HEALTH UPDATE: use of skin bleaching products can be risky

Complications from the use of skin lightening products are a serious problem for men and women of African descent, a study shows.
In a group of 46 people, Dr Antoine Petit of the Hopital Saint Louis, Paris and colleagues identified two with insufficient adrenal gland function that was likely due to use of one product called clobetasol, which is illegal in France.
Others had hyperpigmentation, stretch marks, skin atrophy (degeneration) and infections that could have been related to use of skin lightening products, while many reported being unable to stop trying to lighten their skin even though they wanted to.
"This particular feature of skin lightening is akin to addictive behaviour, sometimes associated with real psychological suffering," Petit and colleagues write in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
Skin lightening appears to be a common practice among dark skinned individuals in most of the world, and has been linked to side effects ranging from disfiguring scarring to system-wide health problems, the researchers note.