Melaninatc Newsletter 109

African Traditional Herbal Research Clinic
Volume 4, Issue 1
NEWSLETTER
January 2009
MELANIN & SKIN Happy New You

From Maintaining Our Temples By Qaraandin
This is the time of year when most of us promise to make all of the changes we need to make to be "perfect." We promise to: lose weight, stop smoking, start exercising, spend more time outdoors, eat more fresh raw foods, and drink more water. In short, we promise to do all the things we need to do to maintain our temples. At first, we are proud of ourselves because we are able to do exactly what we said we would do. We take walks every day during our lunch breaks. We stop snacking on chips and beer while we are watching television. After a couple of weeks, we begin to feel a little better. We even think we look better! Then, because it takes a while to completely replace an old habit with a new one, when something comes up we fall back into our old program without thinking. How do we react to our slip? Most of us give all of our attention to the single mistake and stop our program then and there. Because of one small mistake, we think that we have "failed." We completely overlook the month or six weeks that we
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What is the African Traditional Herbal Research Clinic?

We can make you healthy and wise
Nakato Lewis Blackherbals at the Source of the Nile, UG Ltd.

The African Traditional Herbal Research Clinic located in Bukoto, Uganda is a modern clinic facility created to establish a model space whereby indigenous herbal practitioners and healers can upgrade and update their skills through training and certification and respond to common diseases using African healing methods and traditions in a modern clinical environment. Traditional healers are the major health labor resource in Africa as a whole. In Uganda, indigenous traditional healers are the only source of health services for the majority of the population. An estimated 80% of the population receives its health education and health care from practitioners of traditional medicine. They are knowledgeable of the culture, the local languages and local traditions. Our purpose is to raise public awareness and understanding on the value of African traditional herbal medicine and other healing practices in todays world. The Clinic is open and operational. Some of the services we offer are African herbal medicine, reflexology, acupressure, hot and cold hydrotherapy, body massage, herbal tonics, patient counseling, blood pressure checks, urine testing (sugar), and nutritional profiles. We believe in spirit, mind, and body. Spiritual counseling upon request. Visit us also at www.Blackherbals.com Hours: 9:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday thru Friday 10 am to 4:00 pm Saturday - Sundays Closed
INSIDE THIS ISSUE

1 Happy New You 2 The Mass Poisoning of America 3 Afrikan Spirituality Ancestor Veneration in Africa 4 Feature- Skin Healing 6 Feature- Got Melanin? 8 Feature-The Virtues of Vitamin D 11 Dy(e)ing to be Noticed 12 Pregnant Women Warned off Makeup 13 Indigo Plant May Treat Chronic Disease 14 Beauty Creams with Nanoarticles that Poison the Body 15 Feature Melanin & Bio/Nanotechnology 20 Feature Skin Bleaching Thrives 22 Skin Bleaching/Lightening and its Dangers 27 New Botox Rival May Cost Less, Work Faster 28 Nanotechnology Sparks Fears for the Future 29 Skin Cancer Breakthrough 31 Dont Pucker Up: Lead in Lipstick 35 What is Vitiligo?/ Why Isnt My Skin Brown? 38 Herb of the Month Kigelia Africana & More
-1-Traditional African Clinic January 2009
Continued from page 1- Happy New You
faithfully followed our new program. We ignore the ten pounds we have lost, the extra energy we have, how much better we feel when we get up each morning. We focus on that one slice of cake we just ate, the three days we didnt take our walk, the one cigarette we smoked without thinking. And we give up! If we had stopped trying to walk the first time we fell down as babies, we would all still be crawling around! We have been programmed to behave as if one mistake makes us a "failure." Yet, not one "successful" person will say he or she got everything perfect on the first try! When we were babies we didnt think of ourselves as "failures" because we fell down. We picked ourselves up and tried again. And again. And again. As many times as it took us to learn to walk without falling down. When we decide to make the changes we need to make to maintain our temples, we will have days that we dont do all of the things we want or need to do. We dont have to beat ourselves up over what we didnt do. Instead, lets be happy about what we did do and plan to do better the next day. At least we are trying. How many people do you know who know what they need to do but wont even try? As long as we have life, we can make the changes that will lead toward our best health. Making the first step, no matter how small it may seem, is, in itself, success. Sistah Qaraandin is the author of "Maintaining Our Temples" and the publisher and editor of www.whattheproblemis.com and "Sistah Qaraandins M.O.T. Healthzine.
modern living, we create a wide variety of chemical toxins that go into the ecosystem through rivers and streams, the air, the soil and so on. Not only that, we actually synthesize toxic chemicals and then inject them directly into the food supply -- knowing full well that they are poisonous and are major contributors to the epidemic rates of chronic disease we are experiencing today. What are these chemicals I'm talking about? Well, you're about to get a whirlwind tour of humanity's toxic chemicals. And if you look at toxic chemicals, you have to start in the realm of dentistry, because in no other profession (save medicine) will you find the use of so many toxic chemicals that are deliberately prescribed to patients or injected into their bodies. We're talking about, of course, mercury fillings and fluoride dripped into the public water supplies. Dr. Poison Mercury, DDS When we talk about mercury fillings, you have to keep in mind that mercury is simply one of the most toxic substances you can put into the human body, aside from radioactive substances. Right now, today, dentists all across the country and around the world are taking this highly toxic metal and literally putting it into the teeth of human beings. Those teeth are then used to chew food, and as a person chews; they effectively grind away the surfaces of these mercury fillings. These fillings release gas mercury vapor and mercury particles, which people then breathe into their lungs, or digest in their stomachs. Now, I can understand that maybe 50 years ago, the dental industry was too ignorant to realize that it was advocating this toxic metal and putting it into patients' mouths. The industrial revolution is full of examples of companies that used lots of toxic substances and therapies, thinking they were good for you. Recall the X-rays and radiation of the first half of the twentieth century; people thought that radiation was great for you. Manufacturers were equating radiation with energy and thinking that if you consumed radiation pills, you would be more energetic. These were actually sold and sponsored by physicians and doctors; it was a mainstay of the medical industry in those days. Later, we had the lead issue with industrial companies like DuPont, which has an interesting history in the manufacture and distribution of lead. People were convinced lead was great for everything. They put it into the gasoline, and leaded gasoline was born. We later found out that lead causes nervous system disorders and that it's very unhealthy to have lead emissions in the air. We ended up getting rid of lead paint, and banning the use of lead in foods and cosmetics. But for some reason, today dentists still think mercury is perfectly good for you. It's like they're living in the Dark
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The healing power of a person lies within

the person, not within the doctor, a pill, or a knife. The healing power of a community lies within the community, not within a ballot box, an executive order, or a referendum.
The Mass Poisoning Of Humanity

An Exploration of Human Stupidity
By Mike Adams
NewsTarget.com November 27, 2005 The mass poisoning of humanity: an exploration of human stupidity. As human beings, we're the only species stupid enough to actually poison ourselves. As part of
AFRIKAN SPIRITUALITY
ANCESTOR VENERATION IN AFRICA

BY CHARLES NYAMITI
1. Introduction In many African societies ancestral veneration is one of the central and basic traditional and even contemporary forms of cult. As is indicated by the title, this essay intends to expose briefly the main features of that type of veneration in black Africa, South of the Sahara. 2. Ancestral cult in Black Africa African ancestral cult is deeply rooted in the African traditional worldview so much so that a proper and adequate understanding of that cult cannot be achieved without examining it in its intimate link with such worldview. Hence, before exposing the main features of ancestral veneration, it is useful to give first a brief survey of the African traditional worldview, in the light of which the former will and should be envisaged. 2.1 Brief Survey of African Traditional Worldview As can be gathered from anthropological and ethnological data most of the elements found in the African worldview can be reduced to four main headings: 2.1.1 Dynamism and vitalism, comprising an existential, concrete and affective way of approach. Reality is seen and judged especially from its dynamic aspects closely related to life. The farther a being is from these elements, the more unreal and valueless it is conceived to be, hence the emphasis on fecundity and life, and the identification between being and power or vital force. Indeed, the ideal of the African culture is coexistence with and the strengthening of vital force or vital relationship in the world and universe. Above all forces is God, who gives existence and increase of power to all others. Next comes the dead of the tribe who, thanks to their transition into the other world, are endowed with special powers. The living forms a hierarchy according to their power. The different manners of being are distinguished by their mode and degree of participation in the Supreme Force (God) and in superior forces of other "spiritual" beings. The craving for power, safety, protection and life is the driving force in the African religion. This craving originates not so much from logical reflection, but from a feeling of incapacity and an obstinate desire to overcome it. Many individual needs are believed to be satisfied by dynamism and spiritism. Amulets and talisman are vehicles of vital energy. _____________________
Managing Editor: Nakato Lewis PUBLISHER: KIWANUKA LEWIS Published monthly and freely by BHSN for the African Traditional Herbal Research Clinic
The traditional shrine as a symbol of our cultural history
This ethic is based on the belief that every act and custom which strikes at the vital force or at the growth and hierarchy of man is bad. What is ontologically and morally and juridically just is that which maintains and increases the vital energy received from the life-Giver, the Creator of force and the Force from which all forces flow and are under His control. Force, soul, life and word are closely connected with one another. The word is the principle of life, vital force par excellence (hence the force of the name, ritual, word and myth). In a certain sense all is participation, because it is the same force which animates the whole universe; and it is normal that everything acts upon everything. Hence pan-vitalism or cosmo-biology characterises the African traditional worldview. The classification of being is based on forces according to (a) the principle of proximity of origin (the begetter is always "stronger" than the begotten), or of existential affinity (correspondence between the visible and the invisible, the profane and the sacred, the jungle and the village); (b) distinction of sexes. 2.1.2 Solidarity (relationally), totality and participation. The universe is conceived as a sort of organic whole composed of suprasensible or mystical correlations or participations. The African does not only represent in his mind the object of his knowledge, but he participates in it only in a representative fashion, but simultaneously in the physical and mystical sense of the world, as can be observed especially in rituals. The connection between cause (supernatural) and effect is immediate; secondary causes are either not admitted or considered negligible. God is, in the final analysis, behind all the vents in the world. He is the Fountain of life and power in which all participate and, as such, He is the Foundation of human and cosmic solidarity, totality, and participation. This totalising vision manifests itself by the assimilation of the individual in the group, and by the absence of clear-cut differentiation between the various social functions (economic, juridical, political, religious). The social order is conceived as a replica of the order of
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Volume 4, Issue 1
NEWSLETTER
FEATURED ARTICLES
January 2009
Skin Healing
By Tariq Sawardi
"What you put on your skin is just as important as what you put in your body"
Over the last ten years, I have frequently consulted African Americans on a number of skin related problems such as sensitive skin, excessive oiliness, acne, spotting and tonal unevenness, ashiness, eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis, boils and athlete's foot. Some people just wanted a "quick fix". Others, still having to see themselves in the mirror each morning, were not happy about what they saw. Skin eruptions of any kind are nature's way of getting our attention when we're off wandering in the wilderness. According to African holistic principles, most skin eruptions are caused by eating poor food combinations, animal meat, denatured foods, bleached flours, dairy, white sugar and from chemicals contained in commercial cosmetics, to name a few. All of these things create congestion and toxins in the body. The skin is not just a covering to hold bones and muscles together. The skin is actually the largest elimination system that the body has and it communicates to us. Almost everything that we see happening to us, on the surface level, is reflective of a condition going on inside. Through holistic health science, we know that each cell in the body has intelligence and memory. If we stop putting the poisons in the body that are causing the problems and nutritionally-support the weakened system while it repairs itself, then most of the time we can reverse the damage that we've done. The same principle must be applied to the skin. You have probably heard the age-old saying, "you are what you eat." But we are also what we wear, what we breathe, and what we think. The thoughts we think, etch themselves on our face because they affect our water soluble vitamins and many of our minerals very quickly. It's hard to think or feel negative emotions without affecting your B vitamins and your potassium levels. When potassium and sodium levels are out of balance, deep lines start to appear on the ears, cheeks and forehead. There are basically two general types of skin diseases according to Yorubic medicine: Oshun imbalance and Ogun imbalance. Oshun imbalance is the result of a overload of the eliminative systems especially those affecting the kidneys, colon, and liver networks throughout the Orisha modes. This theory is also in agreement with the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine utilizing Yin and Yang polarities in the body. If we consume too much animal protein, there will be a buildup of urea and other toxic wastes, which does not allow the kidneys to satisfactorily discharge the toxins. If white sugar is added to the diet, it will precipitate a too active discharge resulting in skin eruptions. Melanin and Skin Health Without a doubt, melanin, the substance responsible for producing dark skin pigment in people of color is one of the important aspects when considering skin care. Melanin is a gift from the Creator which serves to protect the body and makes communication with the environment possible. Melanin is responsible for manufacturing and sustaining life and it keeps the black human in constant contact with the natural energies of the universe. (Refer to Diagram 1.) Dr Carol Barnes in his book, Melanin: The Chemical Key to Black Greatness indicates that melanin is a biopolymer of undetermined size. A polymer is a linkage of small units which forms a chemical chain or a large, complex molecule. Therefore, melanin is a very large, complicated and complex living molecule. It has a very high molecular weight, meaning that one molecule of melanin is composed of a three-dimensional configuration of over 200 individual atoms. It is a living molecule, a life chemical, and it is charged like a battery. In fact, it operates like a battery or super-conductor, yet it is heat resistant and is characterized by a nice, sweet fragrance. Continued on page 5
Continued from page 4 Skin Healing
Diagram 1.
Biochemistry of Black Skin
Quite often I have treated black women who had skin problems around the mouth, or eye areas. Those are the weakest areas on the face, so toxins will erupt in those areas first. In most cases, these women were using makeup which contained artificial colors. Most women experience rashes, marks, and pimples. This is the body's way of communicating that it is under toxic load. The artificial colors in the eye make-up are basically the last straw. In most of the cases I have diagnosed, I found that those same ladies also consumed quite a bit of sugar. Because sugar is assimilated in the mouth, it will immediately weaken the immune system so there is nothing left to fight against the attack of artificial colors. The invading chemicals alter the chemical structure of melanin, alter its electrical charge and damage its electronic configuration. All commercially made cosmetics have a toxic effect on melanin. The use of colors to make-up the face and body was derived from the ancient Egyptians. Europeans, however, misinterpreted this ancient African science, and distorted the original purpose of color science and called it make-up which is primarily used to cover and decorate the skin. In ancient Africa, colors were rubbed on the face to excite healing of disease. Colors were extracted from medicinal plants and metals. The ancient Egyptians discovered that colors derived from plants have a wholistic healing effect on the body and its organs. When some of these substances enter the body, they bind with melanin and confuses the body and its skin, so it cannot maintain the life functions the way pure melanin is suppose to. Melanin when toxic loses its ability to function properly and this result in physical and spiritual diseases, and "skin disorientations". Refer to Color Chart As a result of their beneficial effects on organs in the practice of medicine, the colors in flowers, shrubs and even in minerals were believed to possess therapeutic virtues according to their colors and these were duly classified by Egyptian priests. Colors have their own vibratory radiations which may affect the skin, causing health or allergic reactions. Pimples, bruises, rashes, blackheads and acne indicate a disease state of a particular organ related to a specific area on the face. Furthermore, discoloration, or vitiligo (small patches of white skin surrounded by normal pigmented skin) indicates a dysfunction of the organ related to that facial area. (Face chart 2.) Egyptian physicians depended heavily upon plants, minerals and metals in the compounding of remedies for different skin diseases. In each case, the color factor was carefully noted and influenced the selection of medicinal materials. Continued on page 10
Melanin is found not only in the skin, hair and eyes, but it is also contained in many other vital parts of the body as well. It is in the nervous system, the glands, the brain, the genes, the muscles, intestines, heart and liver. It is through these melanized organs, or networks that the skin receives its healthy vibrations. So, it is important that we understand the significance of melanin in our efforts to maintain and enhance our skin complexion. You and your skin is a product of what you eat, think and drink, and your body responds to all three. Dr. Jewel Pookrum states in her book, Melanin - The Basics, that there is also a relationship between the immune system and melanin, especially in black people. Dr. Pookrum describes in detail the chemistry behind melanin and how it becomes toxic when the body is exposed to various substances, such as chemicals, cosmetics, drugs food. When some of these substances enter the body, they bind with melanin and confuses the body and its skin, so it cannot maintain the life functions the way pure melanin is suppose to. Melanin when toxic loses its ability to function properly and this results in physical and spiritual diseases, and "skin disorientations".

