During the ’50s, diethylstilboestrol or DES, a synthetic oestrogen or female hormone, was widely used in treating cases of threatened miscarriage.
It has been shown that the daughters of women exposed to this hormone during pregnancy have an increased rate of developing cancer of the vagina although further research has shown the incidence is not as high as first supposed.
There is, however, a high incidence of genital and urinary abnormalities in the sons and daughters of women exposed to the hormone.
Unfortunately, proper scientific research may be hindered by the intrusion of claims for damages in the litigation-prone U.S.
Special clinics have now been established at some of the major Australian women’s hospitals to investigate and monitor women exposed to DES.
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