Pigmentation reducing creams - the cure worse than the cause
Reading about the latest studies linking hydroquinone to cancer should scare therapists. You can be delivering hydroquinone to your consumers without realizing it, even though the use of hydroquinone creams in cosmetics is prohibited.
For many years, hydroquinone has been used to lessen pigmentation by affecting the cells that produce melanin.
Melanocytes, which produce pigment, can be destroyed by this activity, and melanosomes—packets of pigment that melanocytes make and transfer to newly formed skin cells—can have their structures changed.
Because of the potential harm hydroquinone could cause to the skin—including irritation, white spots where pigment cannot be applied, and in certain cases, black skin—it was outlawed in January 2001 for use in cosmetics.
Dermatologists still prescribe it in hospitals, but as new safety information becomes available, they are gradually moving to substitutes. Recent research has indicated that hydroquinone may be carcinogenic.
Hydroquinone creams are still heavily imported from nations where they have not yet been outlawed, and there is a robust black market trade in the UK. This is awful enough, but what's even more troubling is that businesses are still able to lawfully market bearberry and arbutin-containing goods.
Hydroquinone's glycopyranoside is called arbutin. This mouthful indicates that hydroquinone is released when this molecule breaks down in the skin. Arbutin can be found naturally in bearberry.
Therefore, while using a different route, a large number of people are nonetheless efficiently obtaining hydroquinone. Although the EEC has identified hydroquinone as a possible carcinogen, they have not yet responded to inquiries about alternative sources of the drug.
In tests conducted on animals, hydroquinone has been demonstrated to induce kidney damage and blood malignancies including leukemia.
It is taken into the bloodstream and eliminated by the kidneys, albeit more slowly, when applied topically. This indicates that the body accumulates hydroquinone. It is converted to p-benzoquinone in the bone marrow, which may be the source of long-term harm.
For many years, people have been using hydroquinone creams to lighten their dark complexion in social situations.
The recommended duration of use is four to six weeks. There is now ample evidence to support the use of safer alternatives, which are often just as effective but have no long-term dangers.
A recent review by Drs. W. Westerhof and T. J. Kooyers of the Department of Medicine and the Netherlands Institute for Pigment Disorders has revealed this information.
University of Dermatology on the dangers of hydroquinone and its equivalents to health. They are begging the government to outlaw hydroquinone right now from all sources.