Volume 4, Issue 1
NEWSLETTER
FEATURED ARTICLES
January 2009
Melanin Anyone?
Unblind Africanus
It is a sad and unfortunate fact that many people of Afrikan descent need to be reminded of black history month, once a year, in order for them to grasp at a few straws of self-awareness. The minds of these victims are too busy trying to emulate European behavior and civilization to initiate a serious exploration and inploration into their true essence. This goes to many extremes and is something that affects our situation negatively as well as niggatively". I am often dismayed but no longer surprised at the amount of my brothers and sisters who lack knowledge of self to the extent that, they are not aware of what melanin is. This fundamental determinant which makes us who we are as a people has not been taught to them and they have not taken the initiative to find out about it. To start at the beginning: Melanin is a Greek name (from melanos) which denotes the color black. It is true however that before the Greeks appropriated Afrikan civilization and science, in KMT or Egypt (which is a Greek misguided name) the ancient black Egyptian (Metu Nefer) word that had the blackest connotation was KMT and they named themselves by it (kamau). On a psychological level, the study of melanin is a key to unlock mental slavery of black people. Melanin is the fundamental unit of the universe and can exist in four forms including Cosmic Melanin, Planetary Melanin, Plant Kingdom Melanin (chlorophyll) and Animal Kingdom melanin (black pigmentation). The latter is the appropriate field of study for Afrikans. In humans, tyrosine, an amino acid, is the main nutrient. Tyrosine is a precursor of melanin and lays the foundation for melanin to be produced. The body must contain an enzyme known as tyrosinase and copper to be able to use tyrosine to create melanin. In humans there are three types of melanin. The first being Eumelanin which has a high electric charge, high molecular weight and density and gives rise to colors from dark brown to blue black. A less dense form of melanin with lower molecular weight is known as pheo-melanin or pseudo-melanin. It has been established that those with no melanin have quite a few more cancers and genetic disorders than those with pheo-melanin. It is also true that people with pheomelanin have also quite a few more cancerous developments than those with Eumelanin. The organ of the human body with the largest surface area is, of course, the skin. Many people are aware that the deep concentration of melanin in African peoples skin makes them black and enables them to use the rays of the sun more effectively than our less melanated counterparts, but what few know is that melanin is not only present in our skin but it permeates our whole physical being. It is contained in a small battery cell called a Melanosome. The degree of blackness in various organs in Afrikan people depends on the type of melanin contained and its weight. Melanin is present in each organ and regulates the workings of our brain. Within the human brain stem are 12 centers of black melanin. On the earth, only humans have deep pigmentation of all twelve-brain centers. The brain center with the deepest pigmentation is the Locus Coeruleus or Black Dot. The Locus Coeruleus supplies the pineal gland with norepinephrine. The pineal gland controls the flow of melatonin during the night hours to activate R.E.M sleep which allows us to communicate with internal memory pools or other dimensions of life in nature. Melanin also causes seratonin to flow more effectively in the waking state so to inspirience more spirituality. This also helps to keep spiritual intunement at an apex. The less melanin in an individual, the more calcified the pineal gland and less access the individual has to the spiritual world. Melanin exists also as biopigment for vision in the eyes of humans and all vertebrates. Color vision is produced in the retina by melanin through photopigments. These allow deeper melanin concentrations, offer protection from the sun as well as a fuller vision of the color spectrum. The melanin content in the inner ear also is of great importance. Through this ear pigmentation, it was found that increased melanin increases hearing frequencies.
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Continued from page 6 Melanin Anyone?
Melanin is also used to make the Black Dot more in touch with the universe. This Black Dot (Third Eye) was seen by our Kemetic ancestors as the access point to inner wisdom and divinity. This was the invisible door to the pyramid which when activated would decipher the mysteries. Melanin in its most concentrated form is black. It is black because its chemical structure will not allow any energy to escape once that energy has come in contact with it. This gives us an insight and shows that melanin dominant people do not require the same amount of minerals and nutrients in their diet as people with less melanin. Melanin absorbs light rays and stores them so that they can be used as energy later on. This is why Melanin dominant people are able to use sunlight more effectively. A perfect example of melanins use is related to Vitamin D. Vitamin D can be found in the skin of melanin dominant individuals after sun exposure, whereas less melanated people require the intake of dairy products to secrete vitamin D. It is important for people with high melanin content not to indulge in dairy products because after the age of 5, 80% of highly melanated people are lactose intolerant. For our people, eating diary leads to blockage diseases in the body. So instead of asking your brothers and sisters if they Got milk? you need to ask them the question, Got Melanin? This is just one example and also a brief look at the pervasive manifestations of melanin and its uses. It is a fact that we have ceased to know about our melanin and ceased to use it accordingly. The key to our liberation is the reactivation of our melanin faculties. The author of this article intends for everyone who reads it to research melanin and hence research their true self. It is important for us to know some basic fundamentals on the energy governing our life. For further research, two highly recommended books upon which this article was fed are: Melanin: A Key to Freedom by Richard King M.D and Vitamins and Minerals: from A to Z by Jewel Pookrum. The author is a poet of the spoken word in Toronto, Canada.
Some of the greatest quackery in the world right now the problems associated with mercury toxicity and mercury fillings. Of course, I don't mean all dentists; some dentists are slowly coming around to this issue. In fact, these selected dentists are leading the change; they are pioneering dentists, just as those in the world of medicine that are trying to change conventional medicine. These few dentists that are trying to make changes and get mercury fillings banned deserve tremendous credit for taking the lead and standing up and fighting against the dogma of their own industry to protect their patients. There's no doubt in my mind that within a few years, mercury fillings will be banned and they will join the ranks of lead paint, asbestos insulation, leaded gasoline and radiation pills. They will go into the historical annals of bad medicine, and some day future generations will think we were absolutely crazy to be putting mercury in people's mouths. More Poison From Dentists - Fluoride That's not the end of the toxicity in the world of dentistry, we also have dentists pushing for, get this, the dripping of a highly toxic chemical waste product into the water supply... a substance that's scraped off the smokestacks of industrial polluters. They want every person in the community to actually drink this substance. This material is a toxic waste that's regulated by the EPA. It would be illegal to drip it into a river or a stream, but for some reason, it is perfectly legal to drip it into the public water supply and let people drink it. It's a bizarre cycle of rationalization that can only be called medical lunacy. They no longer consider this toxic substance toxic if it passes through the bodies of human beings first. What substance am I talking about? Fluorosilicic acid, otherwise known by its short name, fluoride. Across the country and around the world, dentists are insisting that we drip fluoride into the public water supply. For what purpose? To protect the teeth? Can you be serious? People are swallowing this liquid. They're not rinsing it in their mouth and spitting it out, they're ingesting it. Now as a result we have fluorosis, and bone disorders that are related to the over-consumption of fluoride. For some reason, dentists have decided that they now have medical degrees, and that they want to medicate the entire population with a drug, a biologically active drug, without first diagnosing any individual in that community. In other words, they want to medicate everyone across the board with the exact same dosage, regardless of that person's individual health needs, and regardless of how much other fluoride they may be exposed to on a regular basis. This is the insanity of the
Continued from page 2 The Mass Poisoning of Humanity

Ages. Gee, why don't they have you swallow radiation pills at the same time they're putting mercury fillings in your mouth? That way you can be energized and have fillings, too!
-7- Traditional African Clinic January 2009

Volume 4, Issue 1
NEWSLETTER
FEATURED ARTICLES
January 2009
The Virtues of Vitamin D: Its Time We Saw the Light

There's no such thing as a cure-all, but Vitamin D comes pretty close. Jeremy Laurance explains how a little sunshine could help you live a lot longer
18 September 2007 It may not be the first supplement to be called a "wonder vitamin", but it is one of the few to have lived up to the name. Last week, the biggest review of the role of vitamin D in health found that people who took supplements of the vitamin for six years Overall mortality It was the proof that researchers had been waiting for. Earlier studies had suggested that vitamin D played a key role in protecting against cancer, heart disease and diabetes conditions that account for 60 to 70 per cent of all deaths in the West. The new study, by scientists from the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon and the European Institute of Oncology in Milan and published in Archives of Internal Medicine, shows that it does. The review of 18 trials involving 57,000 people found that those who took the supplements had an 7 per cent lower risk of death overall during the six-year period of the study. Edward Giovannucci, a professor of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, said that the research added "a new chapter in the accumulating evidence for the beneficial role of vitamin D on health". He called for a debate on the merits of "moderate sun exposure, food fortification with vitamin D and higher dose supplements for adults". Vitamin D is important because we are often short of it. Most healthy individuals get all the vitamins and minerals they need from eating a balanced diet, but vitamin D is the exception. It is made by the action of sunlight on the skin, which accounts for 90 per cent of the body's supply. Very little comes from food. But the increasing use of sunscreens and the decreasing amount of time spent outdoors, especially by children, has contributed to what many scientists believe is an increasing problem of vitamin D deficiency. In the winter, the sun in Britain is barely strong enough to make the vitamin, and by spring, say scientists, 60 per cent of the population is deficient (defined as a blood level below 30ng per millilitre). Colds and flu The traditional advice for avoiding these winter ailments has been to swallow large quantities of vitamin C. But we may have been turning to the wrong vitamin. Researchers from Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, New York, found that giving supplements of vitamin D to a group of volunteers reduced episodes of infection with colds and flu by 70 per cent over three years. All the participants were Afro-Caribbean women whose dark skin means that they make less vitamin D. The researchers said that the vitamin stimulated "innate immunity" to viruses and bacteria. The decline in vitamin D levels between November and March could be the "seasonal stimulus" that accounts for the peak in colds and flu in the winter. "Since there is an epidemic of vitamin D insufficiency in the US, the public health implications of this observation could be great," the researchers wrote. Heart disease High rates of heart disease in Scotland have been blamed on the north's weak sunlight and short summers. Differences in sunlight may also explain the higher rates of heart disease in England compared with southern Europe. Some experts believe that the health benefits of life in the Mediterranean may have as much to do with the sun there as with the regional food. A study of almost 10,000 women over 65 by the University of California found that those who took vitamin D supplements had a 31 per cent lower risk of dying of heart disease; researchers at the University of Bonn found lower levels of vitamin D in patients with chronic heart failure. Vitamin D works by lowering insulin resistance, which is one of the major factors in heart disease. It is also used by the thyroid gland, which secretes a hormone that regulates the body's levels of calcium, which in turns helps regulate blood pressure. Continued on page 9
Continued from page 9 The Virtues of Vitamin D
Cancer A 40-year review of research found that a daily dose of vitamin D could halve the risk of breast and bowel cancer, two of the biggest cancer killers. Scientists from the University of San Diego reviewed 63 scientific papers published since the 1960s and concluded that there was a need for "public health action" to boost vitamin D levels. They said that a daily dose of 1,000 international units (25 micrograms) was needed; the recommended level in the US is currently only 400 units. Vitamin D deficiency "may account for several thousand premature deaths from colon, breast, ovarian and other cancers annually," they wrote in the American Journal of Public Health. The research showed that African Americans with darker skins and people living in the north-eastern US, where it is less sunny, were more likely to be deficient in vitamin D, and had higher cancer rates. This could explain why black Americans die sooner that whites from cancer, even after allowing for differences in income and access to health care. In June, the Canadian Cancer Society recommended that adults start taking vitamin D supplements to reduce their risk of cancer. Rickets This is the disease traditionally linked with vitamin D deficiency. A century ago, the typical bow-legged gait of children whose bones had softened and deformed in the absence of the vitamin was a common sight. Cod liver oil, which contains vitamin D, was introduced as a welfare food in 1942 and virtually eliminated the condition. Now, rickets is reappearing. Last June, doctors in Dundee reported five cases in ethnically Asian children; dark skin produces vitamin D more slowly than lighter skin. Vitamin D is crucial for the absorption of calcium, which is the building material for new bones. As well as leading to rickets, deficiencies can contribute to poor tooth formation, stunted growth and general ill health. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence is consulting on a proposal to recommend supplements for certain pregnant women at risk: vegans and women who cover their skin for religious reasons. Supplements are already recommended for infants at risk, and are available free to families on income support and jobseeker's allowance. Diabetes Vitamin D supplements given to babies born in Finland reduced their risk of Type 1 diabetes by 80 per
cent. Researchers followed 12,000 children born in 1966 until 1997 and found that those who developed rickets, indicating vitamin D deficiency, were three times more likely to become diabetic. Vitamin D is believed to act as an immunosuppressive agent, which may prevent an overly aggressive response from the immune system from destroying insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. In Oxford, the number of five-year-olds with diabetes has increased fivefold, and the number of 15-year-olds with it has doubled. Doctors say that this increase is too steep to be caused by genetic factors, and must be due to changes in the environment. "Our research shows that an alarmingly high number of people in the UK do not get enough vitamin D," said Elina Hypoponen, from the Institute of Child Health in London, who led the Finland study. "In winter, nine out of 10 adults have sub-optimal levels." Multiple sclerosis The idea that sunlight might protect against MS arose because the condition is more common in countries further from the equator: gloomy Chicago has a higher rate than sunny Florida, for example. Cloudy Scotland has the highest rate of MS in the world. Scots born in May, after the long, dark winter, have an above-average risk, while those born in November, after the summer holidays, have the lowest risk. Sir Donald Acheson, former UK Chief Medical Officer, published a study in 2004 suggesting that people who spent more time in the sun had a lower risk than those who stayed out of it. Published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, it concluded that a certain level of exposure to the sun might be necessary throughout the year. Autism Could vitamin D deficiency be behind the explosion in autism? John Cannell, a psychiatrist and vitamin D advocate, thinks so. The evidence is circumstantial, but Cannell says that medical advice to avoid the sun and cover up since the 1980s has paralleled the rise in autism. Flagging levels of vitamin D could be the decisive factor. Dr Richard Mills, research director at the National Autistic Society, said: "There has been speculation about autism being more common in high-latitude countries that get less sunlight, and a tie-up with rickets has been suggested observations which support the theory." How to get it and how much you should take * 90 per cent of the body's supply of vitamin D is generated by the action of sunlight on the skin. * Vitamin D lasts for around 60 days in the body, so it needs regular topping up.
Continued from page 5 Skin Healing
COLOR CHART
organs in the human associated with them. To help discharge waste from the kidneys, colon, liver, it is recommended that one apply color treatments over reflex points on the face.
ORANGE: lungs, pancreas
PURPLE: nerves, circulation
Remedies and Healing Your Skin

