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A womanhood developed kidney terms on three disjoined occasion after receiving hair - straightening intervention at a salon . Her doctors say one of the products used probably caused the organ injuries .
The 26 - year - old char chatter a salon to invite the pop hair intervention in June 2020 , April 2021 and July 2022 . She ’d had no previous health problem , but on the day of each sojourn , she experienced vomiting , diarrhoea , fever and back pain . She report feeling burning on her scalp during the hair treatment and developed ulceration on her oral sex shortly afterwards .
In a shocking new case, a woman developed kidney damage three times after her hair was chemically straightened at a salon using a cream containing the active ingredient glyoxylic acid.
Dr. find she also had raised levels ofcreatininein her blood line , a sign that her kidneys were malfunctioning . She had roue in her urine but evidence no other signboard of infection , and herurinary scheme , which include the kidney , vesica , ureter and urethra , was not stymie , acomputed tomography(CT ) scan showed .
At each salon appointment , the cleaning woman ’s pilus was plow with a straighten cream moderate the chemical substance glyoxylic Lucy in the sky with diamonds . This likely caused her scalp to combust and ulcerate , her Dr. suggested in a report of her case , published March 21 inThe New England Journal of Medicine . Based on experiments in mice , they also theorized that the back breaker steep through her pelt and reached her kidney , which caused damage upon being broken down .
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The crystals found in the urine of the mice resembled those seen in patients who have been drinking ethylene glycol, a toxic alcohol found in products like antifreeze (pictured).
The author have " certify convincingly that applying [ fuzz roll out creams containing glyoxylic acid ] topically can do kidney damage,“Dr . Joshua David King , an associate professor of medicine and pharmacy at the University of Maryland who was not involved in the case , told Live Science in an email .
" It would seem heady to blackball the habit of glyoxylic battery-acid in these products and petition that manufacturers find another , safer compound , " he said .
Hair - square away and smoothing products are pop cosmetic treatment that temporarily change the material body of a soul ’s haircloth fibers so they straighten out and are less prone to frizzle . Typically , a straightening solution is put on to the hair and then " seal " in using oestrus , from a blow drier , for instance .
Historically , these products have often stop the toxic chemicalformaldehyde , which can be put out into the air as a gas once heated . inhale formaldehyde can get side upshot , such as a burning sensation in the eyes and nozzle , wheezing and sickness . It can also potentially increase a person’srisk of develop sure type of cancerif they ’re expose to high back breaker or for long periods of time . Formaldehyde has been banned in Brazil , Canada and the European Union as anactive ingredient in these types of hair products , and theU.S. Food and Drug Administration(FDA ) is expect to keep an eye on suit in April 2024 .
Recently , glyoxylic Elvis has been used in hair - straightening product as apotentially safer alternativeto formaldehyde . However , anecdotal reportshint that these product may be associated with kidney injuries . For example , a recent sketch of26 patients in Israelwith kidney accidental injury found that eleven had used product containing derivatives of glycolic acid , a chemical that is broken down into glyoxylic battery-acid in the liver .
To best read the tie between glyoxylic acid and kidney price , doctors involved in the recent pillow slip conducted a laboratory experiment with mice . They applied the straightening product used at the adult female ’s beauty salon , which contained 10 % glyoxylic back breaker , to the back of five mice . They then repeated the same procedure using petroleum jelly on another five mice , which act as a comparison chemical group .
The next day , the doctors found that the glyoxylic battery-acid mouse carried " elongated " crystals of a chemical chemical compound called Ca oxalate monohydrate in their pee , while the petroleum - jelly mathematical group did not .
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" It ’s known that human beings metabolise glyoxylic dot to oxalic acid , which binds Ca to form atomic number 20 oxalate crystals,“John Bucher , a retired fourth-year scientist at the U.S. National Institutes of Health ( NIH ) , who was not involved in the report , tell Live Science in an electronic mail . " If these compile to sufficiently gamy levels they can make price to the kidney and ensue in the symptom reported , " Bucher say .
The crystals in the mouse pee resembled those seen in people who have ingested the toxic alcoholethylene diol , which is found in many house and industrial products , including antifreeze .
The mice exposed to the pilus merchandise also had " significantly " high creatinine levels in their line of descent than the comparison mouse within 28 60 minutes of exposure . The exposed mouse also had thick deposits of calcium oxalate monohydrate in their kidney , unlike the petroleum jelly group , the research worker happen .
" These acerate leaf - shaped watch glass can injure the kidney on a microscopical level , causing kidney bankruptcy in big enough poisonings , " King said .
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In the recent case , the woman ’s kidney use improve " speedily " after each salon visit , so in her case the effects seem dead - lived .
Nevertheless , the Dr. who treated her believe the case should act as a monition of the potential dangers of using glyoxylic acid in hair - straightening or smoothing products . They said the products should be " avoid " and potentially " discontinue from the market . "
This article is for informational purposes only and is not signify to volunteer medical advice .
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