hair treatment: Hair straightening may damage kidneys, finds a study; Woman suffers kidney failure, skin burn after straightening

In a latest examine printed in The New England Journal of Drugs, docs have reported a distressing case involving a girl who suffered kidney harm following a hair-straightening remedy at a salon. The identification of the girl has been saved confidential within the examine.

In accordance with the examine, the 26-year-old girl underwent the favored hair remedy in June 2020, April 2021, and July 2022. Regardless of having no prior well being issues, she started experiencing hostile signs after every go to to the salon, together with vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and again ache. Moreover, she reported a burning sensation on her scalp throughout the remedy and developed ulcers on her head.

Upon examination, docs noticed kidney malfunction indicated by elevated ranges of creatinine in her blood and the presence of blood in her urine. Though a CT scan revealed no indicators of an infection or blockage in her kidneys, her signs endured.

The girl disclosed to the docs that her hair had been handled with a straightening cream containing glyoxylic acid, which led the docs to suspect that this chemical was accountable for her scalp burning and ulceration.

Additional investigation, together with experiments on mice, led the docs to theorize that the glyoxylic acid was absorbed by her pores and skin and subsequently reached her kidneys, leading to harm upon breakdown.

The examine recognized the girl as affected by recurrent episodes of acute kidney damage resulting from oxalate nephropathy, a uncommon dysfunction characterised by a lower in kidney perform brought on by the buildup of calcium oxalate crystals in kidney tubules. The findings strongly recommend that glyoxylic acid utilized in hair-straightening procedures could also be accountable.Dr. Joshua David King, an affiliate professor of drugs and pharmacy on the College of Maryland, emphasised the necessity for motion, stating, “It will appear smart to ban using glyoxylic acid in these merchandise and request that producers discover one other, safer compound.”Hair straightening, a method courting again to the Nineties, entails flattening and straightening hair to attain a clean and smooth look. Regardless of its lengthy historical past, this case underscores the significance of making certain the protection of merchandise utilized in such therapies.