I know it may seem strange that the things we put on our skin can cause our bodies distress, but ask people who are allergic to poison ivy, wool or strawberries. What we put on our skin is just as important as what we put into our bodies. When our bodies are healthy and our immune system is strong, we show a healthy luster on our faces. However, if we abuse our bodies by eating un-natural foods (especially animal products), foods we overcook, frozen or processed foods, synthetics or from taking certain medically prescribed drugs, our bodies will accumulate toxins. As we start to build up toxins in our bodies and the system gets weaker, the effects will start to manifest themselves on our skin to warn us. The following is some helpful advice for clearing the skin and treating skin troubles: Drink Plenty of Water. Water truly is the 'Fountain of Youth" and it makes sense that if our body is made up of 98 percent liquid, water should be an important consideration. PURE water. Not sodas, teas or juices. Water keeps things moving and helps flush out the organs so that there is less chance of toxins building up. Water is an important aid to all elimination. Wash the skin with natural soap such as BLACK SOAP (herbal/mineral) and CLAY SOAP. These are natural for melanated skin. Avoid using commercial cosmetics, lotions, shampoos or creams. Also supplement the body with vitamins A, C and B complexes. Herbs that are helpful in clearing the skin are: chickweed, dandelion, ginger, red clover, yellow dock root, sarsaparilla, burdock and sassafras. Recommended Reading African Holistic Health, Lliaila O. Afrika African Medicine, Tariq M. Sawandi Herbs for Clearing the Skin, S. Beckett Self Treatment for Skin Troubles, H. Clements Melanin: The Chemical Key to Black Greatness, Dr. Carol Barnes Melanin: The Basics, Dr. Jewel Pookrum How to Select and Combine Fruits, Vegetables and Tubers through their Color-Powers, Dr. Ignatius
BLUE: glands, kidneys
GREEN: liver, heart
RED: blood cleansers
INDIGO: bones, skin
YELLOW: digestion, purification
BLACK: melanin
The use of color in healing is unique in that the pure energies of light are applied therapeutically in a variety of forms. The essence prepared from the color treatment can be given orally or externally to treat a variety of skin disorders. This unique art was applied in ancient Egypt in the healing temples.
Face Chart 2. Reflexology Face Chart
Tariq Sawandi is a Master herbalist, nutritionist, and consultant on holistic and consultant on holistic health.
In African medicine, rashes, acne, bruises, and marks that occur on the face are caused by the imbalances of various
www.blackherbals.com/skin_healing.htm
Continued from page 9 The Virtues of Vitamin D
* Twenty minutes twice a week in the sun with exposed hands, arms and face is adequate to maintain reserves. * There is no recommended supplementary dose in the UK. * In the US, the recommended supplementary dose is 400 international units a day. * Some scientists say that 1,000 international units of vitamin D a day may be necessary to prevent disease. * Vitamin D supplements cost around 5p a day.
http://news.independent.co.uk/health/article2974479.ece
is an acute inflammatory response which usually includes local swelling, redness, scab formation, and bleeding. Since a tattoo is an open wound until it heals, infection of the wound is always a potential problem. Problems can appear after the tattoo has healed. These include: lichenoids (small bumps of reactive tissue); granulomas (firm balls of reactive tissue that form around the material that the body perceives as foreign, in this case the tattoo ink); lymphocytoma cutis (a skin reaction that mimics lymphoma of the skin and has been associated with insect bites, some drugs, and allergy shots, as well as tattoos); scaling, itching, swelling, sores, and keloids. Some people find that they have problems resulting from a reaction between the sun and the tattoo dye. These reactions include swelling, itching, scaling, redness, and sunburn. There can be a reaction to the tattoo dye long time, even years, after receiving the tattoo. The reaction may involve itching, swelling, redness, and/or scaling. Tattooing may result in the accidental inoculation of infectious matter into the skin. Some dis-eases that are known to have been spread through tattooing include: hepatitis B & C; tuberculosis and other mycobacteria, syphilis, malaria, and leprosy. There have been no reported cases of HIV being spread through tattooing. Most tattoo dyes contain metal although non-metallic pigment options are available. The metals used in the dyes are: Red: mercury, cadmium sulfide Violet: manganese Black: carbon Yellow: cadmium sulfide Blue: cobalt salt (cobaltous aluminate) Green: chromium Purple: manganese Brown: lead (ferric oxide), cadmium salts White: titanium, zinc oxide, lead carbonate The inks also contain resin, acrylic, glycol, or all three. Some of the colors used are industrial grade which are suitable for printers ink or automobile paint. Autopsies reveal that ink from tattoos wind up in the lymph node closest to the tattoo. This weakens the immune system. We spend all day, everyday trying to avoid chemicals, hormones, preservatives, drugs, and other substances that we know harm the body. We read labels on the foods we
Dy(e)ing To Be Noticed
By Qaraandin
Shaquille ONeill wore them because his mother said its okay, as long as they dont show when hes wearing business attire. Allen Iverson wears them for inspiration. Whatever the reasons are that folk are wearing them, tattoos are helping to destroy the health of many members of our community. There are four eliminating organs in the body: the colon, the kidneys, the lungs, and the skin. The skin is the bodys largest eliminating organ. The four eliminating organs work together to keep the body clean and healthy. When any one of the four is not able to do its job, the other three must work harder. As an eliminating organ, the skin excretes about a pint of poisons through the pores every 24 hours. The skin also: Breathes and absorbs air, light, and water Reacts to external stimuli and against pain Evaporates heat for the body as the body maintains a constant temperature Acts as a storehouse for fats and water Secretes oil, called sebum, which keeps the skin flexible
Tattoos kill the skin. The skin cells, that are under the tattoos no longer function. The more tattoos covering the body, the fewer skin cells left alive to work as the bodys eliminators. The colon, kidneys, and lungs must work harder to remove the waste that would ordinarily have been removed through that part of the skin. Tattoos are made by injecting colored pigment into small deep holes made in the skin. As with most trauma, pain and bleeding are part of the process. Immediately after the tattooing process and during the healing process there
Continued from page 11 Dye(ing) to be Noticed
eat and the beverages we drink. We are careful of the products we use to clean our bodies, our clothes, and our homes. We exercise, get plenty of rest, bathe in the suns healing rays, and drink plenty of water. Why undo all of that by weakening our immune systems with tattoo dyes? In his book, "The ReBirth of Gods," Dr. Paul Goss reminds us: "You have to go to the store and buy beauty only when you do not understand yourself. True beauty is a healthy colon, healthy kidneys, a healthy liver, a healthy heart, a healthy appendix, healthy tonsils, a healthy spleen, a healthy gallbladder, etc. Beauty comes from perfect health. "When you allow others to be your understanding they can control how you perceive yourself. They will then use your insecurity against you and encourage you to destroy yourself. What you have been programmed to accept as beauty aids destroy your genes and organs." Yes, our ancestors were the first to do tattooing. The oldest tattoo found was on a man named Otzi who lived in about 5,000 BC. However, it is time for us to admit that not everything our ancestors did was good for them. It certainly is not in our best interest to reintroduce habits that we clearly understand are not good for us. Our goal is to maintain our temples. We cannot do that by blindly following trends and fashions. No matter who starts them.
wild craving for coal. Now pregnant woman have been told they have to make do without beauty products. Growing concerns over the exposure of pregnant women to chemicals that may lead to birth defects have prompted calls for a new EU-wide cosmetics labelling system which would mark out some products as off-limits to mothers-tobe. The move follows the publication of a study which found that women exposed to high levels of hairspray during pregnancy were twice as likely to have babies born with hypospadias, a condition in which the urinary tract grows on the underside of the penis. The Imperial College London study suggested that the birth defects were linked to chemicals in hairspray shown to disrupt the hormonal systems in the body and affect reproductive development. Fears over the effects of chemicals such as parabens, commonly used in cosmetics as a preservative, and phthalates, used in hairspray, have led to calls for closer monitoring of cosmetics. High levels of phthalates, also used to soften plastics such as PVC, have been found to affect hormone levels, while parabens have been the subject of concern since 2004, when a study claimed to have detected parabens from deodorants in cancerous breast tissue. The French health minister Roselyne Bachelot sparked debate last week by announcing that the French health authorities were considering a labeling system for cosmetics that would indicate whether or not products were safe for pregnant women. But the UK government said that the EU should address the issue as a whole, adding it to a range of changes currently being made to the European Cosmetics Directive. A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR) said: "BERR does not think this is something which is suitable for individual countries to take forward unilaterally and hope that the French raise this during the current negotiations on the revision of the cosmetics directive, where a discussion can take place among experts on cosmetic products". A 2007 study claimed British women absorb an average of 5lb of cosmetics a year through their skin and mouths. Scientists last night backed a labelling scheme. "Labels enable people to make informed choices. In the vulnerable period of pregnancy, it makes sense for people to reduce their exposure to harmful chemicals," said Professor Paul Elliott, who led the Imperial College study. "It is part of a broader discussion about minimising chemical exposure in early pregnancy." The Royal College of General Practitioners is advising women to consider which products they use. "Women
The healing power of a person lies within

the person, not within the doctor, a pill, or a knife. The healing power of a community lies within the community, not within a ballot box, an executive order, or a referendum. from: Maintaining Our Temples
By Qaraandin
www.blackherbals.com/dy(e)ing_to_be_noticed.htm
Pregnant Women Warned off Make-up

Study links birth defects to mothers' use of cosmetics
By Rachel Shields
30 November 2008 Spare a thought for the mum-to-be: no booze; no fags; no pt; no fancy cheese; no eggs; and, probably, a
n -12- Traditional African Clinic January 2009
Continued from page12 Pregnant Women Warned
according to the Mayo Clinic in the United States. Earlier this year Lionel Bercovitch of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island and colleagues tested 22 popular handsets from eight different manufacturers and found nickel in 10 of the devices.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27214249/
who are planning to conceive or who are in the first three months of pregnancy should look at what they are using," said Professor Steve Field, chairman of the RCGP. "The cosmetics industry needs to look at this and clearly label their products. Anything like this raises concerns," he added, "but I don't think people should panic."
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-andwellbeing/health-news/pregnant-women-warned-offmakeup-1041649.html
Indigo Plant may treat Chronic Skin Disease

Ointment helped ease psoriasis with fewer side effects, small study found
Reuters November 18, 2008 HONG KONG - Indigo naturalis, a dark blue plant used in traditional Chinese medicine, appears to be effective in treating psoriasis, a study in Taiwan has found. Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease for which no cure is known, though some therapies bring about a remission. It causes red scaly patches, or plaques, which take on a silvery-white appearance and often occur on the arms, elbows, knees and legs. A study of the findings of a clinical trial involving 42 patients who had had the condition for at least two years was published in the latest issue of Archives of Dermatology. The researchers found that indigo naturalis in the form of an ointment was safe and effective in treating psoriasis. "Current steroid-based medication may cause side effects like thinning of the skin, but this (indigo naturalis) has much less side effects," lead researcher Yin-Ku Lin of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University in Taoyuan, Taiwan, told Reuters by telephone. None of the patients in the trial had serious adverse effects, though some experienced a mild skin allergy. They applied indigo naturalis ointment on one side of their bodies and a placebo, or non-medicated, ointment on the other. Doctors checked on their condition at the start of the treatment and after two, four, six, eight, 10 and 12 weeks. "The indigo naturalis ointment-treated lesions showed an 81 percent improvement, the (non-medicated) ointmenttreated lesions showed a 26 percent improvement," the authors wrote.
Doctors Warn of Skin Rash from Cell Phones

Nickel surface of phones can cause dermatitis if you use them too much Reuters October 16, 2008 LONDON - Doctors baffled by an unexplained rash on people's ears or cheeks should be on alert for a skin allergy caused by too much mobile phone use, the British Association of Dermatologists said on Thursday. Citing published studies, the group said a red or itchy rash, known as "mobile phone dermatitis," affects people who develop an allergic reaction to the nickel surface on mobile phones after spending long periods of time on the devices. "It is worth doctors bearing this condition in mind if they see a patient with a rash on the cheek or ear that cannot otherwise be explained," it said. The British group said many doctors were unaware mobile phones could cause the condition. Safety concerns over mobile phones have grown as more people rely on them for everyday communication, although the evidence to date has given the technology a clean bill of health when it comes to serious conditions like brain cancer. "In mobile phone dermatitis, the rash would typically occur on the cheek or ear, depending on where the metal part of the phone comes into contact with the skin," the group said in a statement. "In theory it could even occur on the fingers if you spend a lot of time texting on metal menu buttons." Nickel is a metal found in products, ranging from mobile phones to jewelry to belt buckles and is one of the most common causes of allergic contact dermatitis,
Continued from page 13 Indigo Plant May Treat Chronic Skin Diseases
Research by Which? found that 87 per cent of customers are unaware that the technology is in use. The consumer group wrote to 67 cosmetics companies asking them about their use of nanotechnology, the benefits they thought it brought and how they ensured product safety. Only 17 responded - and only eight were willing to provide information about their use of nanotechnology or particles. Meanwhile, scientists surveyed by the consumer group expressed concerns about the use of carbon fullerenes, which appear in a number of anti-ageing creams. Nanoparticles are also used to make sunscreens transparent on the skin. But although firms say they offer greater protection against the sun, EU experts have asked for more safety tests to investigate their effect on sunburnt skin. Which? said: 'Our experts raised particular concerns about potential toxicity of fullerenes if they were able to penetrate the skin. They were also concerned about the widespread use of nano titanium dioxide and zinc oxide in sunscreens, when further research still needs to be done on their safety in nano form.' Some beauty firms are also using nano silver, which has antibacterial properties, in products such as toothpaste. But Which? says there are fears it may be toxic. Sue Davies, of Which?, said: 'The cosmetics industry needs to stop burying its head in the sand and come clean about how it is using nanotechnology. 'The Government must introduce a compulsory reporting scheme for manufactured nanomaterials so we are all aware and only those that are independently assessed as safe should be allowed to be used in cosmetics.'
For 25 of the patients, plaques that were treated with the indigo were completely or nearly completely cleared. Indigo naturalis has long been used, externally or ingested, to treat various infections and inflammatory diseases in China and Taiwan, such as mumps, pharyngitis and eczema. Long-term systemic use has been linked to irritation of the gastrointestinal tract and liver problems, the researchers said. They called for more studies on ways of improving absorption of the ointment.
The Beauty Creams with Nanoparticles that could Poison your Body
Daily Mail November 5, 2008 Are beauty products containing nanoparticles safe? Tiny particles that may be toxic are being used in beauty creams without proper safety testing, a consumer group has warned. Nanoparticles, which are 80 times thinner than a human hair, are used by firms including Boots, The Body Shop, Avon, Nivea and Unilever. Some manufacturers believe the technology can deliver the benefits of products in a more effective way. But critics say the size of the particles may allow them to permeate protective barriers in the body, such as those surrounding the brain or a developing baby in the womb. Their scale also changes the way they interact with other cells, which might lead to unforeseen toxic effects. Following a report which raised concerns that some firms are not declaring their use of nanoparticles, Which? has called for the so-called 'grey goo' technology to be banned unless it is proved to be safe. Its concerns have been backed by Professor Dame Ann Dowling, of the Royal Society, the UK's independent science academy. She has condemned the beauty industry for failing to provide information on safety testing and use of the controversial ingredients.

Volume 4, Issue 1
NEWSLETTER FEATURED ARTICLES
January 2009
Melanin and Bio/Nanotechnology

