Doctors have issued a warning over the dangers of illegal skin-lightening creams, after a woman developed a hormone disorder.
The patient, put on almost two stone in three years, could not conceive and had severe stretch marks.
In the Lancet, medics from west London's Hammersmith Hospital said people were unaware they were harmful.
Dermatologists said such extreme reactions were rare, but minor skin effects were more common.
The creams usually contain hydroxyquinone, a skin-bleaching chemical, as well as high doses of steroids.
The use of hydroxyquinone is banned in UK cosmetic products because it causes severe skin irritation.
And the high doses of steroids found in the illegal creams should only be available on prescription because they can cause such serious disruption to the body's hormone levels.
Someone would have to use huge quantities of these creams for them to be absorbed into the body and cause these symptoms.