Common skin care misunderstandings have led to kidney disease, which is actually related to this type of cosmetics...

It turned out to be kidney disease

The patient, Ms. Wang, 30 years old, is an employee of a company in Nanjing and is in good health. Half a month ago, he suddenly developed edema in his face and lower limbs, and his whole body swelled up like an inflated ball. Not only that, in recent days she has obviously felt memory loss, accompanied by abnormal skin on both upper limbs, involuntary tremors of the eyelids, oliguria and increased foam in the urine. So, accompanied by her family, she went to the Nephrology Department of Jiangsu Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

After learning about Ms. Wang's condition, Zhang Lu, deputy chief Chinese medicine doctor of the Nephrology Department, decided to admit her to the hospital. After completing relevant examinations, Ms. Wang was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome. After a renal puncture biopsy, the pathological diagnosis was confirmed to be minimal lesions.

Unexpectedly, whitening products are the root of the problem

"I was in good health, so how could I suddenly get kidney disease?" Ms. Wang and her family found it hard to accept the result. During the physical examination, a very special phenomenon attracted Zhang Lu's attention. "The patient's facial skin is fair, which forms a sharp contrast with the skin color of her neck." After repeated questioning, she learned that she had used a set of whitening cosmetics for the past two months, and her facial skin had obvious allergic reactions at the beginning of use.

Mercury is often added to whitening skin care products. Occupational sensitivity reminds doctors that this could be kidney disease caused by mercury poisoning? The test of urine mercury content confirmed his judgment: the urine mercury level was seriously above the standard. Considering that she had no other occupational or family history of mercury exposure, skin-lightening products may have been the culprit for her kidney disease.

It's not wrong to love beauty

But be careful with whitening cosmetics that are too effective

Everyone loves beauty, and women who love beauty all want to have fair and beautiful skin. Therefore, many female friends are particularly fond of whitening cosmetics. However, some inferior cosmetics that claim to be "flawless" and "quickly whitening" can easily become health killers.

It is understood that the problem of excessive mercury in whitening cosmetics has been around for a long time. After adding mercury to whitening cosmetics, it can destroy the activity of enzymes in the epidermis of the skin, making it impossible for melanin to form, and achieving a rapid and very significant whitening effect. Although relevant national departments have clearly stipulated that the limit of mercury in cosmetics is less than 1mg/kg, driven by profit, some unscrupulous businesses still continue to add prohibited mercury.

"Long-term use of inferior cosmetics containing excessive mercury can cause serious harm," Zhang Lu told reporters. Mercury enters the body through the skin's epidermis, or skin appendages such as sweat glands, sebaceous glands and hair follicles and accumulates in the body, causing damage to the human nervous system and kidneys. This can lead to neurological manifestations such as memory loss, insomnia, nightmares, tremors, irritability, limb numbness, etc.; if the kidneys are affected, symptoms such as edema and increased foam in the urine will occur.

Here, he kindly reminds female friends who love beauty to be more vigilant about all kinds of whitening products in the future, and try not to use whitening products whose qualifications are questionable and whose ingredients are unknown. "If you suspect you have used inferior whitening products and have mercury poisoning, you should go to a regular hospital for a check-up as soon as possible, get a clear diagnosis and receive standardized mercury removal treatment."