Fairness cream use on the rise in kidney disease in India: research

Kidney diseases are on the rise in India due to the use of skin fairness creams. The information that emerged in a recent study. News from NDTV. People have different attitudes towards fair skin. And using this, various skin-lightening creams have taken over a large part of the Indian market. However, due to the large amount of mercury in these creams, it has been revealed that the kidney is being damaged.

The study, published in the medical journal Kidney International, found that increased use of high-mercury fairness creams increased the incidence of membranous nephropathy (MN), which damages kidney filters and causes protein leakage.

MN is an autoimmune disease that results in nephrotic syndrome. It is a kidney disease that results in excessive protein excretion in the urine.

Kerala Aster MIMS Hospital Nephrology Department researcher Dr. "Mercury is absorbed through the skin and causes damage to the kidney's filters, leading to an increase in nephrotic syndrome," writes Sajeesh Sivadas in a post on X.

He further said, 'These creams are widely available in unregulated markets in India. The creams can be used to get fair quickly. But how? Users often say that using this cream is almost addictive. Because if you stop using it, the skin becomes darker.'

The researchers reported these results after examining 22 types of MN recorded between July 2021 and September 2023.

Of the 22, about 68 per cent, or 15, were positive for neural epidermal growth factor-like 1 protein, the findings showed. This is a rare form of MN that is more likely to be associated with malignancy. Thirteen of the 15 patients admitted to the hospital had used the skin fairness cream before the onset of their symptoms.

One of the rest had a record of using other indigenous drugs. Nothing identifiable was found in the rest.