British doctors have issued a warning about illegal skin-lightening creams after
a case in which a woman fell sick from using a product laced with a powerful
steroid.

The woman was
extremely obese, had thin, bruised, stripy skin and suffered from muscle
weakness. She had been trying unsuccessfully to conceive for the previous 18
months even though she had regular periods.

Physicians initially believed
she had a disorder called Cushing’s syndrome, caused by the adrenal or pituitary
glands. But blood tests turned up no sign of excess levels of two hormones that
are the usual telltales of this syndrome.

After further inquiries, the
patient admitted she had been using a skin-lightening cream for seven years,
bought not from a pharmacist but from a local shop that was unauthorised to sell
it.

The cream contained the
steroid clobetasol, a powerful corticosteroid usually used against psoriasis and
eczema. The woman had been using two tubes of it, amounting to about 60 grams
(three ounces), a week.

Reporting the case study in a
British journal, the doctors at London’s Hammersmith Hospital urge physicians to
be aware of the risk of illegal skin whiteners.

"The market is worth millions
of pounds (euros, dollars) a year, in the UK alone. Creams can contain toxic
substances, such as steroids and hydroxyquinone - and patients are typically
unaware of the risks," they say.

Skin lightening is used in
parts of Asia, Africa and the Middle East where a fairer skin is associated with
attractiveness. Campaigners against whitening say the practise reinforces
discrimination and ancient stereotypes.

Via Times of India