Nakato Lewis Blackherbals at the Source of the Nile, UG Ltd.
Mumia, a powder derived from dried Egyptian mummies, was one of the most valued commodities on the apothecaries' shelves. Believed to contain powerful, mystical cures for many diseases, the demand for mumia in 17th-century Europe was so great that it was impossible to supply it. As a result, medical charlatans grew wealthy selling fake mumia, made from the remains of recently executed prisoners. In addition, the oils and resins used in embalming the body were so potent, that the mummies sold to doctors in Europe distilled the dressings for use in their medicines. Embalming was one of the principal uses of aromatherapy, preserving the tissue of the bodies for thousands of years - Empirics, Quacks, and Alternative Medical Practices Nanotechnology is the science of manipulating matter, such as black materials, sometimes smaller than 100 nanometers and taking advantages of the properties, such as electrical conductivity, that is present only at that level. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter, or about one-millionth the size of a pin head. The prefix comes from "nanos," the Greek word for dwarf. Nanotechnology has been around for several decades, but only now is its potential starting to be realized. Medicine is expected to be only one of the fields to benefit most from the technology. One of the first things we learn in science class is that there are three states of matter, gas, liquid and solid. All black materials belong to the solid state and follow its laws. Black materials are present in the entire universe and are of great interest for the evolution of our planet and living systems. They are present in the lithosphere as minerals, graphite, black shale, fullerenes; in the hydrosphere as black particles in seas, lakes and rivers; in the atmosphere as soot and smoke; in cosmos as fullerenes and cosmids; and in the universe as black holes. In the biosphere, black matter is better known as the melanin (black pigment) molecule, in all its forms. The chemical element carbon is the basis of most life on this planet and is also black in colour. Melanin constitutes a class of pigments, which are widespread in humans, animals and vegetables. While the name melanin in Greek means black, not all melanin as pigments are black but may vary from brown to yellow. It belongs to a family of unique and very stable black substances that is present throughout nature and the universe. Physical Characteristics of Black Materials and Melanin But even before we learn about the different states of matter, we learn that matter cannot be created or destroyed, only rearranged. One of the physical characteristics of black materials is the ability to rearrange its chemical structure to absorb all energy across the radiant energy spectrum. Reflected energy is white light, i.e. from the sun, in the visible range whereas absorbed energy is black in colour. Melanin absorbs light energy, sound energy and electromagnetic energy. Melanin has many other interesting properties too, such as ultraviolet absorption, where it is currently being utilized in the preparation of UV-absorbing optical lenses and in cosmetic creams. The colours of melanin are those of a pure semiconductor. As with other black materials, such as graphite and fullerenes, this state is subject to changes by doping with other materials. All black materials, including melanin, show a remarkable affinity for metals and exhibit the ability to form charge-transfer complexes, which can carry either a positive or a negative charge. Melanin can conduct electricity without offering resistance to the flow of electricity. This means that melanin has super-conducting capabilities. It also behaves like an insulator in that it will not allow electrical current to pass through its structure, similar to rubber and plastic insulators. The added ability of melanin to undergo polymerization is of great interest in Industry for its nano-technological
use in bio-plastics and biopolymers. Continued on page 17
Continued from page 16 Melanin & Bio/Nanotechnology
Melanin also displays what is called threshold switching (an on/off switch), which means it can function as a biomechanical regulator of biological functions. Of even greater interest to the scientific community is its use in the genetic engineering of pharmaceutical drugs for specific diseases and other microbial applications using nanotechnology. For example, two research laboratories at the Savannah River Site in the US are undertaking a study to better understand how scientists can encourage certain bacteria to produce more of a type of melanin, a pigment similar to the one that makes humans skin darker, which could be use to clean up metals and radionuclides (radiation particles) in the environment. This is called bioremediation, the use of living things, such as microbes or plants to clean up environmental contamination. Melanin has been shown to accelerate the rate at which microbes transform metals and radionuclides in the soil. Researchers hope to stimulate the bacteria to produce more melanin by providing them certain nutrients, which in turn, could speed up the rate at which metals and radionuclides currently in the environment are detoxified or immobilized. In another example, experiments on mice have shown promise for the future of nanotechnology in treating cancer. The technology being tested involves a nanoparticle of a hydrogen and carbon polymer with bits of drug bound up in its fabric and attached to a substance that hones in on cancer cells. By successfully treating prostate cancer tumour in mice, this research brings doctors one step closer to being able to inject patients with nanoparticles that bore inside tumours and release powerful doses of cancer-killing drugs while leaving the rest of the body untouched. However, one major problem scientists were having in perfecting the blood injection is that the nanoparticles are ending up in the liver and spleen - an unwanted side effect because once they dissolve in those organs, they release toxic levels of chemotherapy to healthy tissue. Melanin in Human Physiology African physiology is based on the melanin biochemical molecule. Melanin is a unique life chemical found in high concentration in people African descent. In addition to providing pigmentation to hair, skin and eyes, melanin is incorporated into all major systems and vital organs in the body, bringing control of all bodily systems under the central nervous of system, the bodys information network. It is in the nervous system, the spinal cord, the glands, the brain, the DNA, the muscles, intestines, the heart, blood and the liver. Its presence can be found throughout nature and is also found in many of our foods.
As a free radical scavenger or oxygen scavenger, melanin has additional anti-toxin characteristics and as such, can serve as a terminator of free radical chain reactions. As a free radical scavenger, melanin plays an important role in preserving cells from the toxic effects of oxygen (antioxidant effect) and is generally present at the site of tissue repair, regeneration of cuts and wounds, and infectious diseases. Melanin also increases the speed of nerve and brain messages which are transmitted between the left and right hemispheres of the brainand all signals transmitted throughout the bodily nerve network. Melanin can bind and release many of the known elements that are essential for proper body metabolism. It readily crosses the blood-brain barrier, and is therefore useful as a carrier for other therapeutic agents that must reach brain tissue to produce their therapeutic responses. A variety of drugs, such as chloroquine, cocaine, heroin, amphetamines, etc., were designed to have a high affinity for melanin. In the past, western medicine considered melanin a waste product of human metabolism, serving no useful function in the body. Modern science has since discovered that the melanin molecule, like other black materials to which it is related, is very old, very refined, complex, multifunctional, biochemical polymer having a wide variety of important functions within the human body and throughout nature. Earlier scientific studies elucidating human biochemical structures never took into account the importance of melanin in the human body. Therefore, early medical and pharmaceutical determinations based the physical, neurological and metabolic responses of animals, in the treatment of disease, only on white or albino animals as a means of extrapolating the mean response of humans to laboratory-produced drugs, chemicals and pesticides. Consequently, the physiological, metabolic and neurological differences in the biological makeup of black people were not included in those studies. This is one of the reasons why western medicine does not work adequately in melanated people and the reason why we suffer so many side-effects from these substances. Race-based medicine, now being developed by the pharmaceutical industry, is based on synthetic and genetically-engineered drugs, chemicals, food and now, melanin. Naturally-occurring melanins include eumelanins, phaeomelanins, neuromelanins and allomelanins (plantbased). Colours in humans are determined chiefly by two types of melanin, eumelanins and phaeomelanin. Eumelanins are derived from the precursor, tyrosine, generally insoluble and black or brown in colour. Phaeomelanins have tyrosine and cysteine as their precursors, are generally alkali-soluble and much lighter
in colour. Under the microscope melanin is brown, nonrefractile and finely granular with individual granules, having a diameter of less than 800 nanometers. Melanins are polymers produced by polymerization of reactive intermediates. The reactive intermediates are produced chemically or enzymatically from precursors consisting of smaller chemical species in varying amounts, such as tyrosine, tryptophan, glutamate, phenylalanine, serotonin, melantonin, dopamine, norepinephrine (noradrenaline), and epinephrine (adrenaline). The term melanin includes naturallyoccurring melanins, which are usually high molecular weight polymers (generally, molecular weights in the millions). Naturally-occurring melanin is formed through natural biochemical pathways. One is diet, involving the amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine. Phenylalanine is a dietary chemical that comes from red meat and soya. It is a melanin precursor, which can raise blood pressure. Another pathway for natural melanin production involves the use of the neurotransmitters, epinephrine and norepinephrine. Melanin production is intimately involved with the neural system (neuromelanin) because tyrosine and phenylalanine are also precursors for the neurotransmitters epinephrine, norepinphrine and dopamine. The metabolic pathway, for the production of melanin from amino acid building blocks, finds maximal presence in those cells that have a high demand for those products, the brain. Brain cells have high levels of tyrosinase because there is a high demand for dopamine. The enzyme, tyrosinase plays a key role in the syntheses of melanins and its derivatives. The substantia nigra, the region of the brain where the concentration of melanin is very high, is noted for cells with high levels of tyrosinase. Insufficient amounts of this enzyme causes melanin deficiencies in some humans. The gene for human tyrosinase has been isolated, genetically sequenced and cloned. Currently, melanin is being produced synthetically or isolated from natural sources. Natural sources include beef eyes, squid, hair, bacteria such as Streptococcus antibioticus and E. coli, and the human brain, among others. Benefits and Risks With the use of genetic engineering and nano-technology, melanins, its precursors and its derivatives are being synthetically produced and patented with predictable molecular weights, particle sizes, and compositions. Consequently, melanins can now be attached to anti-
bodies and thus targeted for specific cells (e.g. liver cells). Melanin has a number of properties, which can be exploited to alter both cellular metabolisms and/or remove or introduce intra- and intercellular toxins. Such properties include oxygen and free radical scavenging, metal binding, binding of organic cationic species, catalysis of coupled reduction-oxidation reactions. These properties are not interdependent, and melanin can be selectively altered and optimized. Drugs can be covalently bound to melanin or just adsorbed on its surface. They can be attached in such a manner that induces cellular metabolism at the target cell and cause release of the therapeutic agent. Other therapeutic uses of bio-synthetic melanin are: 1) to treat melanin deficiencies; 2) to prevent neurodegenerative diseases of the nervous system caused by exposure to toxic agents; and 3) to assist in the recovery of neurons, injured as a result of direct injury or disease. In fact, the therapeutics uses of melanin and its derivatives stated above have already been patented in the U.S. In fact, there are a number of patents on the process of genetically-engineered melanin production using genetically-engineered microorganisms. In addition, nanoparticles of melanin can enter human cells as well as the soil, can trigger chemical reactions and can interfere with normal biological and ecological processes. Synthetic nanoparticles can readily cross the skin-bloodbrain barrier, which should be of major concern to people of colour. This technology is suitable for bioterrorism and this is just the tip of the iceberg. A recent analysis of human genome data in public databases reveals that hundreds, possibly thousands of markers for ethnicspecific weapons do exist. In Black people there are some 15,000 possible biochemical markers that exist as future bioweapons. The world is truly becoming a very dangerous place. The genetic modification of the common foods we eat in the production of vaccines, herbicides and pesticides and the rearrangement of plant and animal cells in bio/nanotechnology to produce so-called desired physical and biochemical characteristics across species is arrogant and foolish. The melanated God that created the universe and us along with it, cannot be outdone. Is western science trying to demonstrate that God is not perfect because some of his creations require fixing? The illnesses and diseases with which we are confronted are not from God. Although we have no control over the type of genes we receive at birth, the majority of the diseases that we acquire in our lifetime are from our own doing. It is humans that are polluting the earth and in polluting the earth, we pollute ourselves and our environment.
Through genetic engineering and nanotechnology, they have opened up Pandora's box and we may not be able to close it. It has already gone too far. The United States is the world leader in nanotechnology but is not paying enough attention to the environmental, health and safety risks posed by nanoscale products, says a report released by the independent National Research Council. At least 50 harmful effects can be attributed to genetically modified and engineered entities. About 300 consumer products on the shelves already contain nanoscale ingredients, including several foods and many cosmetics, with little or no research to document their safety. The industry is expected to be worth about $2 trillion by 2014. So as you can see, the quacks are at it again.
http://www.blackherbals.com/melanin_and_bio_nanotechnolog y.htm
modern dentistry community. Remember, these are the same people that want to put mercury in your mouth, so it only makes sense that they also want to poison your entire body by putting fluorosilicic acid into the water supply. They don't call it fluorosilicic acid of course, because that might scare people. They call it fluoride -- and in fact they will even deceive the public and call it "naturallyoccurring fluoride." There's nothing natural about fluorosilicic acid. If you go to any community water supply where they are dripping so called "fluoride" into the water system, you will find out where they actually get the fluoride -- ask them, "Hey, do you dig this out of the ground in natural fluoride deposits?," and they will tell you "No, we buy it from an industrial waste processing company because it's cheaper than fluoride out of the ground." I've asked this question myself of people who are in charge of dripping fluoride into the public water supply, and that's exactly what they have told me. You can verify this yourself and find out just how your local community is poisoning you and your family with this highly toxic waste chemical. How to Poison the Entire Population Again, we are the only species stupid enough to actually poison ourselves. And we do it in highly efficient ways. If you want to poison a population, there's no easier way than to drip a substance into the water supply. And if you really want to make sure everyone is poisoned, you would pass laws that mandate the dripping of this poison into the water supply (i.e. fluoridation laws). That would ensure that everybody gets some, whether it's an infant, an adult or a senior citizen. This is increasingly what is happening across the United States and around the world. There's absolutely no good science behind any of the fluoride arguments. Even if they were using genuine natural fluoride, there are no studies that show the ingestion of fluoride decreases the incidence of dental caries in modern society. Yet this myth persists in the dental community, and the American Dental Association stands firmly behind this national poisoning agenda. They will call anybody who disagrees with it a "nut," and they will say that every population must be fluoridated -- for their own good, of course. That's the only way to ensure they have healthy teeth, the logic goes. Put More Chemicals In Our Food, Please If you wanted to poison the entire population, but you were worried that not everyone drinks from the water supply, there is another way: just poison the food supply. This, too, is happening today, with food manufacturing practices and the FDA looking the other way on toxic food ingredients. Continued in page 19
Continued from page 14 Beauty Creams with Nano-particles
Advocates of nanotechnology say the particles could herald many benefits, for instance, delivering medicines and vitamins more effectively. Professor Dowling said: 'Nanoparticles of a chemical can have different properties to the same chemical in its larger form. And this is why nanoparticles are so exciting. 'However, when cosmetics companies are seeking to exploit these novel qualities in their products they must ensure that their safety testing methods take account of these qualities.'
http://www.blacklistednews.com/news-2174-0-6-6--.html
Our population is being poisoned with artificial chemical sweeteners. Let's take a look at these. Aspartame is a sweetener that was never proven safe; in fact, the original safety recommendation panel at the FDA recommended that aspartame be denied approval as a safe food ingredient. It was none other than Donald Rumsfeld at the time who helped push aspartame through the FDA to get it legalized as a food additive. Today, we now see the vast majority of complaints of food side effects sent to the FDA being caused by aspartame. Aspartame is an excitotoxin, that is, a neurotoxic chemical, and it breaks down in your body into both formic acid and formaldehyde. Now, would you like to go out and drink some formaldehyde? Well, you might do that if you were a biological specimen that needed to be preserved for dissection, but if you're a normal, healthy, sane human being, you'd never drink formaldehyde. Unless, of course, they put it in an artificial sweetener compound and added it to cans of your favorite carbonated soft drink, in which case Americans will gladly drink formaldehyde in can after can, poisoning their nervous systems, going half blind, experiencing epilepsy and increasing the onset of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. Again, we're the only species stupid enough to actually poison ourselves with these chemicals. And yet we have entire groups, food lobbies and public apologizers who run around saying that these ingredients are perfectly good for you. There's nothing wrong with drinking formaldehyde and formic acid. You'll be fine! Drink more! Here, in fact here's a 50 percent more coupon, so you can buy even more! Want Some Chlorine In Your Food Today? Some say, "Well, aspartame is on the way out -- the big sweetener now is Sucralose or Splenda." This is the artificial sweetener that claims to be made from sugar. Well, I suppose you can claim that it starts out as sugar, but it's made by removing some of the atoms from sugar and replacing them with atoms of chlorine, which is of course one of the chemical elements used during the atrocities of World War II to create poison gas, the same element used in chlorine to disinfect pools and public water supplies. When it's put that way, you might start thinking, "Well, gee, maybe there's something wrong with this sugar, maybe I shouldn't be putting chlorine atoms into my body." Would you go out and drink chlorine? If you know anybody who works on pools, or who has a pool maintenance business, they will tell you that chlorine gas will kill you. In fact, just to handle chlorine, they have to wear protective rubber gloves and protective respiration
devices, because if they get chlorine powder wet and touch it or inhale it, they are in for a world of hurt. Chlorine gas can cause serious injury or even death. In fact, if you just take household ingredients like chlorine bleach and mix it with ammonia, you will create a highly toxic gas that will literally kill you, which is why these products often contain warnings that they should not be mixed. And yet, in our food supply, we take chlorine atoms and we attach them to molecules that used to be sugar, and we call that a safe sweetener. And now we're putting it into all kinds of foods, whether it's soft drinks, muffins, pancake mixes and pretty much everything in the lowcarb arena. I'm not sure people realize that they are actually ingesting chlorine atoms. Maybe they're too dazed from the fluoride. Okay, so far we have dentists putting mercury fillings in your mouth that give off mercury vapor and cause neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. We have the same insane dentists mandating the dripping of EPA-regulated environmental pollutants into the public water supply, making sure that human beings in the United States have to drink toxic waste product... after which it enters into the rivers and streams as part of human waste, even though if such chemicals were dripped directly into the rivers and streams in this country it would be a violation of federal law. We have food and beverage companies using artificial chemical sweeteners to replace sugar and claiming that their products are healthier than sugar products. And yet, these artificial chemical sweeteners break down into dangerous chemical components such as formaldehyde and formic acid, or they are made with chlorine atoms that simply do not belong in the human body. These chemicals do not appear anywhere in nature attached to a sugar molecule. Yummy Poison: Hydrogenated Oils So, what else can the money-hungry corporations think of to put into the food or the water to poison America? They are quite creative and they have a lot of poisons at their disposal. The next terrible poison on the list is hydrogenated oils. They're called brain poisons, and they're present in perhaps half of all the foods found at every grocery store. It's listed right on the label -- you can see it as hydrogenated oil" or "partially-hydrogenated vegetable oil". This artificial fat directly causes cardiovascular heart disease, it destroys normal cardiovascular health, it destroys the healthy functioning of the nervous system, it causes brain disorders, it causes heart attacks -- it is one of the most prominent and yet toxic ingredients put into the food supply. It also causes birth defects and essential fatty acid deficiencies in both the mother and her fetus.

