We are so happy to announce the publication of our new fact sheet on fibroids and exercise. This is the first in our new series of fibroids fact sheets which aim to cover a range of topics that you have told us are important to you.

This fact sheet series is a direct result of the findings of our small research project where we explored the needs of women with fibroids. From this work we discovered that there were significant gaps in the information and support available to women and we are on a mission to fill those gaps. We have worked towards this by:

• Forming a Fibroids Ask the Expert Panel
• Publishing a fibroids booklet
• Hosting our first conference for women affected by fibroids
• Delivering presentations to churches and community groups
• Hosting a regular fibroids Twitter chat
• Writing a fibroids blog and news series

Our fibroids and exercise fact sheet discusses how exercise can help alleviate the symptoms of fibroids and provides readers with simple tips on how to get active without aggravating their current symptoms. We hope that this resource will provide women with useful information that empowers them to take control of their health and take positive steps towards improving their health and wellbeing. You can download the fact sheet in the download section below.

Coming soon….

The next fact sheet in the series will be published soon and this will focus on fibroids and mental wellbeing. This fact sheet will aim to help women identify, understand and address the emotions that may be associated with having fibroids.

Thank yous

We’d like to thank Candice Bryan from Noire Wellness for contributing to this new fact sheet, Way Wive Wordz Publishing, Editing and Tuition for their editing services and FutureSoft for their design work.

For Immediate Release

2nd March 2018

Basseterre, St Kitts -This year the global theme for International Women’s Day on 8^th March is #PressForProgress and Noire Wellness and Lake Health and Wellbeing are calling for progress to be made to improve the experience of women with fibroids.

This initiative has been designed to raise awareness of key areas that need focus if there is to be equality in healthcare. Noire Wellness and Lake Health and Wellbeing are calling for:

• Breakthrough research into fibroids and ethnicity
• Patient insight on the impact of diet and exercise on fibroids
• A commitment to professional excellence when caring for women with a family history of fibroids and symptoms associated with fibroids
• Global and local support networks to ensure that women with fibroids never feel isolated
• Greater awareness of fibroids, its symptoms and impact on women’s lives, particularly the psycho-social impact.

Despite fibroids being very common a survey conducted in the UK by Lake Health and Wellbeing showed that there is a low level of awareness of fibroids and women don’t feel equipped to make an informed decision about their treatment¹. The survey revealed gaps in patient information on all aspects of fibroids and in the availability of peer support. Women also reported that fibroids affected their quality of life, affecting them both physically and emotionally.

Additionally, the UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on Women’s Health’s fibroids inquiry found that 43% of women were not satisfied with the information about their treatment choice and a third of women were not happy with their treatment². Furthermore 40% of women were not told about the short-term complications of their treatment and 50% were not told about the long-term complications.

Research has shown that fibroids are more common in black women with an estimated 50-80% of black women affected³. In addition, black women are known to develop fibroids at a younger age, are more likely to develop larger, multiple fibroids, and tend to develop more severe symptoms⁴.  The reason for this is unknown, but it is thought to be a combination of genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors.

The experience of women with fibroids reveals an inequality in healthcare that needs to be addressed.  Noire Wellness and Lake Health and Wellbeing believe that because fibroids are a women’s issue: it affects predominantly an ethnic minority group: and it is not life-threatening, it has been overlooked. But, many women are suffering, and something needs to be done to ensure that women receive the attention, support and quality of care they deserve.

Candice Bryan of Noire Wellness says:

“In order to truly provide a better experience for women living with fibroids, we must acknowledge that health inequalities continue to have a detrimental impact on the quality of life for black women living with fibroids across the globe.  It is time to collaborate and press for progress to provide solutions.”

Whilst Abi Begho from Lake Health and Wellbeing said:

“For too long women with fibroids have been neglected and it’s time for society to step up and address this inequality. We need to ensure that women, particularly black women, with fibroids have easy access to accurate, reliable information, appropriate support and a high standard of care to improve their wellbeing.”

The campaign will utilise social media to highlight what needs to be done to improve the experience of women with fibroids. The public can get involved by using the hashtag #PressForProgress in the week leading up to International Women’s Day to tell everyone of the change that needs to occur. To help, organisers have created a briefing which is available HERE.

Ends

NOTES TO EDITORS

If you would like to write a feature or interview the team behind the campaign, please contact Abi Begho/Candice Bryan

For more information please contact Noire Wellness/Lake Health and Wellbeing  email candice@noirewellness.com and abi.begho@thelakefoundation.com .

