On 27^th September 2018, Caribbean leaders hosted a breakfast meeting at the UN High Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in New York. The theme for this meeting was “Moving the Caribbean Towards Healthier Lives – Step It Up!”

Chaired by Dr Timothy Harris,  the Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis, leaders used this meeting to announce the launch of Caribbean Moves, an initiative that aims to re-energise health promotion efforts across the Caribbean through creative  and innovative partnerships.

Caribbean leaders recognised that progress has been made in tackling NCDs but with the Caribbean’s mortality rate for NCDs being the highest in the Americas, a more coordinated approach is needed. Caribbean Moves aims to achieve this.

Caribbean Moves will build on the very successful Jamaica Moves campaign which focuses on physical activity, healthy eating and age appropriate health checks.  The Jamaica Moves campaign is led by Dr Christopher Tufton, Jamaica’s Minister of Health, who is a very active participant in the Jamaica Moves campaign. He said of Caribbean Moves:

“This programme is intended to scale up the efforts of ongoing national programmes for increasing physical activity and healthy eating across the Caribbean. Among other things, Caribbean Moves will galvanise countries under one vision but each countries project will be unique fostering a cultural and social movement for regular physical activity within the Caribbean.”

Over the next few months a secretariat will be established for the Caribbean Moves initiative and their remit will be to develop an implementation schedule, coordinate activities and strengthen existing work in the Caribbean Region.

We look forward to seeing the Caribbean Moves initiative develop and are currently working on our own efforts to tackle NCDs in St Kitts and Nevis through a new piece of work  we are undertaking with the FIT Wellness Centre in Nevis. More information about this project will be available soon.

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Picture Credit: CARICOM

After the success of their first Fibroids Wellness Hub in November 2017, Noire Wellness will be back on Sunday 25^th November at Brent Hub in North London from 11am to 6pm for their second annual Fibroids Series Wellness Hub.

This will be an empowering and informative day that aims to support women living with fibroids. Atttendees will be able to attend a variety of workshops and live demonstrations that all aim to provide women with fibroids with information and practical advice on how to manage their symptoms and thus reduce the effects of fibroids.

The event will feature the following:

Wisdom Wonders where you can gain valuable insight into areas often ignored when living with health conditions. Explore the use of yoni eggs as part of womb health; discuss the emotional impacts of fibroids with the support of sisters. Here you will get the opportunity to explore more with speakers during a special drop-in clinic and a panel discussion at the end of the day.

Nature’s Lab. Here attendees can learn about a variety of foods that give you the nutrients you need to maintain your health, feel good and have energy whilst living with fibroids.

A Mindful Zone. This will help you focus your awareness on the present moment, through a series of gentle activities. Here you’ll discover workshops centred on breathing to eliminate stress; sound healing and meditation for practical lessons to use at home; and a yoga session focussed on movement to help reduce pain and increase energy flow.

A Rejuvenation Lounge.  Where you can take some time out during the day and indulge in treatments offered by Tanya Kay Beauty Lifestyle including a back massage and a foot and leg massage.

If you have been affected by fibroids, this event is not to be missed. For more information please visit the event web page here

We’re pleased to announce that our friends at Noire Wellness have launched their new website.

On their website you can find out about all the great work they’re doing to improve the health and wellbeing of the African and African-Caribbean community. Their work centres on three main services:

• Hubs for the community. This is where they transfer community spaces into  wellness environments that combine health and fitness, spa therapy and a learning environment into one unique event
• Academy. This helps wellness brands achieve their aims and objectives through a programme that enables business owners to gain confidence and create more visibility
• Network. They’re creating a network of diverse wellness brands

Check out their upcoming events on their website too. These include:

• Fibroids wellness hub in November
• Their health dinner series launching in 2019
• Their digital wellness programme

Noire Wellness have a fresh and innovative approach to wellness and we applaud them for the great work they have been doing over the past couple of years.

Please do visit their website and also check them out on social media:

 Twitter: @noirewellness

Facebook: @noirewellness

Our Chronic Disease Self-Management Course which was due to start on 2^nd October 2018 has been postponed until November. We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused and will release the November dates soon.

If you would like further information or would like to book a space on to the course, please email events@lakehealthandwellbeing.com

In the meantime, below is video that discusses the benefits of attending a chronic disease self-management course.

We’re so pleased to announce that the featured guest for our October Fibroids Twitter chat will be Julia Mandeville, the Co-Founder of the Barbados Association of Endometriosis and PCOS.

Research suggests that 30% of women with fibroids have endometriosis  and in many cases this additional condition goes undiagnosed for many years. By raising awareness of endometriosis we can empower women with the information needed to facilitate an early diagnosis so that the most appropriate treatment is received without delay.

We are so delighted to have Julia as a guest so our followers can get a better understanding of endometriosis especially women with fibroids who may have unexplained symptoms which could be due to this condition.

Who is Julia Mandeville?