Volume 4, Issue 1
NEWSLETTER FEATURED ARTICLES
January 2009
Skin Bleaching Thrives Despite Ugandan Government Ban on Dangerous Cosmetics

Halima Abdallah Kisule, Uganda
August 12, 2008
Scores of Ugandans continue to bleach their skin despite a government ban on the sale of several lotions, creams, gels and soaps which are largely used to whiten, even and tone the skin. pills and creams, these products contain melanininhibiting ingredients along with sunscreen. These treatments also contain amounts of hydroquinone, or mercury. However, other cosmetics companies use natural ingredients to make melanin-inhibiting products. Extracted from plant leaves, like the berry family, shrubs and pears, their naturally occurring arbutin leads to bleaching.
In extreme cases of skin bleaching, the skin can become multi-colored and marred with inflammation or scarring. Photograph courtesy of Halimah Abdallah Kisule.
Due to ineffective enforcement of the ban, these dangerous cosmetics are easily accessible anywhere in Uganda; whether sold over the counter, along the roadside or by hawkers, vendors move the skin lighteners easily due to high demand. Such is the popularity that skin-whitening products have gained today in Uganda. Medically, skin whitening (or bleaching) products are used for treating pigmentation disorders like freckles, pregnancy marks, blotchy uneven skin tone, patches of brown to gray skin and age spots. Skin pigmentation occurs because the body either produces too much or too little melanin, the pigment responsible for creating the color of our eyes, skin and hair. It also provides crucial protection against the suns rays by absorbing ultra-violet light. Doctors say that those with darker skin are less susceptible to sunburn and the overall effects of sun damage. According to dermatologists, skin bleaching can be achieved through a combination of treatments that reduce or block some amount of the bodys melanin production. Usually in the form of topical lotions, gels,
A young woman who has been bleaching, gets her hair plaited - her face and chest are a different color than her arms, hands and legs. Photograph courtesy of Halimah Abdallah Kisule.
In Uganda, the practice of skin bleaching is common among adults with dark skin, especially women, but men also do it with little regard for the dangers posed to their bodies. Some people even use the products for anal bleaching to reduce naturally darker pigmentation of the genital and perineal area. Consumers of bleaching cosmetics claim that they want
Continued from page 20 Skin Bleaching Thrives
to enhance their beauty. One woman who declined to be named, explains, One has to look good, by having fair, lighter skin. Unfortunately, her skin is now multi-colored from bleaching. She has red skin on her face, yellow on her arms and dark skin on her back. The skin on her knees, toes and finger joints failed to lighten and remain black. For this woman, the condition of her skin has only brought her shame; she now tries to cover most parts of her body in an attempt to conceal the damage done by the products she thought would enhance her beauty. Those in the medical profession explain that this condition occurs from allergic dermatitis or irritant dermatitis (abnormal, extensive and often local inflammation of the skin), both of which are common among people who have not previously used the bleaching cosmetics. I have cases where people get severe skin burns. It happens when people change to something new which causes allergic dermatitis and irritant dermatitis, says Dr Misaki Wayengera of Makerere University Medical School. He explains that the skin of the people using these bleaching products get inflamed, turns red, enlarges and begins to loose function as the cells fail to produce melanin. Wayengera says that bleaching can be achieved medically using low dosage hydroquinone, recommended at 2%. He advises that it should be used only in the areas of the skin that need to be lightened. He also advised consumers to always read the contents of cosmetics because those that bleach cause health problems like skin cancer, leukemia, thyroid disorders and delay or prevent the ability to diagnose leprosy. Mercury is the most toxic of these ingredients and leads to liver problems. Though the East African Custom Management Act of 2006 banned the import of all soaps containing mercury, products like Mekako soaps are readily available in the country having been smuggled in before being reexported to neighboring Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda. They are smuggled in jerricans disguised as water while others come in through ordinary containers but are declared as cosmetics, when [in reality] they are drugs that fall under the NDA mandate, says Gyavira Musoke, Head of Imports Inspection at Ugandas National Bureau of Standards (UNBS). UNBS says that Kenya is blaming Uganda for failing to stop the importation of this toxic cosmetic despite the existence of the law. This is just one of the 400 prohibited
cosmetic ingredients (that are defined as drugs under the Uganda National Drug Authority (NDA) regulations) that are on the open market. Products containing hydroquinone are still for sale after traders asked the Ministry of Tourism to give them some time to sell off their stock. Ready markets for these highly valued cosmetics suggest that smuggling wont stop any time soon, but demand alone does not explain why one would continue to use these dangerous products. Such a person lacks self-esteem, has low self-efficacy and a perception that she or he looks ugly, says Mr Robert Wandera, Coordinator of the Psychology Department at Makerere University. It is common among women who are not educated, he adds. Wanderas colleague, Mr Calistas, says that it is very dangerous to have low self-esteem because severe cases can lead to suicide. He urges, Do something positive to counter [your low self-esteem]. Take advantage of the good parts of your body or talents. Prolonged use of bleaching cosmetics can indeed be disastrous both psychologically and physically. One lady who I encountered on the street declined to be named nor talk about her skin. Her dry, pale face showed no happiness. She had wrinkles too - not from old age, but from the effects of starting and then stopping the use of these cosmetics. I could easily read the disappointment in her face when I asked her to talk about her skin. Her response is a clear testimony to the negative effects of bleaching cosmetics and hint at the lengths some will go to for beauty. Her unhappiness is the other side of beauty that we rarely see, but one that can easily be avoided. About the Author Halimah Abdallah Kisule is a journalist in northern Uganda who, for the last seven years, has covered human rights, health, diplomacy, politics and education for numerous news outlets. She holds a diploma in Journalism and Media Studies and will soon receive her BA in Education from Makerere University in Kampala. Previously she worked for the independent newspapers, The Daily Monitor and The Weekly Observer, covering law and human rights issues, providing both with extensive investigative journalism. Halimah endeavors to use her writing skills to bring awareness to the human struggle and find solutions to society's problems. She is married with two children.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200806070128.html
Skin Bleaching/ Lightening & its Dangers

Dangers of Skin Lightening September 26 2005 Would you use a cream or soap that may have the following long term side effects skin cancer, liver damage, kidney damage or poisoning? In the modern appearance conscious society in which we live there is a myth that lighter paler complexions portray beauty, riches and success. This misguided belief has resulted in a huge market in the UK of skin lightening products. Some people use them secretly knowing what the side effects are, others using poorly labelled under the counter products not knowing what dangers they are letting themselves in for. Manufacturers may not be fully versed with the side effects or labelling may be misleading or economical with the truth. Why do we have colour in our skin? There are three reasons for the colour of our skin: 1. The cells contained within the dermis and epidermis provide a natural yellow, white colour 2. Superficial blood vessels provide a blue or red tint determined by oxygen content 3. Melanin produced by melanocytes scattered within the basal layer of the skin. It is this third point which determines how dark a persons skin is; more melanin production results in darker skin. Melanin has another key function - it plays a major protective role. It is the skins own natural protection from the harmful ultra violet rays of the sun. Without it the skin is extremely vulnerable and we would have to cover exposed skins with sun screen or risk a greater chance of developing skin cancer. How skin lightening products work There are two chemicals found in skin lightening products, Hydroquinone or Mercury. 1. Hydroquinone (C6H6O2) is a severely toxic and very powerful chemical used in photo processing, the manufacture of rubber and is an active agent in hair dyes. 2. Mercury in the form of Mercury Chloride & Ammoniated Mercury is carcinogenic. They appear on the list of toxic substances that can only be purchased via pharmacies with prescribed labels of toxicity.
Both products perform a similar process. In the short term they will initially cause the skin to lighten by inhibiting the production of melanin. Without melanin formation in the basal layer no brown pigmentation will be visible. The long term effects, however, are those that must be addressed. The long term effects of using skin lightening products Hydroquinone or Mercury applied to the skin will react with ultra violet rays and re-oxidise, leading to more pigmentation and premature ageing. More product is then applied in an attempt to correct the darker blotchy appearance. These are the beginnings of a vicious cycle. By altering the skins natural structure and inhibiting the production of Melanin, its natural protection, the skin is more susceptible to skin cancer. Prolonged use of Hydroquinone will thicken collagen fibres damaging the connective tissues. The result is rough blotchy skin leaving it with a spotty cavier appearance. Mercury will slowly accumulate within the skin cells striping the skin of its natural pigment leaving behind the tell tale signs of gray/ blue pigmentation in the folds of the skin. In the long term, the chemical will damage vital organs and lead to liver and kidney failure and mercury poisoning. Are these products legal? Products containing up to 2 percent Hydroquinone were legally available in the UK until 2001 when the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) issued the draft 24th Commission Directive. This bans preparations with Hydroquinone due to the long term effects as it accumulates in the tissues. The UK Cosmetic Product Regulations 1978 prohibits the use of Mercury compounds. However, the demand for theses products is so high that there are illegal imports via small operators from Asia and Africa of creams, lotions and soaps of up to 6 percent which are sold under the counter in the UK. Graham McPherson from Trading Standards said we regularly find consignments varying from a couple of hundred items to a couple of thousand items on a monthly basis. Second generation of skin lightening products Sujata Kashap, a skin care specialist, has been investigating a new highly toxic chemical that is already hitting the shops. Sujata said even if hydroquinone and mercury products are successfully banned . Continued on page 24
Continued from page 19 Mass Poisoning of Humanity
And it's put in foods on purpose, for the convenience of the food manufacturers. Hydrogenated oils don't go bad, which means they save money for the food manufacturing companies, because their foods don't go bad on the shelves. And how do you make hydrogenated oils? Well, you don't find them anywhere in nature -- you have to have a chemical processing facility to make hydrogenated oils. And you do it by bubbling hydrogen gas through liquid soybean oil or other types of oils, using a catalyst (in most cases the catalyst is nickel). So with this nickel and the bubbling of hydrogen gas, you get extra hydrogen atoms attached to the molecules in oil, which makes them solid at room temperature. Since they are solid at room temperature, they can be more easily used to make margarine products, or used in crackers and cookies. And all of this, again, is for the convenience of the food manufacturing companies. Food manufactures don't care what happens to your health, their job is just to sell food products. If you have a health problem as a result, that's your problem, not theirs. You won't find food companies offering to pay for your medical bills if you have a heart attack from eating hydrogenated oils. They are basically passing the buck and demanding that you pay for the health consequences caused by their foods. In fact, they're working hard to pass legislation that would outlaw lawsuits against food companies! Pepperoni-Shaped Poison Not to be outdone, the meat processing companies in this country also want to make sure they get lots of poison into your food products. It's not enough to just sell you red meat, which is by itself an extremely unhealthy food ingredient that promotes colon cancer, heart disease, obesity and many other disorders, they also have to put cancer-causing chemicals in various meat products. This makes sure that you get colon cancer from the additives, if not from the red meat itself. This additive is called sodium nitrite, and you'll find it in virtually every packaged meat product found at the grocery store, whether it's pepperoni, breakfast sausage, or bacon. You can buy sliced ham, sliced chicken, deli slices, lunch meat, packaged ham, pepperoni, the meat that goes into soups, the meat that goes into those little lunch trays ... pretty much any form of packaged meat at the grocery store has this toxic ingredient in it. That's why the daily consumption of processed meats has now been clinically shown to produce a 6,700% increase in the risk of pancreatic cancer! Guinea Pig People And what is this ingredient again? Sodium nitrite! When you ingest sodium nitrite, it mixes with the digestive
juices of your stomach and creates a class of chemical compounds called nitrosamines. These nitrosamines are potent cancer-causing chemicals. In fact, as I've mentioned before, they are so potent that lab researchers actually inject mice with nitrosamines when they want to give those mice breast cancer or other form of cancer they can study. And yet, as humans, we put sodium nitrite right into the food supply. It's almost as if we were treating the entire population as lab rats -and in fact that's not far from the truth. Drugs are frequently released in this country on an experimental basis, using the population as guinea pigs to find out how many people might die from that drug in order to get more safety data. Let's face it, when the FDA approves drugs for public use, they are not at all proven safe. The American public is routinely treated as a collection of guinea pigs in order to promote prescription drugs, foods, artificial sweeteners or other elements. Toxic Personal Care Products So now we've got toxic chemicals in our mouths, in our public water supplies, and in our foods and beverages. Where else can money hungry corporations put toxic chemicals into our immediate environment and get them into our bodies? Well, think hard and you might come up with some other ideas. Let's look at the personal care products industry, because practically every brand name shampoo, cologne, perfume, deodorant, antiperspirant or other personal care product on the market is made with toxic fragrance chemicals. These can contain solvents, carcinogens and compounds that are registered in government databases as having strong liver toxicity. The reason these ingredients are allowed in these products are because the FDA has mistakenly assumed for many, many years that whatever you put on your body doesn't get absorbed into your body. They think, for example, that you could just coat your body with toxic chemicals and you would be fine, because your skin is a barrier. I've even heard pharmacists tell me that the skin is a great barrier, so whatever you put on your skin won't go into your body. That's utterly ridiculous! As pharmacists, haven't these people ever sold nicotine patches? How do you think those work? They work by releasing nicotine that gets absorbed directly through your skin into your bloodstream. If your skin didn't absorb nicotine, the nicotine patches wouldn't deliver a dosage. You have to be half-crazy to think that the skin is some kind of permanent barrier that keeps out everything you put on it.
In fact, the skin is very porous -- the skin breathes. Yes, it keeps out bacteria, but it sure doesn't keep out chemical solvents, and it doesn't keep out molecules as big as nicotine. Nicotine molecules are not very small, by the way. There are many things that go right through your skin, and those include fragrance chemicals, solvents, and a lot of other toxic ingredients that are found in personal care products. One such ingredient called MIT was recently discovered in most brand-name shampoos, and this MIT ingredient is known to cause brain cancer. Voluntary Chemical Suicide So now we are really stupid as a species, because we've poisoned our mouths, our water supply, our food, our beverages and even our shampoos and personal care products. And if you use dryer sheets, then you've got your clothes poisoned as well, they're coated in a layer of toxic chemicals found in dryer sheet products. So what else could we use to poison the population? There are still many other options. One way would be to sell a toxic chemical that people voluntarily put into their mouths because another person in a position of authority told them to do so. This is describing the prescription drug industry, where people are poisoning themselves each and every day with toxic painkiller drugs like COX-2 inhibitors or toxic anticholesterol drugs like statin drugs. People are poisoning their minds with antidepressant drugs that promote violent behavior and suicides. They're poisoning their cardiovascular system with beta-blockers and other drugs. And of course they're poisoning their livers. And yet people volunteer to do this -- each and every day they will put these toxic chemicals into their bodies simply because someone with a degree from a school of disease (also known as medical school) told them to do so. And, not only that, they will actually pay for the privilege of poisoning their own bodies. They'll pay good money too, not just a few hundred dollars a month, but several thousand dollars a month. Some people will spend six figures a year poisoning their bodies because their doctor told them to do so. And, then when something goes wrong and they have a small tumor show up on a mammogram, or some other blood test comes back positive that indicates they may have some sort of cancer tumor, they will gladly pay another $100,000 or more in order to destroy their entire immune system with a treatment known as chemotherapy. They will literally sit there and let other doctors inject highly toxic poisons directly into the bloodstream and allow them to circulate through their body. How toxic is this stuff? Well, gee, think about it, your hair falls out,
you get sick and you vomit -- are these signs that maybe this stuff doesn't belong in your body? I don't know about you, but I think that's a very strange way to heal someone. If I were a medical professional and I were healing someone, and I had them do something which made their hair fall out and they started vomiting and it looked like they were going to melt away right before my very eyes, I would think that, hey, maybe this isn't good for them. But that's not what conventional oncologists think. They think, oh, this is great stuff. Look, we're going to destroy the cancer tumor and, if we're lucky, there may even be a patient left by the time we're done. And if not -- that's alright, as long as they pay the bill. Official, Government-Approved Drug Dealers We as a species actually have a class of professionals, highly-paid professionals, who we give the right to poison us with toxic chemicals. These people are called doctors. I call them drug dealers. Just like illegal drugs, their drugs kill people. The main difference is that these "legal" drugs enrich politically influential corporations, whereas illegal drugs enrich drug lords. Our national "War on Drugs" is quite selective in its targets, don't you think? Industrial hemp is outlawed, but doping up millions of children on powerful narcotics is perfectly legal: it's called Ritalin. So, remember, we're the only species stupid enough to actually poison ourselves. And if we don't do it in just one or two ways, we do it in half a dozen different ways! Then we regulate that poisoning, we make it federal law! And we have lobbyists and groups out there defending this use of poison in the food supply, and defending the use of it in cosmetic products and personal care products. We have defenders of the drug industry, people who say, "Yeah, well there was a study five years ago that showed a 1200 percent heart attack increase, but we thought that really wasn't relevant to this drug and we decided to go ahead and market that drug anyway." That's what we have today. And the real details of this gruesome story have only begun to be uncovered. Wait until the rest of the story comes out... We're #1! Is it any wonder, with all of the poisoning going on at all the different levels in our bodies, that we are now the most chronically diseased population that has ever been recorded in the history of civilization? It's true -- there is no population that has suffered from diseases like we do in America today. You would have to be clinically insane to not think that there's a correlation between the poison we are putting into our bodies and the diseases we are getting as a result.
Dazed, stunned, or stupefied. Can you think of a better word to describe the people around here? As Einstein once said, "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
http://www.newstarget.com/008511.html
Plus, as recent studies have shown, we're the #1 nation in the world in terms of mental disorders as well! Let's see: #1 in obesity, #1 in diabetes, #1 in cancer, #1 mental disorders, and we have the HIGHEST health care costs in the world, too. We have the most expensive drugs in the world. We have more doctors and health care professionals per capita than any country in the world. And, frighteningly, we're the country with the most nukes. Great idea, huh? Put the nuclear weapons under control of the most mentally disturbed population in the world... now if only our leaders were at least sane... But no, wait a minute -- the doctors are right, all diseases are just genetic. None of these poisons matter, it's just your genes. They say the gene pool of the human race was perfectly fine 100 years ago when people didn't have all these diseases, but it has somehow mutated to a gene pool that gives you heart disease and cancer and osteoporosis and diabetes, and, by the way, there's nothing you can do about it. That's what they want you to believe, because then they take away your power. Then you have no ability to make changes. Actually, We're Pretty Darned Clever, Aren't We? Not only are we the most stupid species on the planet, because we're poisoning ourselves, we are simultaneously the cleverest species, because we find ways to justify all that poisoning. We find scientific gobbledygook to claim that, yes, NutraSweet is good for you! Or that these chlorine atoms attached to sugar are great for you, or that mercury in your mouth somehow doesn't have a toxic effect on your body. Or that hydrogenated oils are perfectly fine for your heart health. We stupidly say if you take those and you drink this weight loss shake made with sugar, you'll be healthy. And if you have this barbaric surgical procedure called gastric bypass surgery, you'll no longer be obese. And if you're not healthy, don't worry; we have magic bullet prescription drugs that will make you even healthier. So we're a clever population at the same time that we're incredibly stupid. Do you know what that's called? That's called being a population of great technicians and lousy healers. And that's exactly what we are today. Having used the word "stupid" throughout this editorial, I use it deliberately. I don't mean it in the way that a teenager might say, "My stupid little brother flipped me off." I mean it in a more precise way, in the way defined by Dictionary.com: Stupid: 1. Slow to learn or understand; obtuse. 2. Tending to make poor decisions or careless mistakes. 3. Marked by a lack of intelligence or care; foolish or careless: a stupid mistake. 4.
Continued from page 22 Skin Bleaching/Lightening