The campaign launches on Thursday 1^st March 2018.

ABOUT NOIRE WELLNESS

Noire Wellness is a wellness brand established in 2016 that aims to improve the health and well-being of African and Caribbean communities living in the UK through providing a range of evolving and enriching wellness experiences, nurturing the provision of community wellness hubs, community consultancy and a growing wellness network of professionals.

Website: www.noirewellness.com

Facebook: @noirewellness

Twitter: @noirewellness

ABOUT LAKE HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Lake Health and Wellbeing is a Caribbean based organization that aims to improve the health and wellbeing of the black community through research, public health interventions, giving patients a voice and raising awareness.

Website: www.lakehealthandwellbeing.com

Facebook: @lakehealthwellbeing

Twitter:  @lakehealthwell

---

References

1. Lake Health and Wellbeing (formerly known as The Lake Foundation), (2014). Understanding the Needs of Women With Fibroids.
2. All-Party Parliamentary Group of Women’s Health, (2017). Informed Choice? Giving Women Control of Their Healthcare.
3. Wise L.  and Laughlin-Tommaso S. (2016). Epidemiology of Uterine Fibroids: From Menarche to Menopause. Clin Obstet Gynecol, Volume 59(1), p 2.
4. Radmila S., et al.  (2016).  Epidemiology of Uterine Myomas: A Review. Int J Fertil Steril, Volume 9 (4), p 424.

We’re so delighted to announce that our March Fibroids Twitter Chat will be with the Fibroid Forum UK on 14th March  at 3pm, AST (that’s 3pm EST and 7pm GMT).

We’ll be discussing all the great work that the Fibroid Forum UK have been doing to raise awareness and provide support to women who have been affected by fibroids.

Fibroid Forum UK is a Registered Charity Number 1177878 formed by women with experience of fibroids. The aim of the Forum is to provide information and create a support network through events, social media and a support group at Guys & St Thomas’ Hospital.

The Forum has contributed to the UK Government’s All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Women’s Health and the report published in March 2017 which focussed on endometriosis and fibroids. Like the APPG the Forum’s aims to empower women to ensure that they can make an informed choice about the best treatment options for their fibroids

The Fibroid Forum has a private Facebook group which you can access here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1294778417257709/  and they host a regular support group at St Thomas’ Hospital in London.

To take part in the conversation please use the hashtag #FibroidsChat.

We look forward to tweeting with you on the day!

We are so happy to announce that we’ve joined forces with Noire Wellness to launch a fibroids campaign today, in the run-up to International Women’s Day on 8^th March.

The theme for International Women’s Day this year is #PressForProgress and, together with Noire Wellness, we are calling for everyone to #PressForProgress to improve the experience of women with fibroids.

We believe that for progress to be made, there needs to be:

• Breakthrough research into fibroids and ethnicity
• Patient insight on the impact of diet and exercise on fibroids
• A commitment to professional excellence when caring for women with fibroids, who have a family history of fibroids or who have symptoms associated with fibroids
• Global and local support networks to ensure that women with fibroids never feel isolated
• Greater awareness of fibroids, its symptoms and impact on women’s lives, particularly the psycho-social impact.

We want all women, particularly women who have been affected by fibroids, to join us in our social media campaign to highlight the change that needs to occur to improve the experience, care, health and wellbeing of women with fibroids.

We’ve created a range of resources you can use to join us in this campaign. These include images for social media, Facebook and Twitter headers, sample social media posts and a media kit. For more information and to download our resources, please visit our campaign page here.

The Power of Partnership Working

We are extremely proud of this collaboration which has brought together two organisations passionate about addressing the issues that women with fibroids face. We believe we are stronger together and can achieve so much more by pooling our resources, expertise and strengths. We hope that this will be the start of many joint health initiatives.

More Information

For more information about this campaign, please visit the campaign page here or send us an email, we’d be very happy to hear from you.

Wednesday 28th February, 2018

In this episode we speak to 82 year old Joan Ajose, a retired HR Regional Manager for a leading oil company in the Caribbean. We explore how she has stayed healthy over the years. We discuss  what her diet was like as a child, her happiest moments and learn that the hurricanes of last year were the most challenging experiences of her life.

Hello all, this is just a quick post to let you know that our name change is formally and legally complete. We have now changed our name from The Lake Foundation to Lake Health and Wellbeing.

As you know, we moved to the Caribbean from the UK and the move provided an opportunity for us to make some improvements to our organisation which involved the name change and an analysis of our work.

