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Thursday, February 01, 2007The first, aged four, had been experiencing symptoms for two to three weeks. His mother said she had recently begun applying a 'healing balm' containing lavender oil to his skin. The second boy, who was 10, had been developing enlarged breast tissue over the previous five months. When questioned, it emerged that he was using a shampoo and hair gel containing lavender oil and tea tree oil every morning. The third boy, aged seven, had a one-month history of gynaecomastia. He had been using lavender-scented soaps and skin lotions. His twin used the soap, but not the lotions, and had not developed the condition. Each of the boys stopped using the relevant products, and several months later the tissue growth was found to have subsided. The cases are here (subscription required). The researchers confirmed their suspicion that the oils acted like estrogens by exposing cultured estrogen-responsive breast cancer cells to them. The cells behaved as if they were in the presence of estrogen, and the response was greater the greater the dose of the oils. Lavender oil is evidently popular in alternative medicine circles, as is tea tree oil. I wonder if they do anything for hot flashes. posted by Sydney on 2/01/2007 10:15:00 PM 2 comments 2 Comments:Or breast cancer....
By As I always told patients who like herbal remedies- if it has an effect it has a side effect.
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