in the UK there is be a second generation of products containing Kajoic Acid that also work by inhibiting melanin production. Which means that in 5 years time we will be back in the same situation. We need to stop this disease from spreading For many years beauty has been associated with being fair. Models are as white as possible and people are commended on the fairness of their skin. We feel that we must bow down to the social pressures or we suffer from the psychological effects which cause us to use products which may permanently disfigure or cause horrific side effects. Banning products containing Hydroquinone and Mercury will not stop the products from entering the UK and being sold under the counter. The only way we can make a positive impact on preventing this disease from spreading is through continuous campaigns raising awareness via the media and the government.
http://www.pressbox.co.uk/detailed/Health/skin_bleaching/_light ening_its_dangers_37431.html
Nigeria: Bleaching And Coloured Women

Bunmi Fasehun
7 June 2008 Leadership What is being black to you? Is your black colour so dark that whenever you see a black woman on TV who is light skinned, you ever wish you had the same colour as her? As an African, or to be politically correct a "black person", why do you feel the need to bleach your skin to look lighter? Do you believe that by bleaching your skin, you might be more sought after by men? In our culture, especially in Nigeria, it is a well known piece of information that light skinned women are more favoured than their dark skinned sisters. Some consider identifies being light skinned to be synonymous with beauty. Evidently, when a very dark skinned or a light skinned
Continued from page 25 Nigeria: Bleaching and Coloured Women
Nigeria, even though she had the right qualifications and to make it worse, neither did she have a boyfriend. She said she'd noticed that all the women that were favoured in Nigeria were mostly light skinned women, and as soon as she'd realised that, she knew she had a private war on her hands. She got some money together and bought bleaching creams so she could get a job and at least get a man that would marry her, and true to her words, after she began to bleach, she went for about five job interviews and finally got a job. However, she could still not get the man of her dreams. Once her salary was paid to her, most of it was spent on bleaching her skin, to enable her to attract the man of her dreams. I asked her what sort of man she thought bleaching her skin would attract and with a glow on her face, she gave a wide smile and said, "Of course, rich men." I had never laughed so much in my life. At twelve, I didn't know much, but I knew that my knowledge surpassed my Aunty A's, as she had no clue. She actually thought by bleaching her skin, she would attract a rich guy. My reply to her was that she should stop bleaching, as I doubted that any sensible man would want to marry a 31-year old with bleached skin. She gave me a knock on the head! True to testimony, she did stop bleaching her skin and got a man. She is now happily married. To be fair to African women, especially the ones in the diaspora, it is very hard to be a success in this world, as you will find so many hindrances would be placed on your feet; It is not easy for African women in the diasporas, it can be problematic being very dark skinned. In the Western culture, you are mostly judged by your appearance, how you speak and how you present yourself. Being black is almost a curse in the world we live in today. No matter how educated and enlightened you are, once your skin colour is black, the boundaries are set for you. You are invisibly set invisible limit on how high you can go in the Western world. One must also point out that the issue of women bleaching their skin does not only lie in the Western world, it is in every part of Africa. Wherever there are black people, you will always come across black men and women who bleach their skin in order to look the part.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200806070128.html
woman enter a room, the one to get the attention would probably be the light skinned woman. When your skin is lighter; it automatically calls attention to you. When I was in Nigeria, to bleach one's skin was very much in fashion. There was a time in Nigeria, when almost all the women bleaching their skin or rather, toning their skin to give them a lighter complexion, although, then, it never occurred to me, why women bleach their skin, I considered it normal. Until I grew up and began to understand the dangers of bleaching one's skin. The beauty of a woman is mostly her skin, you can tell a lot about a woman, just by looking at her skin and how healthy it is. During my time of adolescence, my thinking was that, it was a natural thing for women to lighten their skin in order to be beautiful, but as time went by, I saw it differently. The women I knew whilst growing up, were reacting badly towards the creams they are used to bleach. After prolonged bleaching, the skin deteriorates into a different shade, which looks dirty and wrinkled. For older African women who reside in Africa, the side effects of bleaching are never to their favour, as the Weather and of course, nature deal with their skin in a way that would make one puke. It was mostly a horrid sight, seeing rubbery, burnt skin on a person's face. So why do African women bleach their skin? This question has been asked numerous times by academicians and of course the man on the street. Simply put, African women bleach their skin to look beautiful and in a way, to look more like their Western sisters, who are much fairer. During the colonial times in Africa, it was said that if you were a black woman and light skinned, life was much easier, as being light was almost like to being white. It is not hidden that Africans prefer black women who are light in complexion. As a female who grew up in a female dominated household, I witnessed Aunties mixing different types of bleaching creams, to fade away their natural skin tone, in order to be accepted by society and of course, date rich men. The lighter you are in Nigeria, the better your chances of success, said one of my aunties. My aunty, whom I call Aunty A, is not your conventional beauty, but she was one who made the best of what God gave her by enhancing her skin tone so she could get the right job or man. When I was about twelve years old, I sat down one afternoon with Aunty A in the kitchen. She was about to mix her bleaching cream and I asked her why she felt the need to bleach. Head bowed, mixing her creams, she smiled and said it helps in the society that we live in. She said I should take a look at her. At her age (then 31), she had no boyfriend, she had no job. She could not understand why she could not get a job in
New Botox Rival May Cost Less, Work Faster

New wrinkle in skin injectables may work faster, last longer and cost less
the doctor. Other people say that once you start using it regularly, you may get up to six months. So, if Reloxin really lasts longer than Botox that I have to wait to see. But, no doubt, it starts acting sooner. Recession-proof? The new competitor to Botox arrives at a time when cosmetic surgeons are seeing a downturn in big-ticket surgeries like breast enhancement, nose jobs and facelifts, but little reduction in the demand for rejuvenating procedures like Botox injections, dermal fillers and chemical skin peels. A recent article in The Wall Street Journal reported that with the economy in recession, people see maintaining a youthful appearance as being vital in keeping existing jobs or looking for new ones. In 2007, Allergan reported Botox sales of $1.2 billion, but said that demand for the drug was subdued late last year. Allergan has responded to the coming hype for Reloxin by emphasizing its established track record. Physicians should not assume that they can use another product such as Reloxin and get the same precise and predictable results, with the same safety profile, as they do with Botox, Allergan said in a statement released to NBC News. The consumers biggest fear about any wrinkle-erasing injections is that their face will be permanently paralyzed into a mask, or suffer other disfigurement. But Snyderman said such fears are unfounded. The most important thing to remember is its temporary, Snyderman told Curry. It will wear off; it doesnt paralyze anything forever, and, boy, is this stuff safe. It really has been run through the wringer. Its been around for 25 years.
By Mike Celizic
January 8, 2009 Theres a new player joining the war on wrinkles, and its looking to take on Botox in a run for your money. Within the next few months, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to approve Reloxin as an injectable treatment for wrinkles. Made from the same neurotoxin as Botox, Reloxin is said to act more quickly and may last longer than Botox, according to a report filed on Thursday for TODAY by Michelle Kosinski of NBC News. The bottom line for consumers, according to Dr. Nancy Snyderman, NBCs chief medical editor, is that Reloxin will probably be priced lower than Botox. Battle with Botox I think youre going to see a marketing battle, Snyderman told TODAYs Ann Curry in New York. I think this is going to come in cheaper. Right now, Botox costs $350 to $500. Watch for a price war. Its going to be a price war for women who want this stuff. Botox has been used in medical applications to treat muscle spasms and other conditions for nearly three decades, Snyderman said. In 2002, it was approved by the FDA for cosmetic use. It is made from botulinum toxin, the same bacteria that cause botulism food poisoning. Reloxin, which has been marketed for several years in Europe and South America under the brand name Dysport, is made from the same neurotoxin as Botox. It was originally developed to treat muscular disorders. The difference, according to Kosinskis report, is that Reloxin will act in one to two days instead of the three to five days Botox needs to kick in. Clinical trials suggest injections may be effective for up to five or six months, as opposed to about three months for Botox. They work the same way. They paralyze the muscle, Snyderman said. In cosmetic use, the substance is used to immobilize the muscles that cause facial wrinkles. Reloxin, she said, is a new take on it. It is the first kid on the block to give Botox some real competition. She said the main difference between Botox and Reloxin is that Reloxin will start earlier. I think theres still some controversy as to how long it will last. Some people say it lasts about three months, and then you have to go back to
FDA Receives 930 Reports of Wrinkle-Filler Issues

Some suffer facial palsy, disfigurement and other problems after injections Reuters November 14, 2008 WASHINGTON - U.S. regulators have received reports of serious and unexpected problems in people treated with wrinkle-fighting injections known as dermal fillers, Food and Drug Administration staff said in a report released on Friday. The problems included facial palsy, disfigurement and
Continued from page 26 FDA Receives 930 Reports of Wrinkle-Filler Issues
before the effects are seen. Past generations have brought into general usage materials such as asbestos, leaded petrol, CFCs and cigarettes without adequately considering the potential damage and the commission fears nanomaterials will prove similarly dangerous. Royal Society report on nanomaterials Only by introducing rigorous safety systems, including widespread monitoring and intensive research, can threats posed by nanomaterials be identified and countered, the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution concluded. Nanomaterials are already used in a variety of products on the market including a range of clothes in Japan that have dispensed with dye because refracting nanomaterials provide the colours. A nanomaterial placed on the surface of the glass in the roof at St Pancras Station has been designed to keep it clean. It reacts with sunlight to break down dirt without the need for window cleaners to clamber up on the roof. Many sun creams contain titanium dioxide particles, a nanomaterial which has been in use for years. There are about 600 different products using nanomaterials around the world and around 1,500 have been patented. Professor Sir John Lawton, chairman of the commission, accepted that no evidence has yet been found to show damage has been caused to human health or the environment by nanomaterials. But he said that while the technology had the potential to offer many benefits to society there is also the possibility it will cause harm. The rate of innovation in this sector far outstrips our capacity to respond to the risks, he said. There is an urgent need for more research and testing of nanomaterials. So little is understood about nanomaterials in the environment, that scientists have yet even to work out ways of finding them. Nanomaterials manufactured for use in products were considered by the Commission to be those that measure one to 100 nanometres long. A grain of sand is about a million nanometres wide. Professor Susan Owens, of the University of Cambridge, said: If we dont do anything and we leave it, then things
"rare but life-threatening events such as severe allergic reactions and anaphylactic shock," the FDA staff said. The agency said it received a total of 930 reports of health problems over the past six years. Many included known complications such as minor swelling. The FDA did not identify which products had reports of more serious problems. The FDA staff said the reports had several limitations such as failing to say when the problems started. Dermal fillers include Allergan Inc's Juvederm, Restylane and Perlane from Medicis, and Bioform Medical's Radiesse. The FDA will ask a panel of outside experts that meets on Tuesday if labels for the products should be changed, agency staff said. Medicis Chief Executive Jonah Shacknai, in an interview with Reuters, said, "We do not see any adverse events that are unexpected or unnoted on our product label. "We haven't seen anything that is life-threatening," he added. Allergan spokeswoman Caroline Van Hove said no serious problems were seen in clinical trials of Juvederm, and the most common complaint since its approval was swelling in 0.4 percent of patients. "Juvederm has a highly favorable safety profile based on long-term use and volume," she said. An official at Bioform Medical could not immediately be reached for comment. The report was posted on the FDA Web site.
Nanotechnology Sparks Fears for the Future

Lewis Smith Times Online November 12, 2008 Nanomaterials are likely to kill people in the future just as asbestos did unless extensive safety checks are put in place, a Royal Commission report has said. The team of experts assessing the likely impacts of the emerging technology are worried that when nanomaterials escape into the environment they will damage people and wildlife but that it will be years
Continued from page 27 Nanotechnology Sparks Fears for Future
manifest themselves in 10 to 15 years time. By then the technology is so embedded in society its very difficult to deal with it. Backing calls for research and monitoring she said that problems caused by CFCs, asbestos and other products, were only detected when they started damaging human health and the environment. Experts on the Commission estimated Britain and the rest of the world has about a decade to carry out research on the safety of nanotechnology before the use of nanomaterials, ranging from the diameter of a DNA strand to that of a virus, become too widely-used for any damage to be halted. The commissions report, Novel Materials in the Environment: the case of nanotechnology, rejected an outright ban on the technology because of the huge potential benefits. A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said: As the Commission states, it has found no evidence of harm to health or the environment from nanomaterials, but the Government remains committed to researching their health and environmental impact. In particular, ministers are pushing in Europe to ensure that effective regulation is in place. EU and UK reviews of existing legislation have concluded that the existing regulatory framework can be changed to extend to nanomaterials.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/gm_biofue l/article5134227.ece.htm
As with the jab now given to millions of young girls each year to prevent cervical cancer, children aged between 10 and 12 would be given the vaccine to prevent skin cancer later in life, Professor Frazer envisages. Testing on animals has shown the vaccine to be successful and human trials will start next year. Australia has the world's highest rate of skin cancer with more than 380,000 people diagnosed with the disease and 1600 dying from it each year. Professor Frazer will reveal this ground-breaking skin work at the Australian Health and Medical Research Congress to be held in Brisbane tomorrow. He said it would be rewarding to develop a vaccine for a cancer that was so prevalent in Australia with its hot climate. It's an important challenge with a very major health benefit if it works,'' Professor Frazer told The Sunday Telegraph. "If we get encouraging results we will try and push it on as fast as we can. It's really a given that we try to focus on health problems which are significant ones. "When you're looking at treatments, your focus needs to be on diseases that are most common.'' The new skin-cancer vaccine works by targeting papillomavirus, a common skin infection that affects most people and can linger in the body, turning abnormal cells into cancer. Prof Frazer and his team from the Diamantina Institute at the University of Queensland are focusing on preventing squamous-cell skin cancer, which is strongly linked to papillomavirus. Squamous cell is the second most common skin cancer, affecting 137,600 people in Australia this year and killing 400. It's not yet known if melanomas, which are the most deadly form of skin cancer, are also caused by papillomavirus. "My entire career has been focused on understanding the interaction between papillomavirus and the cancers they affect,'' Prof Frazer said. "We know it causes at least five per cent of all cancers globally so one in 20 of the cancers that people get is caused by papillomavirus. It's a huge issue.'' The new vaccine is part of a two-pronged approach to tackle skin cancer. The other approach involves "switching off'' one of the
Skin Cancer Vaccine Breakthrough