We believe the name change better reflects what we do, and we’ve analysed our work and have categorised what we do as follows: research, public health interventions, consultancy and events. This is similar to our previous categories and we’ve now explained each category and included examples of the type of work we do to make it easier for our supporters to understand what we offer.

We still have the same aim of improving the health and wellbeing of the black community and we’re still pretty much the same organisation except we’re now registered as a business rather than a charitable incorporated organisation. This is because the charitable incorporated organisation structure doesn’t exist in the Caribbean, but we’ll still behave in the same way, so we’ll be an ethical business with a social mission.

We have now changed all our social media handles, you don’t have to do anything as we have retained all our followers, but please remember if you want to send us a message via social media or mention us in posts, to use the new handles, which are:

• Facebook @lakehealthwellbeing
• Twitter @lakehealthwell

Our email addresses will remain the same for now, we’ll alert you when we make any changes.

Thank you so much for all your support and we look forward to continuing this exciting journey of change. Have a great week and if you have any questions, please do leave us a comment below.

On 21st February we were delighted to host another fibroids Twitter chat. Our featured guest was Laterria Patton.

Laterria Patton is a Self Care Activist who writes a food blog that promotes reproductive health to black women. The blog content utilizes natural self-healing food practices to educate black women who are suffering with reproductive health problems about the hormonal process, and how to keep it in balance.

During our chat we had an interesting discussion with Laterria  about the common challenges that contribute to uterine disorders (like fibroids), how these challenges can be overcome and how women can achieve optimal uterine health through self-healing food practices.

If you missed our Twitter chat, have no fear, you can read the highlights below.

Hey, hello, hello, Twitter family, it’s our my pleasure to welcome you to another one of our #fibroids #Twitter chats. #FibroidsChat (1/4)

— Lake Health and Wellbeing (@TheLakeFound) February 21, 2018

Today we’ll be chatting to, Self-Care Activist, @selfcareandfood, about some of the factors that lead to uterine (womb) disorders, like #fibroids, how these can be addressed and how women can achieve good womb health through self-healing food practices. #FibroidsChat (2/4)

— Lake Health and Wellbeing (@TheLakeFound) February 21, 2018

Hello! My name is Laterria Patton.
I’m a Self Care Activist that promotes social change that is centered around the self care practices of black women. One of the ways that I do this work is by writing a food blog that promotes reproductive health to black women. #FibroidsChat

— Laterria Patton (@selfcareandfood) February 21, 2018

.@selfcareandfood Can you tell us a bit more about your blog and why you started it? #fibroidschat

— Lake Health and Wellbeing (@TheLakeFound) February 21, 2018

1/2 I started this blog because I wanted to create content that breaks down the different ways in which food is impacting our hormones and how these hormones are having a negative or positive effect on the health of our reproductive organs.

— Laterria Patton (@selfcareandfood) February 21, 2018

2/2 I use natural self-healing food practices to teach black women who are suffering with reproductive health issues about their hormonal processes and how to keep them in balance.

— Laterria Patton (@selfcareandfood) February 21, 2018

. @selfcareandfood What has been the most interesting and the most surprising things that you’ve learnt since delving into this area? #fibroidschat

— Lake Health and Wellbeing (@TheLakeFound) February 21, 2018

The most surprising thing that I learned since delving in this area is that many obstacles are strategically being put into place that make it hard for black women to get access to the information & food that could help them with their reproductive health issues. #FibroidsChat

— Laterria Patton (@selfcareandfood) February 21, 2018

That is quite surprising, let’s explore that further. What sort of obstacles have been put in place? #fibroidschat

— Lake Health and Wellbeing (@TheLakeFound) February 21, 2018

Some of the obstacles are:
1) Food desserts
2) Bias Physicians
3) Lack of family support

— Laterria Patton (@selfcareandfood) February 21, 2018

We’ll come back to some of these. We should start at the beginning, your work centres on understanding the link between the liver & the uterus. Can you tell us how the health of a woman’s liver affects the health of her uterus, and how this could lead to disorders like fibroids?

