Medical entities condemn “beauty chip”

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Hormonal implants are manipulated and are not approved by Anvisa

The “alarming and growing” use of hormonal implants, often containing anabolic steroids, has been a cause for concern among experts in endocrinology, obesity and gynecology. The director-president of the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa), Antônio Barra Torres, received a public request from seven medical entities for action regarding the indiscriminate use of hormonal implants in Brazil.

Called the “beauty chip”, implants are prescribed as a strategy for weight loss, menopause treatment, anti-aging, reducing body fat, increasing libido and muscle mass. According to the entities, they can contain numerous substances, although they are normally composed of testosterone or gestrinone, a progestin with androgenic effect. Combinations containing estradiol, oxandrolone, metformin, oxytocin, other hormones and NADH are also produced.

Not approved by Anvisa for commercial use and industrial production, hormonal implants are manipulated and do not have adequate leaflets or information on pharmacokinetics, efficacy or safety. The exception is the etonogestrel implant, called Implanon, which is approved as a contraceptive.

Doctors warn that there is no safe dose for using hormones for aesthetic or performance purposes and the side effects of the devices can be unpredictable and serious, with the risks outweighing any possible benefits.

“Cases of acute myocardial infarction, thromboembolism and stroke are becoming frequent. Skin, liver, kidney, muscle complications and infections are associated with the use of implants. Psychological and psychiatric manifestations, such as anxiety, aggression, dependence, withdrawal and depression are increasingly common.”

The entities ask Anvisa to improve control over the use of anabolic steroids and regulate the handling of medications only through the route of administration in which the medication was registered. “A different pathway requires published scientific data on efficacy, safety and long-term outcomes.”

The entities signing the request are the Brazilian Association for the Study of Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome (Abeso), the Brazilian Society of Endocrinology and Metabology (SBEM), the Brazilian Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics Associations (Febrasgo), the Brazilian Society of Exercise Medicine and do Sport (SBMEE), Brazilian Society of Diabetes (SBD), Brazilian Society of Urology (SBU) and Brazilian Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology (SBGG).

*With information from Extra

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