By Clair Weaver
Daily Telegraph November 16, 2008 THE pioneering Australian scientist who discovered the cure for cervical cancer is on the verge of creating the world's first vaccine for skin cancer. Professor Ian Frazer, former Australian of the Year, has revealed the vaccine could be ready within the next five to 10 years.
Continued on page 29 Skin Cancer Vaccine
patients with chronic disease and pre-cancerous lesions. The new vaccine is not the same as Gardasil - used against cervical cancer - and contains different ingredients, although both work in a similar way. "It's a conventional vaccine that contains a viral protein,'' Prof Fraser said. "It was specifically developed for this trial.'' Professor Frazer told Thursday's St George Hospital 2008 symposium in south-east Sydney that more than 20 per cent of the world's cancers were triggered by infection and they could therefore be prevented by immunisation. But he acknowledged that the full extent of the role of papillomavirus in skin cancer had not yet been established. "I don't know how many skin cancers are caused by it,'' he said. ``On pessimistic days I say one per cent, but on other days I think maybe all of them are.'' And despite his hopes, Prof Frazer stressed it would not mean vaccinated people could abandon measures to protect themselves from the sun. "There's always a danger of complacency,'' he said. "A vaccine is not a replacement for prevention.''
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,246571 72-5006010,00.html
skin's controls to allow killer cells to destroy potentially cancerous cells. "Getting the vaccine is the easy part,'' Prof Frazer "We need to introduce this other component to change the setting in the local environment. "The skin has a number of defences against the body's own immune system. "What we're learning is the nature of those controls and how to turn them off. "We can turn them off in animals and if we turn them off, the vaccine does its job.'' The next stage of trials will involve treating those patients with chronic disease and pre-cancerous lesions. The new vaccine is not the same as Gardasil - used against cervical cancer - and contains different ingredients, although both work in a similar way. "It's a conventional vaccine that contains a viral protein,'' Prof Fraser said. "It was specifically developed for this trial.'' Professor Frazer told Thursday's St George Hospital 2008 symposium in south-east Sydney that more than 20 per cent of the world's cancers were triggered by infection and they could therefore be prevented by immunisation. But he acknowledged that the full extent of the role of papillomavirus in skin cancer had not yet been established. "I don't know how many skin cancers are caused by it,'' he said. ``On pessimistic days I say one per cent, but on other days I think maybe all of them are.'' And despite his hopes, Prof Frazer stressed it would not mean vaccinated people could abandon measures to protect themselves from the sun. "There's always a danger of complacency,'' he said. "A vaccine is not a replacement for prevention.'' "We need to introduce this other component to change the setting in the local environment.
Don't Pucker Up: Lead in Lipstick

From the Department Store to the Drugstore: Lead on Your Lips October 12, 2007 You might want to think twice before touching up your lipstick. According to a new report, some lipsticks are contaminated with lead, from drugstore brands to designer labels. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics randomly purchased more than 30 lipsticks in four cities and sent them to a lab for lead testing. More than half came back with levels of lead. "It's unconscionable that women should have to worry about lead in lipstick," said Stacy Malkan of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. The coalition's report found that 20 of the 33 lipsticks it sent to be tested contained lead. Higher levels were found in products made by L'Oreal, Cover Girl and Christian Dior. Continued on page 31
"The skin has a number of defences against the body's own immune system. "What we're learning is the nature of those controls and how to turn them off. "We can turn them off in animals and if we turn them
off, the vaccine does its job.'' The next stage of trials will involve treating those
Continued from page 31 Dont Pucker up: Lead in Lipstick
full results within 16 weeks, it said. "Latisse fulfills a significant and previously unmet need in the medical aesthetic marketplace with a product approved by the FDA that increases the growth of eyelashes, making them longer, thicker and darker," said Dr. Scott Whitcup, Allergan's executive vice president of research and development, in a statement. The drug's active ingredient, bimatoprost, was first approved in 2001 as a treatment to lower intraocular pressure in people with a type of glaucoma or hypertension within the eye. Allergan expects to launch Latisse in the first quarter and forecasts peak annual sales exceeding $500 million.
Because there is no federal standard for lead in cosmetics, the advocacy group used the Food and Drug Administration's limits for lead in candy as a yardstick. "We want the companies to immediately reformulate their products to get the lead out and ultimately, really we need to change the laws and force these companies to be accountable to women's health," Malkan said. But the trade group representing the cosmetics industry said the report is nothing new and, not surprisingly, the findings are not cause for worry. "I think the levels are actually quite low trace levels really not something that would present a cause for concern," said John Bailey of the Cosmetic, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association. Experts say pregnant women should be extra aware when it comes to lead-tainted products. "Lead is a proven neurotoxin. It can cause learning disabilities. It's also linked to miscarriage and infertility," Malkan said. Bailey advises that all pregnant women consult their physician before choosing their cosmetics. L'Oreal told ABC News that all its products are in compliance with FDA regulations and that it upholds the highest standards of safety for its customers. Proctor and Gamble, maker of Cover Girl, said that it stands behind the safety of its products and that all its products go through rigorous testing procedures. LVMH, the company that makes Dior products, said it does not use lead products in its cosmetics. Trace amounts of lead exist in natural pigments, but the company considers those levels harmless.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3722013
WHY THE US GOVERNMENT REQUIRES WARNING LABELS ON TOOTHPASTE

WARNING Keep out of the reach of children under 6 years of age. If you accidentally swallow more than used for bushing, seek professional assistance or contact a Poison Control Center immediately. As with other toothpaste, if irritation occurs discontinue use. DIRECTIONS: Adults and children 2 years and older. Apply toothpaste onto a soft bristle toothbrush. Brush thoroughly after meals or at least twice a day or as directed by a dentist or physician. Children under 6 years: To minimize swallowing, use a pea sized amount supervise brushing until good habits are established. Children under 2 years: Ask a dentist or physician. The above guidelines are the typical warning labels and directions for toothpaste. Lets examine the ingredients found in most toothpastes to find out why the FDA requires warning labels. The following are common ingredients found in toothpaste: hydrated silica, sorbitol, sodium saccharin, titanium dioxide, glycerin, sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate, and sodium fluoride. Hydrated silica is made from a crystallized compound found in quartz, sand, and flint and is primarily used as an abrasive in toothpaste.
FDA Approves Treatment to Boost Eyelashes

Glaucoma drug can be used to increase thickness, fullness of lashes Associated Press December, 26, 2008 YORK - Cosmetic drugmaker Allergan Inc. said Friday its eyelash treatment Latisse received Food and Drug Administration approval. The drug treats the condition hypotrichosis of the eyelashes and is applied once-daily to increase thick ness and fullness, the company said. The treatment has
Continued from page 31 Why the US Government Requires Warning Labels on Toothaste
Sorbitol and sodium saccharin are both sweeteners and used as carriers and sweeteners in toothpaste. Titanium dioxide is a pigment used for providing brightness and whiteness to such products as paint, plastics, paper, inks, fibers, food, and cosmetics; and is used as a stain remover/whitener in toothpaste. Glycerin is a syrupy, sweet, colorless or yellowish liquid obtained from fats and oils and used as a solvent, antifreeze, plasticizer, and sweetener in the manufacture of dynamite, cosmetics, liquid soaps, inks, and lubricants. Glycerin prevents toothpaste from drying out and helps maintain product consistency. Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) is a powerful surfactant (wetting agents) and detergent. It has industrial and cosmetic uses and is used around the world in clinically studies as a skin irritant. The molecule is small enough to penetrate the skin and can enter the blood stream being carried to every organ of the body. SLS is used in toothpaste as a foaming and cleansing agent. Sodium fluoride is a colorless crystalline salt used in fluoridation of water, in treatment of tooth decay, and as an insecticide and disinfectant. Sodium fluoride is used in toothpaste to harden the enamel of the teeth to prevent tooth decay. You are probably as shocked as we were to discover whats in toothpaste, and what we are exposing ourselves and our children to everyday. Although there are proponents that warn against the use of all of the above ingredients, sodium fluoride is the one ingredient that triggered the FDA to require warning labels on toothpaste. Here are some facts about fluoride. The FDA lists fluoride as an unapproved new drug and the EPA lists fluoride as a contaminant. Fluoride has never received FDA Approval and is considered to be a toxic waste product from the fertilizer industry. A July 1998 report for The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry states that at least 22% of all American children now have dental fluorosis as a result of ingesting too much fluoride. Fluorosis is light spots and discoloration forming on developing teeth of children. In advanced cases pitting of teeth can occur. Fluoride has been linked to many harmful health effects including: Alzheimers, kidney damage, gastrointestinal problems, cancer, genetic damage, neurological impairment, bone and tooth decay, arthritis, and osteoporosis. Check the Internet for government and scientific reports validating this see
http://www.zerowasteamerica.org/Fluoride.htm.
Battelle released the results of its study of fluorides and rats in April 1989. The study showed a dose-dependent relationship between the incidence of oral cancerous tumors and fluorides. After learning this, the National Cancer Institute did a study and found that as exposure to fluoridation increases, so does the incidence of oral cancer; sometimes by as much as 50%. In 1990 forty US dentist brought a case against the American Dental Association contending that the Association purposefully shielded the public from data that links fluoride to genetic defects, cancer and other health problems (Columbus Dispatch, Oct 21, 1990). Since 1990 over 45 US cities have rejected fluoridation. Ninety eight percent of Europes drinking water is now fluoride free. In 1986-1987, a study involving 39,207 children aged 5-17 showed no statistical difference in decay of teeth from using non-fluoridated or fluoridated water (Dr J. Yiamouyiannus Water Fluoridation & Tooth Decay Study, Fluoride 23:pp55-67, 1990.). The FDA has determined toothpaste containing sodium fluoride enough of a risk to require warning labels. Historically, when the FDA requires warning labels there is a good reason for it. Look at the progression of cigarette warning labels: 1970 - Caution: Smoking may be hazardous to your health; 2000 Surgeon Generals Warning: Smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema, and may complicate pregnancy. Although there is a growing movement against the use of fluoride, there are also some big companies with deep pockets and strong lobbyist in Washington DC that want to continue selling fluoride. We suggest you find a use a safe, alternative to fluoridated toothpaste.
http://www.oramd.com/toothpastewarning.htm?kbid=1110
Continued on page 3 - Ancestor Veneration

the cosmos (adultery provokes dryness), and public function is at the same time religious and cosmological (i.e. symbolises somehow the cosmos). The power of tradition is connected with cyclic duration, ritual repetition, gerontocracy (government by old men), cult (of ancestors, initiation rites whereby man is plunged into the mythical time of the ancestors to participate in the sacred events of that time of origins). The solidarity and totality of the socio-cosmical universe determine all private initiative. Things are conceived as symbols of each other. Symbols, on their part, not only unify the objects they symbolise, but are also believed to participate somehow in the reality which they express. The African is not
Continued from page 32 Ancestor Veneration
content merely with living in the world and experiencing its rhythm but desires also to interpret the symbolism of created things, and to enter into sympathetic communion with them. The world is, for the human being who has daily contact with it, an ensemble of signs and messages to be interpreted. The initiated is the one who knows the secret (symbols) of things. There is no clear-cut distinction between the sign and the signified. What is also prominent in this "corporate way of thinking" is a strong of community life, expressed by participation in the life of the community into which the individual is introduced by various initiation rites. This accounts for the deep sense of the family shown by the attachment to the family and the bond with the ancestors. Closely connected with the family and community at large is the great respect shown to the head of the family and other members of the communal authority. In many cases members of a clan have special mystical relationship to a totem, with which the name of the clan is associated. 2.1.3 The sacred. There is a marked sense of the sacred understood as the "tremendum et fascinosum", and is characteristically manifested in initiation rites comprising, among other things, return to the sacred time of the ancestors, culture heroes, founders and archetypes. The present world is closely connected with the world after death, and one lives in close contact with ones ancestors and other spirits. As consequence, the African traditionalist is deeply characterised by magico-religious behaviour. Among the spirits, God is the highest. He is the ultimate controller of natural forces and human destiny. He dwells far away in the sky, or in some important places such as mountains. He is often approached through intermediaries. Side by side with God is the Mother Earth - a goddess who purifies or symbolises the fertility of the soil. Besides these are other spirits and those of the dead. 2.1.4 Anthropocentrism. Society and religion are centred on man whose welfare (well-being, security, protection) in this and the next world they are meant to procure. Human dignity is highly respected, and man has a privileged place in the universe; he interprets the cosmos in terms of human organisation. The world, inexhaustible source of life, is meant to reinforce the power of man so as to make him more living. Interest in God seems to be chiefly based on His readiness and capacity to help man in his terrestrial interests. This fact, together with the desire to live fully the values and powers of this world, may explain the absence of
mystical contemplative traditional societies.
communities
in
African
It should be added that in modern African societies especially in urban circles and among the elite these elements are undergoing considerable changes and are at times even disappearing. But it remains true that they still characterise the general African traditional mentality. After this short description of some of the items in the African traditional worldview, I shall now expose the various beliefs and practices concerning ancestral veneration in the majority of African traditional societies. 2.2 The Cult of Ancestors There is no uniform system of beliefs and practices of this cult in black Africa. In fact, one finds differences of detail even in the same ethnic group. Moreover, the ancestral veneration which will be described here is not found in each African traditional community. Nevertheless the cult belongs to the majority of the peoples. Besides, notwithstanding the differences referred to above, there are many elements shared in common by many ethnic societies. This fact justifies the assertion that there are common conceptions on ancestors and their cult. It is on such common views that the exposition which follows will be mainly centred. Mention has already been made that ancestral veneration in Africa is intimately linked with the traditional worldview. In this worldview life, understood as sacred power (vital force), is a central element. We have seen that the ideal of African culture is coexistence and strengthening of vital force in the human community and the world at large. This ideal is one of the basic motivations of ancestral cult. That is why in many African societies ancestral status is closely linked with procreative fecundity. In some (but by no means all) communities, a person without offspring cannot become an ancestor. There are even cases where it is believed that the naming of the descendant by the name of his ancestor makes it possible for the ancestor to continue to live in his descendant. The belief is widespread that the ancestor will continue to survive as ancestor only on condition that he is not forgotten, i.e. if his descendants communicate with him. Hence, the African desires to have many children who will remember him and ritually communicate with him. An ancestor, on his part, is believed to procure benefits for his living kin such as health, long life and the begetting of children.
Continued from page 33 Ancestor Veneration
African ancestral relationship includes the idea of kinship as an indispensable factor. No one can be an ancestor of an individual who is not kinly related to him. It is for this reason that rituals for the dead without any particular reference to kinship are generally considered as not belonging to ancestral cult. And although there are cases where ancestral relationship is not founded on family ties (e.g. when such relationship is grounded on common membership in a religious or secret society), yet such relationship rarely if ever goes beyond tribal limits. Thanks to his death an ancestor is believed to enjoy a sacred super-human status with special magicoreligious powers that can be beneficial or even harmful to his earthly kin. Such super-human condition is expressed in various ways. Thus, for instance, both bodily and spiritual qualities are ascribed to the ancestors: invisibility or visibility in human but unusual form, capacity to enter into and possess human individuals or brute animals, capacity to consume food or drinks, special nearness to the Supreme Being, capacity to exist anywhere although the ancestors are believed to have localities of preference (e.g. shrines, particular trees or bushes, grave-yards, etc.). At times the ancestral spirits are presented with ambivalent features: they can be benevolent to their earthly kin, but they can also intervene at will to harm them. That is why they are also feared. When they are forgotten or neglected by their descendants, they are said to manifest their anger by sending to their descendants bodily or spiritual calamities. Their anger is usually appeased through prayer and ritual offerings or oblations. This is an indication of the belief that ancestors are entitled to regular sacred communication with their earthly relatives. In spite of the fear manifested at times towards ancestors, the living is naturally drawn to ritual communication with their deceased kin. Such inclination stems from the natural love, piety and respect towards their sacred relatives in the other world, as well as from the belief in the beneficial sacred vital forces the ancestors are supposed to possess thanks to their nearness to the Supreme Being. Indeed, the living on earth expect special benefits from their ancestors, e.g. protection from sickness, death or other misfortunes, and the acquisition of various benefits, such as long life, great wealth or many children. An ancestor is, therefore, expected to be faithful to his Being as a last resort. The ancestors, on their part, are said to desire frequent or regular contact with their earthly relatives, and are even believed to visit them through mediums (e.g. snakes, hyenas and caterpillars)
or to have direct union with them through possession. In fact, the living and their ancestors form a totality in which solidarity is lived and expressed through prayers and rituals, in which human and cosmic solidarity is engaged. From what has been said above, it is obvious that the African manifests a sort of dialectical tension in his attitude towards his ancestors, namely: fear, but also attraction towards them. As can be gathered from the above description there are various reasons behind such ambivalent attitude. Among such reasons, the sense of the sacredness of the ancestors should also be included. We have already seen that the sacred is experienced both as tremendum et fascinosum, tremendous and fascinating, at the same time. Undoubtedly, belief in such experience accounts also for the Africans ambivalent behaviour characterised by fear and attraction towards his ancestors. Thanks to their superhuman condition and nearness to the Creator, the ancestors are often considered as mediators between the Supreme Being and their earthly kin. However, although mediation is ascribed to the dead in many African societies, it is not an indispensable factor of ancestral status. It is indeed absent from the ancestral cult of some communities, and some anthropologists believe that it is a later comer into that cult, probably due to Christian influence. Besides, although the creation Himself is acknowledged as ancestor by some tribal groups, no mediatory role is ascribed to him by such communities. It is important to add, in this connection that, unlike the Supreme Being, human ancestors are not adored in African societies. No one can attain ancestral status without having led a morally good life, according to traditional African moral standards. For an ancestor is regarded as a model or exemplar of conduct in the community, and as source of tribal tradition and its stability. In some tribes, proper burial with appropriate funeral rites is another necessary condition for the ancestral mode of existence. This condition is, however, not universal. Thus it was nonexistent among those societies in which the dead were not buried, but thrown into the bush. African ancestral cult exists as part of a larger religious system. As it is limited to the ethnic group, no attempt is made to proselyte outsiders. Close observation reveals that the cult is fundamentally anthropocentric. It is centred on the human person, and is intended to procure human welfare in this world and in the world beyond death. And in those cases where the creator is acknowledged as ancestor, he is anthropomorphically conceived.
http://afrikaworld.net/afrel/nyamiti.htm
What is Vitiligo
Vitiligo affects the skin, eyes, and mucous membranes by destroying cells that produce the body's pigment. The most obvious results of this condition are white splotches in the areas where the skin isn't producing enough pigment. This is not a serious condition, but research physicians are still investigating methods for correct diagnosis, treatments, co-existent diseases, and psychological side effects. Our hair, eyes, and skin are given color by a pigment called melanin. This material is constantly being broken down and replaced, so it must be replenished by cells called melanocytes. Melanocytes manufacture and distribute the correct amount of melanin, but for people with vitiligo, this process gets disrupted. As scientists have found, vitiligo destroys melanocytes for unknown reasons. They have categorized it as an auto-immune disorder because no external cause seems to be responsible for it. In auto-immune disorders, your body mistakes itself for an enemy intruder and declares war on those "enemy" cells. Your malfunctioning immune system continues attacking your own cells; in this case, melanocytes. The most common symptom of vitiligo is light or white patches of skin anywhere on your body. These are commonly found on areas that receive a lot of sunlight, like your face, back of the neck, forearms, hands, and feet. They can also affect other areas, such as underneath your arms and genitals. For the most part, the symptoms are the most serious aspect of this condition, and doctors direct their treatment toward this aspect. If you suspect you have vitiligo, make sure to go to your physician for an official diagnosis and consultation. You can expect a physical exam of your skin from a dermatologist. At this stage in research, there are a number of different courses of treatment, ranging from light therapy to oral medication to strong sunscreen. Since vitiligo seems to affect young people more than older people, physicians cite the psychological effects of the disease as a major issue. A person with a visible difference in skin coloring, called depigmentation, may be influenced to see their body as unhealthy, disabled, or unattractive. Doctors encourage young people to see a psychologist to help with this reaction. Vitiligo may point your physician to another coexisting condition often seen with depigmentation. Anemia, lupus, and hyperthyroidism are often found in people with vitiligo. Genetics are also probably responsible,
since the condition seems to run in families. Unfortunately, vitiligo usually gets worse as time goes on. However, it is certainly not contagious.
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-vitiligo.htm
Why Isn't My Skin Brown?

