Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://news.vin.com/VINNews.aspx?articleId=15950
Hormone replacement skin products affect users? pets, confound veterinarians
June 10, 2010
By: Edie Lau
For The VIN News Service
The spreading popularity of topical hormone treatments in people ? especially but not exclusively menopausal women ? is having unintended medical consequences for the users? pets.
Spayed dogs and young female puppies are showing up in veterinary exam rooms with markedly swollen vulvas as if they are in heat. Male dogs present with enlarged mammary glands and abnormally small penises. Animals of both genders experience fur loss.
The phenomenon frequently stumps veterinary practitioners; sometimes patients go undiagnosed for weeks or months because clinicians don?t recognize the connection. Medical doctors in the human realm likewise are unfamiliar with the situation, a Veterinary Information Network (VIN) News Service inquiry found.
The problem appears to stem from the use by pet owners of hormone replacement treatments in the form of lotions, gels or sprays that are applied to the arms ? especially inner elbows and wrists ? or legs. The users then handle and snuggle their animals, unwittingly transferring the drug to the pets.
Symptoms of hormonal imbalance also may occur in pets that ingest the medications, either by licking where product was applied or eating an improperly stored or discarded transdermal patch or similar item.
The issue was brought to the attention of the VIN News Service by a clinician who has seen three such cases in his Bradenton, Fla., practice in the past year...
...A mother of two sons, Fox can?t help but wonder whether children, like pets, are being inadvertently exposed. ?What if you?re, like, a grandmother holding a child up against you?? she said.
Such worries aren?t far-fetched. The FDA has documented cases of children being accidentally exposed to testosterone gels through contact with men undergoing male hormone replacement therapy. The men used topical hormone products on their shoulders, upper arms or stomachs.
The FDA publicized the adverse effects in an announcement in May 2009, after it had confirmed eight cases in children ranging from nine months to five years of age. Symptoms included enlargement of the genitalia, development of pubic hair, advanced bone age, increased libido and aggressive behavior, according to the statement. In at least one case, a child was hospitalized and underwent surgery due to a delay in recognizing the underlying cause.
Once the children no longer were exposed to the product, most signs and symptoms regressed, although in a few cases ?enlarged genitalia did not fully return to age-appropriate size, and bone age remained modestly greater than the child?s chronological age,? the FDA news release states.
FDA does not have a public statement about the potential for adverse effects caused by secondary exposure to female topical hormone products. Asked by VIN News Service whether it was aware of the potential for such exposures, the agency said by e-mail:
?[We] have received reports of inadvertent exposure to topical estrogen products in children and pets through contact with another person being treated with the products (secondary exposure). The Center for Drug Evaluation and Research and the Center for Veterinary Medicine are evaluating these reports.?
A spokeswoman said she could not provide detail on how many such reports the FDA has received, when or by what means.
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is big business. The market for hormone replacement products containing estrogen was worth $1.8 billion in 2009, and topically applied drugs comprise a rapidly growing segment of that market, according to figures from SDI, a health-care analytics organization in Pennsylvania.
Hormone replacement skin products affect users? pets, confound veterinarians
June 10, 2010
By: Edie Lau
For The VIN News Service
The spreading popularity of topical hormone treatments in people ? especially but not exclusively menopausal women ? is having unintended medical consequences for the users? pets.
Spayed dogs and young female puppies are showing up in veterinary exam rooms with markedly swollen vulvas as if they are in heat. Male dogs present with enlarged mammary glands and abnormally small penises. Animals of both genders experience fur loss.
The phenomenon frequently stumps veterinary practitioners; sometimes patients go undiagnosed for weeks or months because clinicians don?t recognize the connection. Medical doctors in the human realm likewise are unfamiliar with the situation, a Veterinary Information Network (VIN) News Service inquiry found.
The problem appears to stem from the use by pet owners of hormone replacement treatments in the form of lotions, gels or sprays that are applied to the arms ? especially inner elbows and wrists ? or legs. The users then handle and snuggle their animals, unwittingly transferring the drug to the pets.
Symptoms of hormonal imbalance also may occur in pets that ingest the medications, either by licking where product was applied or eating an improperly stored or discarded transdermal patch or similar item.
The issue was brought to the attention of the VIN News Service by a clinician who has seen three such cases in his Bradenton, Fla., practice in the past year...
...A mother of two sons, Fox can?t help but wonder whether children, like pets, are being inadvertently exposed. ?What if you?re, like, a grandmother holding a child up against you?? she said.
Such worries aren?t far-fetched. The FDA has documented cases of children being accidentally exposed to testosterone gels through contact with men undergoing male hormone replacement therapy. The men used topical hormone products on their shoulders, upper arms or stomachs.
The FDA publicized the adverse effects in an announcement in May 2009, after it had confirmed eight cases in children ranging from nine months to five years of age. Symptoms included enlargement of the genitalia, development of pubic hair, advanced bone age, increased libido and aggressive behavior, according to the statement. In at least one case, a child was hospitalized and underwent surgery due to a delay in recognizing the underlying cause.
Once the children no longer were exposed to the product, most signs and symptoms regressed, although in a few cases ?enlarged genitalia did not fully return to age-appropriate size, and bone age remained modestly greater than the child?s chronological age,? the FDA news release states.
FDA does not have a public statement about the potential for adverse effects caused by secondary exposure to female topical hormone products. Asked by VIN News Service whether it was aware of the potential for such exposures, the agency said by e-mail:
?[We] have received reports of inadvertent exposure to topical estrogen products in children and pets through contact with another person being treated with the products (secondary exposure). The Center for Drug Evaluation and Research and the Center for Veterinary Medicine are evaluating these reports.?
A spokeswoman said she could not provide detail on how many such reports the FDA has received, when or by what means.
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is big business. The market for hormone replacement products containing estrogen was worth $1.8 billion in 2009, and topically applied drugs comprise a rapidly growing segment of that market, according to figures from SDI, a health-care analytics organization in Pennsylvania.