— Lake Health and Wellbeing (@TheLakeFound) February 21, 2018

1/4 The health of a women’s uterus is affected by the health of her liver because the liver produces the cells that help to create neurons in the brain. These same neurons use cells to send messages from the brain to the uterus.#FibroidsChat

— Laterria Patton (@selfcareandfood) February 21, 2018

2/4 These messages control the rhythm in which the uterine muscles contract & relax so that the uterus knows when to shed the lining(menstrual bleeding) & when not to. An unhealthy liver has a negative effect on the neuron’s ability to communicate messages. #FibroidsChat

— Laterria Patton (@selfcareandfood) February 21, 2018

3/4 When uterus begins to shed it’s menstrual lining at the wrong time or it doesn’t shed as much as it’s suppose to, the excess lining that stays in the uterus contains hormones that never got a chance to leave the body. #FibroidsChat

— Laterria Patton (@selfcareandfood) February 21, 2018

4/4 Too many hormones can cause the uterus to make abnormal cells that contain excessive amounts of estrogen and progesterone. Abnormal cells lead to various disorders within the uterus. #FibroidsChat

— Laterria Patton (@selfcareandfood) February 21, 2018

.@selfcareandfood You write a lot about healing through food. So, let’s explore food a bit, how does the food we eat affect the health of our liver and thus the uterus? #fibroidschat

— Lake Health and Wellbeing (@TheLakeFound) February 21, 2018

1/2 The liver is a highly dependent upon nutrients to function properly. There are 4 things that can hinder the absorption of nutrients in the liver:

1) Processed foods
2)Toxins
3) Bioavailability
4) Long-term medication usage

— Laterria Patton (@selfcareandfood) February 21, 2018

2/2 When the liver is not being nourished with nutrients, it can not make the cells that communicate with the neurons that are controlling the functions of the uterus.#FibroidsChat

— Laterria Patton (@selfcareandfood) February 21, 2018

1/3 One way that we can improve our reproductive health is by minimize the amount of grains that we are consuming. Many people who want to eat healthier tend to fill their plates up with grains. Grains are healthy BUT overconsuming grains can be counterproductive because:

— Laterria Patton (@selfcareandfood) February 21, 2018

2/3
1) Most commercially produced products like bread, still contain the anti-nutrients that prevent us from absorbing the nutrients in grains.
2) Eating large amounts of grains daily can cause the pancreas to produce too much of a hormone called insulin.#FibroidsChat

— Laterria Patton (@selfcareandfood) February 21, 2018

3/3 3) Some grains like wheat are processed. When your liver gets too busy breaking down processed foods, it doesn’t have time to metabolize your hormones, which causes excessive amounts of hormones to be thrown your bloodstream. #FibroidsChat

— Laterria Patton (@selfcareandfood) February 21, 2018

Ok, that is interesting, so really we should be eating grains in moderation #fibroidschat

— Lake Health and Wellbeing (@TheLakeFound) February 21, 2018

Absolutely. Small portions are fine. If you eat bread, try making you own at home so that you can ferment the grain so that the anti-nutrients are ineffective. #FibroidsChat

— Laterria Patton (@selfcareandfood) February 21, 2018

What are the best foods for a healthy uterus, @selfcareandfood?
#fibroidschat

— Lake Health and Wellbeing (@TheLakeFound) February 21, 2018

1/2 The foods that are the most beneficial to our uterine health are all types of whole foods. Eating a variety of whole foods regularly improves the bioavailbility of the liver because the liver requires some nutrients to be paired in order to improve absorption. #FibroidsChat

— Laterria Patton (@selfcareandfood) February 21, 2018

2/2 For example, black pepper improves the absorption of turmeric. Plus, the liver has the ability to heal it’s with the help of various nutrients. Healing the liver can improve upon the health of the uterus. #FibroidsChat

— Laterria Patton (@selfcareandfood) February 21, 2018

.Do you have any diet tips or advice you can share for women who already have fibroids? Would the advice be the same? #fibroidschat

— Lake Health and Wellbeing (@TheLakeFound) February 21, 2018

1/2 I would advise anyone who is already suffering with fibroids to minimize processed foods, drink less caffeine, eliminate alcohol and opt for natural healing remedies instead medication(if possible) for 3 months. #FibroidsChat

— Laterria Patton (@selfcareandfood) February 21, 2018

2/2 This gives the liver the time that it needs to create new cells that can repair tissue damage or congestion in the liver. This can help to heal minor uterine issues, minimize symptoms or prevent new uterine issues from reoccurring after a uterine surgery #FibroidsChat

— Laterria Patton (@selfcareandfood) February 21, 2018

The most common concern that I hear about reproductive health is “Should I try to heal an reproductive ailment naturally or with surgery?” I think it depends on the severity of the problem. You need to see a physician to know exactly how minor/urgent the problem is #FibroidsChat

— Laterria Patton (@selfcareandfood) February 21, 2018

Yes, we hear that a lot too.. Many women would prefer more natural approaches to addressing their reproductive health issues #fibroidschat

— Lake Health and Wellbeing (@TheLakeFound) February 21, 2018

1/2 #FibroidsChat One of the BEST things that anyone can do outside of eating healthy food to promote their uterine health is to start gardening. Start growing small plants in doors until you feel more confident into growing your own TOXIC-FREE produce.