Growing Up as a Black Girl with White Skin
by Monique Young November 19, 2008 I was born with blonde hair, porcelain colored skin and blue-ish grey eyes. Not many people see me for what I am and that is a black woman in her late 20's. They see a "white girl"; that was especially the case when I was a kid. I grew up on the south side of Chicago in an all black neighborhood. All the kids in my school were black, the only time you saw a white person they were adults and had some type of authoritative position i.e. a teacher, doctor, store manager, delivery guy etc. As a child I never realized there was a difference between me and everyone else in my family. I guess when you are a kid you ignore that kind of stuff. I didn't know I was different until a girl in kindergarten class called me a "white girl", I defended myself by telling her I was not white, but to a child skin color is what determines your race. Little did I know this would follow me around for the rest of my life. I remember asking my mother that day, "Why isn't my skin brown?" Now that I am a parent, I can't imagine how to explain to your child why they are who they are. My mother looked at me and told me "Black people come in all colors, from dark as night to light as day." She then gave examples of all the different complexions within our family and that satisfied me, so I went to school the next day with my armor ready to educate the other kids to my newfound understanding of being black. Unfortunately for me however you explained it, my skin was white so by default I must be a "white girl". Needless to say, I grew up defending my 'blackness" to my peers. This in turn made being called a "white girl" infuriating. I didn't understand why it mattered whether I was black or not, and why other people were so angry with me for being "white". I didn't choose my skin color any more than they chose their hair type. I went from being a normal happy outgoing little girl to a defensive, angry and unhappy pre-teen. I learned over the years what albinism is, but it didn't make it any easier to deal with people. It did make it easier to explain. Not that I felt obligated to but there were times when other kids would genuinely want to know how I "ended up born like that".
Continued from page 35 - Why Isnt my Skin Brown?
The older I got the more I understood about people and what triggers their thoughts. Most of the kids that teased me didn't know why they had a problem with my complexion. I think they, like most children, got their ideas and beliefs about social and ethnic differences from their parents. I reasoned that they probably had never even been around enough white people to understand why they didn't or shouldn't like them. I noticed that when these same kids were around our white teachers, they didn't care about them being white. Why did it bother them that my skin is white? If I were really a white girl would I be angry about being called a white girl? Would they make a point to refer to me as white girl, if they truly believed that's what I was? I went from defending my "blackness" as a younger child to proving it as an adolescent. I was outspoken, aggressive, and confrontational...that wasn't necessarily what I thought made me black but it did make those around me more accepting of that fact. I can even recall my friend's older brother saying, "You look like a white girl, but as soon as you open your mouth... we know you ain't." I had so many physical fights and used the phrase "who you calling a white girl" so often, I should have bought the rights to it. It's funny how we spend a lot of our earlier years learning and defining who we are. I spent most of mine trying to prove something, that wasn't obvious, until I got tired of it. I was lucky enough to have a family that encouraged me to be my own person and to lead and not follow. I started to feel like a follower by behaving how I was just to make other people happy. I realized that other kids my age were going through the same type of thing as I was. We all wanted to be accepted whether that was by your friends, or those who you'd like to be your friend. I didn't like trying to "make" people like me. I finally realized that I didn't care anymore because if there wasn't my albinism there would be something else that someone wouldn't like about me and that shouldn't be my problem. I realized that if someone didn't like me or think I looked black, so what... who cares. I know what I am and if they don't like it then they weren't worth my energy. I began to think about what I wanted out of life and stopped focusing on my color. I realized that by getting mad or upset was giving away my right to be happy. I realized that there was no such thing as "acting black", you are born what you are and the way you act can't define your race. I had this conversation with other black people with albinism and it's funny but we all had a different way of dealing with it. One young lady felt like she had to choose between being black or white.
I became a happier person and instead of worrying about my color, I was more concerned with what color my lipgloss was. I stopped going out of my way to please people and I ended up enjoying being a teenager. Of course, the ignorance didn't' stop but my attention to it did. I was popular in high school, I had my own group of friends and we did our own thing. I didn't "act black" anymore. I was Monique... outspoken, funny, eclectic and artistic. I can't imagine what kind of person I'd be if I had continued through the rest of my life trying to please people. I still get ignorant reaction to my white skin like when people meet my parents or when I am walking down the street with my sons. When my husband and I are together with the kids there aren't too many stares. I guess that is due to all the interracial dating. I had to take my oldest to the emergency room not too long after he was born and one young black girl said "Aww, look at the little half breed, he is too cute!" I didn't even bother to correct her. She was wrong on so many levels and I felt like regardless to what I said she wasn't going to walk away any more informed than she already was. It made me realize how much I've grown and, like my mother, I too would have to explain to my kids why my skin isn't brown.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1210049/why_isnt_my_skin _brown_growing_up_as.html?page=3&cat=43
Continued from page 38 - Kigelia africana

sores. Many dressings, topical treatments and infusions containing Kigelia africana are also used for their analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties. The bark, stems, twigs, leaves and fruits are infused and taken orally, or applied locally, to relieve rheumatism, sprains, haematoma and bruising; a decoction of the fruit and bark is used to relieve toothache and headache. Extracts of the bark, wood, roots and fruits possess antibacterial and antifungal properties. These extracts exhibit significant inhibitory effects in vitro against common Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, and the yeast Candida albicans. Of the naphthoquinones isolated in fruit and root extracts, kigelinone has shown notable antimicrobial activity. Kigelia africana is renowned for anti-cancer properties. Fruit and bark extracts have shown moderate efficacy against melanotic cell lines and dried fruit elicited lower cytotoxic responses than those of fresh fruit, indicating that the active principles may be thermolabile. The naphthoquinones lapachol and isopinnatal in some. Naphthoquinones and sterols isolated in root extracts suggest anti-cancer potential, although in-vitro activity is not confirmed. From Prota
Melanin
Imagine absolute darkness Through which your eyes could only see Obscurity The full light spectrum Evaporated into a section As the pineal gland pushes manifestations And absorbs all light, hence we dark Shinning obscurity Enlightened divinity From progenator to progeny Kemetically embedded Genetically perpetuated philosophy So my nats contracted And no lye can substitute for my heritage connected Heat conducted Sun rays absorbed So we aint hyphenated But hyper-melanated Multi-faceted metabolisms Djembes determine the hearts rhythm All deficiencies are mel-anomalies The sounds of thoughts dissipate earthly tonalities Enriching monotonous trivialities Caught in the prism of our divining melanin Solutions lie in sinking beyond the skin Digging Into multiple levels of interior lining Reflected in the minds chemical combining So we vegetarian carnivores Unnatural reservoirs For those lacking divining melanin In the frailness of un-thick skin Little do they know that our thickness of completion Lies without and within Carbon bond to our melanin Carbon bonded to our melanin.
By Unblind Africanus, Toronto, Canada

inspired by melanites.
Mission Statement
Our aim at The African Traditional Herbal Research Clinic is to propagate and promote the awareness in Afrikan peoples at home and abroad of their health, biodiversity, history and cultural richness. We gather pertinent information on these issues and disseminate these freely to our people in Uganda, the rest of the continent, and anywhere in the Diaspora where Afrikans are located. One of the main ingredients for increasing poverty, sickness, exploitation and domination is ignorance of one's self, and the environment in which we live. Knowledge is power and the forces that control our lives don't want to lose control, so they won't stop at anything to keep certain knowledge from the people. Therefore, we are expecting a fight and opposition to our mission. However, we will endeavor to carry forward this work in grace and perfect ways. Where there is no God, there is no culture. Where there is no culture, there is no indigenous knowledge. Where there is no indigenous knowledge, there is no history. Where there is no history, there is no science or technology. The existing nature is made by our past. Let us protect and conserve our indigenous knowledge.
Herb of the Month

Kigelia Africana
Sausage Tree, Cucumber Tree
Kigelia africana occurs throughout tropical Africa, particularly in the drier regions and is widely used throughout Africa for a variety of purposes, particularly in local medicine, and more recently in commercial applications to treat various skin complaints. The diversity of complaints against which the plant is used includes fainting, anaemia, sickle-cell anaemia, epilepsy, respiratory ailments, hepatic and cardiac disorders, and nutritional illnesses such as kwashiorkor, rickets, wasting and weakness. The leaves are sometimes used to prepare a general tonic for improved health and growth. The roots, bark, leaves, stems, twigs and fruits are used to treat digestive disorders. Administration is typically by oral ingestion or as an enema. The roots, bark and ripe or unripe fruits are taken as a laxative or emetic, to treat chronic and acute digestive disorders and against gastric infections. Infections of the genito-urinary tract, particularly venereal diseases, are treated both internally and externally with preparations of the roots, bark, leaves, stems and twigs. A commercial product containing Kigelia africana stem bark is used to treat Candida albicans infections. Sexual complaints such as infertility, poor libido, sexual asthenia and impotence are treated with medicines containing the fruits, roots or leaves. Commercially manufactured products are used for symptomatic relief or cure of skin conditions including, among others, sunburn, chafing, psoriasis, itchy scalp and nappy rash. A broad-spectrum antimicrobial cream, reputedly effective against a number of common microbial infections, is produced from the stem bark. Powders and infusions of the bark, leaves, stems, twigs or fruits are used to clean and dress flesh wounds and open
CALENDAR
OF
EVENTS
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Afrikan Traditional Herbal Research Clinic 1175A Mukalazi Road, P.O. Box 29974 Bukoto, Kampala, Uganda East Africa Phone: +256 (0) 782 917 902 Email: clinic@blackherbals.com ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED Mailing Address Street Number and Name City, Country, etc.
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African Traditional Herbal Research Clinic

MELANIN & SKIN Happy New You

What is the African Traditional Herbal Research Clinic?

Nakato Lewis Blackherbals at the Source of the Nile, UG Ltd.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

-1-Traditional African Clinic January 2009

Continued from page 1- Happy New You

The healing power of a person lies within

The Mass Poisoning Of Humanity

-2-Traditional African Clinic January 2009

ANCESTOR VENERATION IN AFRICA

The traditional shrine as a symbol of our cultural history

-3-Traditional African Clinic January 2009

African Traditional Herbal Research Clinic

-4-Traditional African Clinic January 2009

Continued from page 4 Skin Healing

Biochemistry of Black Skin

-5-Traditional African Clinic January 2009

African Traditional Herbal Research Clinic

-6-Traditional African Clinic January 2009

Continued from page 6 Melanin Anyone?

Continued from page 2 The Mass Poisoning of Humanity

-7- Traditional African Clinic January 2009

African Traditional Herbal Research Clinic

The Virtues of Vitamin D: Its Time We Saw the Light

-8- Traditional African Clinic January 2009

Continued from page 9 The Virtues of Vitamin D

-9- Traditional African Clinic January 2009

Continued from page 5 Skin Healing

ORANGE: lungs, pancreas

PURPLE: nerves, circulation

Remedies and Healing Your Skin

BLUE: glands, kidneys

GREEN: liver, heart

RED: blood cleansers

INDIGO: bones, skin

YELLOW: digestion, purification

Face Chart 2. Reflexology Face Chart

-10- Traditional African Clinic January 2009

Continued from page 9 The Virtues of Vitamin D

-11- Traditional African Clinic January 2009

Continued from page 11 Dye(ing) to be Noticed

The healing power of a person lies within

Pregnant Women Warned off Make-up

n -12- Traditional African Clinic January 2009

Continued from page12 Pregnant Women Warned

Indigo Plant may treat Chronic Skin Disease

Doctors Warn of Skin Rash from Cell Phones

-13- Traditional African Clinic January 2009

-14- Traditional African Clinic January 2009

African Traditional Herbal Research Clinic

NEWSLETTER FEATURED ARTICLES

Melanin and Bio/Nanotechnology

-15- Traditional African Clinic January 2009

Continued from page 16 Melanin & Bio/Nanotechnology

-16- Traditional African Clinic January 2009

Continued from page 17 Melanin & Bio/Nanotechnology

-17- Traditional African Clinic January 2009

Continued from page 18 Melanin & Bio/Nanotechnology

Continued from page 7 The Mass Poisoning of Humanity

Continued from page 14 Beauty Creams with Nano-particles

-18- Traditional African Clinic January 2009