Shock: Lavender May Give Boys Breasts, Feminine Traits

Soy, Part II. Except this actually comes from a real peer-reviewed science journal.

Who are these parents slathering their young boys with lavender, by the way?

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.

...

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.

...

Marijuana and soy products also have been linked to gynecomastia.

Yeah, but is it the pot or the Double-Stuff Hydroxes that follow?

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.

Now the big question: Are these oils safe for girls?

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.

So, no.

But I have a feeling a lot of guys are going to be giving their wives Lavender Extravaganza gift-baskets this Vagina Day.

Thanks to Warden.

posted by Ace at 04:28 PM

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