This is why:

— Laterria Patton (@selfcareandfood) February 21, 2018

2/2
1) Plants will eliminate toxins in your house.
2) There are establishments that are paying for you NOT to have access to foods that keep you from filling up pharmaceutical companies pockets.
3) It will save you $ on produce because organic food is beyond high😂 #FibroidsChat

— Laterria Patton (@selfcareandfood) February 21, 2018

If you’re looking for natural self-healing food practices that will help you balance your hormones in order to promote a healthy reproductive system, check out my blog>> https://t.co/RL0VFVdLyj

To contact me email me at Laterriapatton@gmail.com#FibroidsChat pic.twitter.com/tlxdv4EfWK

— Laterria Patton (@selfcareandfood) February 21, 2018

A big thank you to everyone who joined us for this #fibroidschat we hope you found it useful! We really did #fibroidschat

— Lake Health and Wellbeing (@TheLakeFound) February 21, 2018

Wednesday 21st February, 2018

In this week’s episode, we explore what ultra-processed food actually is – is it just a trendy term or a meaningful classification of food?

We are delighted to announce that we are now a member of the Healthy Caribbean Coalition, an organisation that we admired from afar when we were based in the UK.

The Healthy Caribbean Coalition is a civil society alliance established to combat non-communicable diseases, their associated risk factors and conditions. In the Caribbean the four main non-communicable diseases are diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease and chronic respiratory diseases and their four main common risk factors are smoking tobacco, high alcohol consumption, an unhealthy diet and being physically inactive. These are the issues that the HCC are tackling in the region.  Additionally, the Caribbean has the highest mortality rate in the Americas from NCDs in the Americas causing three out of every four deaths, this is cause for concern and the HCC is working tirelessly to address this through prevention, early detection and influencing government policy.

We’re delighted to have become a member of the Healthy Caribbean Coalition and look forward to working with the HCC and its member organisations to tackle NCDs in the Caribbean.

For more information on the Health Caribbean Coalition you can visit their website here

The OECS Commission’s HIV/TB Elimination Project has launched a series of animations aimed at raising awareness of TB and HIV in the Caribbean. The short, three-part, series tackles HIV/TB prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment and control. One of the key messages of the series is that HIV patients can still lead a full life so early detection is of utmost importance.

This campaign targets the public, with the animations designed to encourage community involvement to facilitate social change. It also aims to bring HIV/TB into public discourse and in so doing address the stigma associated with these conditions and therefore combat the discrimination that those affected by HIV and TB may face.

The animation series is part of the significant body of work being carried out by the OECS Commission to meet the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets by 2020. These targets are to diagnose 90% of HIV-positive persons, provide antiretroviral therapy to 90% of people diagnosed and to achieve viral suppression in 90% of those treated.

The OECS HIV/TB Elimination Project

The OECS Commission’s HIV/TB Elimination Project is a multi-country project involving six OECS member states and began on 1^st April 2016 and runs until 31^st March 2019. As well as working towards the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets this project has the aim of ensuring that services for HIV, TB and STIs are sustained, strengthened, available and accessed by key affected populations in the OECS. To achieve their aims and objectives the HIV/TB Elimination Project will focus on five strategic areas:

1. To implement targeted evidence–based combination prevention strategies for key populations
2. To implement the TB elimination framework for low incidence countries to accelerate the elimination of TB in the OECS
3. To increase access to quality laboratory testing, screening and diagnosis for the clinical management of HIV and TB
4. To integrate TB control programs with HIV services to ensure that comprehensive, high quality care is provided for individuals co-infected with HIV and TB
5. To improve HIV/STI /TB surveillance system to increase the availability of data to support evidence-based planning, measure the impact of the response and the achievement of targets

The six member states involved in this project are Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia and St Vincent & the Grenadines, each of these countries have their own national HIV programme which are aligned with this project.

View the Animation Series

You can view the videos from the animated series below:

Episode 1: HIV/TB Screening

Episode 2: HIV/TB Prevention

Episode 3: HIV/TB Control

More Information

For more information on this animation series you can visit the OECS’s website here  and for more information on their HIV/TB Elimination Project please click here