Sex Hormone
(DR.SAJEEV VASUDEVAN)
Diethylstilbestrol (DES), developed in 1938, is a potent synthetic sex hormone with estrogenlike activity. Routinely prescribed for millions of pregnant women between 1947 and 1971, DES was intended to prevent miscarriages and premature births. A 1971 study linked DES with cancer of the vagina in daughters of women who had taken the drug during pregnancy, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned the prescription of DES to pregnant women. Numerous lawsuits have since been brought against DES manufacturers.
Evidence has accumulated for DES exposure-related immune disorders and malformations of the reproductive tract, which can cause miscarriages. Exposed women are strongly encouraged to have regular physical examinations including the Pap test to check for vaginal and cervical cancers as well as other health problems. Although most of the attention has focused on the DES-exposed daughters, abnormalities of the genital organs have been observed in DES-exposed sons, including missing or undescended testes, testicular cysts, abnormally small penises or low sperm counts that impair the ability to have a child. Rates of testicular cancer may be increased as well. DES sons have shown changes in brain function involving visual-spatial tasks. In 1992 the U.S. Congress authorized the National Institutes of Health to research the long-term effects of DES exposure in men and women.
There is continued use of DES for postcoital contraception, especially in cases of rape or incest, prostate cancer, menopause, metastatic breast cancer, and transsexual hormonal feminization. Long-term use of DES may cause unpleasant side effects and cancers of the kidney, liver, and breast. DES was once given to animals to accelerate their weight gain before slaughtering, but this practice was banned in the United States in 1979 because DES residues were found in the meat. Illegal use has since occurred.
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