with regards to essential oils and fgmo, there is an article in
todays boston globe detailing evidence that some essential oils (or
their components) act as hormones. clearly, if this is the case,
they are not the "soft" or "inert" substances we assume them to be.
deknow
http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/diseases/articles/2007/01/31/oil
s_may_cause_breast_growth_in_boys?mode=PF
Oils may cause breast growth in boys
By Jeff Donn, Associated Press Writer | January 31, 2007
BOSTON --Lavender and tea tree oils found in some shampoos, soaps and
lotions can temporarily leave boys with enlarged breasts in rare
cases, apparently by disrupting their hormonal balance, a preliminary
study suggests.
While advising parents to consider the possible risk, several hormone
experts emphasized that the problem appears to happen infrequently
and clears up when the oils are no longer used. None of those
interviewed called for a ban on sales.
The study reported on the condition, gynecomastia, in three boys ages
4, 7 and 10. They all went back to normal when they stopped using
skin lotions, hair gel, shampoo or soap with the natural oils.
It's unclear how often this problem might crop up in other young
children.
These plant oils, sometimes called "essential oils," are added to
many health-care products, usually for their scent. The oils are
sometimes found in other household products or sold in purer forms.
Tea tree oil is sometimes used in shampoos for head lice.
The suspected effect in this study is blamed on some chemical within
the oils that the body processes like estrogen, the female hormone
that promotes breast growth.
The findings were being reported Thursday in the New England Journal
of Medicine. The federally funded study came out of the University of
Colorado and the environmental health branch of the National
Institutes of Health. The findings were first released last year at a
science meeting.
The three boys were brought to their doctors with overdeveloped
breasts that looked like those of girls in early puberty. They were
sore in one case. For each boy, doctors could tie the problem only to
their use over several months of the natural-oil products.
The researchers suspected that the oils might be upsetting the boys'
hormonal balance. So they did a series of laboratory tests to check
how these oils work within human cells. The oils appeared to mimic
estrogen and block the male hormone androgen.
On product labels, the oils sometimes are listed by their scientific
names: Lavandula angustifolia (lavender oil) and Melaleuca
alternifolia (tea tree oil). Such products do not require government
approval to be sold unless they make specific health claims.
Marijuana and soy products also have been linked to gynecomastia.
Dr. Clifford Bloch, a hormone specialist in Greenwood Village, Colo.,
who treated the three boys, recommended that parents "be cautious"
with such products, especially for prolonged use. "I would not give
these products to my children," he said in an interview.
Bloch said he also suspects the oil played a role in a handful of
young girls he saw for a similar condition, including a 17-month-old
whose parents were washing her bottles with a lavender-scented soap.
Others sounded less worried. "It takes very little estrogen to cause
gynecomastia in a young child," said Dr. Richard Auchus, a University
of Texas Southwestern Medical Center hormone expert who knew of the
study findings. "If they're getting it for a brief period of time,
that really shouldn't cause long-term problems."
Also, the research did not pinpoint any specific estrogen-like
compounds in the oils or look for them in a range of products.
Chemist Steven Dentali, at the industry group American Herbal
Products Association, said that warning people to avoid such oils "is
premature without the additional basic research needed to bolster the
case that the issue here is both real and significant."
Gynecomastia is very common in boys during the hormonal changes of
puberty. But it also occurs as a rare condition in younger boys, men,
and girls before puberty.
Bloch, the study doctor, said it's unknown if such oils could hurt
women with estrogen-fed breast tumors.
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