RESEARCH - Is lipstick associated with the development of SLE?

[Guest guest]

Clin Rheumatol. 2008 Sep;27(9):1183-7. Epub 2008 Jun 4.

Is lipstick associated with the development of systemic lupus

erythematosus (SLE)?

Wang J, Kay AB, Fletcher J, Formica MK, McAlindon TE.

Division of Rheumatology, Tufts Medical Center, 750 Washington Street,

P.O. Box 406, Boston, MA, 02111, USA.

Lipstick use has been hypothesized to be a risk factor of developing

systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The objective of this study was to

investigate the association between lipstick use and risk of SLE. We

performed an Internet-based case-control study of SLE with Googletrade

mark users searching on medical key terms as the source population.

Cases were diagnosed within 5 years and met >/=4 ACR criteria for SLE

by medical record review. Controls were matched to cases on age,

gender, race, ethnicity, region of residence, reference year,

education, and income using propensity score. Demographic

characteristics and lifestyle factors were collected using an online

questionnaire. Conditional logistic regression models were used for

the analyses with smoking, alcohol consumption, permanent hair dye

use, and chemical hair straightener use adjusted. The analysis

included 124 cases and 248 matched controls of whom 96% were females

and 81% were whites. The median of disease duration was 2 years (range

0-4 years). Using lipstick at least 3 days/week was significantly

associated with increased risk of SLE (adjusted OR = 1.71, 95%CI =

1.04-2.82). There was a trend of greater risk with earlier age of

initiation of lipstick use (<16 years vs. never use; OR = 1.95, 95%CI

= 1.01-3.76, p trend = 0.02) and with increased frequency of use (7

days/week vs. never use; OR = 1.75, 95%CI = 0.89-3.44, p trend =

0.07). Biologic effects of chemicals present in lipsticks absorbed

across the buccal mucosa and confounding from unmeasured lifestyle

factors could be the explanation of this association. Epidemiologic

studies of SLE should include this exposure in exploring its

environmental triggers.

PMID: 18523821

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18523821

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Not an MD

[Guest guest]

Gracious! I can't go out without lipstick! I would look too bad!

Sue

On Tuesday, August 19, 2008, at 05:40 PM, wrote:

> Is lipstick associated with the development of systemic lupus

> erythematosus (SLE)?