study has shown that doxycycline, an antibiotic drug given for acne, can reduce the risk of schizophrenia by about 30%. However, this research does not show a direct relationship between cause and effect. Nevertheless, it may prove effective in preventing mental health related problems in future. This study has been done by researchers from the University of Edinburgh. In this, data of more than 56000 people of Finland, who were born between 1987 and 1997, was analyzed. It found that people who took doxycycline in childhood or adolescence had a 30 to 35% lower risk of developing schizophrenia later on. This risk was 2.1% in those taking other antibiotics, while it dropped to 1.4% in those taking doxycycline.

Researchers believe that doxycycline has an effect not only on bacteria, but also on immune response, inflammation and cell death processes. This drug can cross the blood-brain barrier, so it is possible that it could prevent changes associated with schizophrenia by reducing inflammation in the brain or protecting neural networks. A 2019 study found that a similar drug, minocycline, reduces excessive synaptic pruning in the brain, which is considered a major cause of schizophrenia. Researchers say that about half of schizophrenia patients go to the doctor for some mental problem in adolescence itself. This is the time when the disease is in its initial stage. The future risk of this disease can be reduced through proper treatment.

If safe antibiotics like doxycycline reduce this risk, then it could prove to be a great weapon in the prevention of mental health problems. The researchers have clearly said that this is an observational study and it is based only on data. This does not prove that doxycycline definitely prevents schizophrenia. For this, clinical trials and scientific tests will be required. Yet the data is so strong that scientists are considering it a ray of hope for the prevention of mental illness.