Julia Mandeville has been a science and health educator since 2010, gaining a B.Sc in Biology with Microbiology with honours from the University of the West Indies. She also holds a Master of Public Health with a specialization in Global Health from the University of Manchester.

Julia is the co-founder of the Barbados Association of Endometriosis and PCOS (BAEP) and is an emerging global health professional who has a particular interest in reproductive health rights, invisible chronic disease management, research and policy specifically as it relates to Caribbean women’s health.

Her personal struggle with Endometriosis and subsequent diagnosis was the catalyst that caused her to utilize her voice and become an advocate. She also has experience as a consultant and more recently has expanded her academic portfolio with certificates in gender, development and NGO management.

The Barbados Association of Endometriosis and PCOS

The BAEP was founded to address the knowledge gap as it pertains to these pelvic conditions and their impact in Barbados. It serves to advocate for the women in Barbadian society who are suffering due to lack of awareness and works to engage with major and relevant stakeholders to raise these conditions to a priority level in the public health community.

The BAEP is a non-governmental organization located in Barbados which has also collaborated with local and regional entities with similar mandates.

Join Us!

Join our #FibroidsChat to find out more about endometriosis and  the great work that BAEP is conducting to support Caribbean women affected by endometriosis and PCOS. To take part in the conversation find us on Twitter on 10th October at  3pm ( AST or  8pm GMT ) and use the hashtag #FibroidsChat.

Find Out More

You can find out more about the BAEP here  and you can follow the BAEP on social media:

Twitter: @endoandpcosbb
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EndoFacts/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/endoandpcosbb/?hl=en

To be kept up-to-date on this topic, please sign-up to receive our fibroids newsletter  and you can read a summary of our previous #FibroidsChats here

A study published in August 2018 by researchers at the George Mason University in the USA has demonstrated that exposure to chemicals in beauty and personal care products affect women’s reproductive hormones, and these effects may have an impact on women’s health.

What Did They Do?

In their study, researchers focused on chemicals commonly used in beauty and personal care products. These included bisphenol A (BPA), chlorophenols, benzophenones (a UV filter) and parabens (preservatives). They evaluated these chemicals in 143 women over two menstrual cycles. They also analysed the reproductive hormones oestradiol, progesterone, luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH).

The 143 women in this study were aged 18 to 44 years old, had no known chronic health conditions and did not use birth control.

Dr Anna Pollack, lead researcher, on this study noted that:

“This study is the first to examine mixtures of chemicals that are widely used in personal care products in relation to hormones in healthy, reproductive-age women, using multiple measures of exposure across the menstrual cycle, which improved upon research that relied on one or two measures of chemicals”

This is an important point to note as measuring mixtures of chemicals better reflects the real-world situation where women will be exposed to several chemicals.

What Did They Find?

The study found that exposure to these chemicals, even low-level exposure to mixtures of these chemicals affected participants’ reproductive hormones.  Specifically, they found that:

• BPA, chlorophenols, UV filters and parabens were linked with reproductive hormones
• Parabens were associated with an increase in oestradiol
• Phenol and UV filters were linked to a decrease in oestradiol, FSH and LH

What Does This Mean?

The results of this study are interesting as changes in reproductive hormones have been linked to a number of health conditions such as fibroids, breast cancer and cardiovascular disease.  Therefore, care must be taken when selecting beauty and personal care products.

Researchers noted that:

“We have early indicators that chemicals such as parabens may increase oestrogen levels. If this finding is confirmed by additional research, it could have implications for oestrogen dependent diseases such as breast cancer.” Dr Anna Pollack

Researchers therefore concluded that:

“What we should take away from this study is that we may need to be careful about the chemicals in the beauty and personal care products we use.”

You May Also Be Interested in These Stories

• My Haircare Nightmare: Help Us Start A Revolution
• More Concerning Research on Black Hair Products
• Latest Research on Hair Dyes, Relaxers and Breast Cancer
• Black Women, Relaxers and Fibroids
• Black Hair Products: We Want to Hear from You!

You can read the research paper describing this study here

It is Caribbean Wellness Day on 8th September and this day kicks off a week of wellness activities to celebrate Caribbean Wellness Week.

Caribbean Wellness Day  started in 2008  following the CARICOM Summit on Chronic Diseases held in Trinidad in September 2007. This annual event was established to:

• increase the awareness of the non-communicable diseases (NCDs) burden in the Caribbean;
• mobilise and strengthen public, private, and civil society partnerships for NCDs;
• promote multi country, multisectoral activities in support of wellness; and
• showcase national and community level activities to promote healthy living and encourage residents to develop good health practices.

Wellness Walk 

We attended the St Kitts Caribbean Wellness Week’s planning meetings organised by the Ministry of Health and are delighted invite you to the St Kitts Caribbean Wellness Day Walk on 8th September at 5AM (!).

The Ministry of Health will be partnering with Elite Fitness and other local gyms to spearhead the inaugural Caribbean Wellness Day Walk. This is just one of the many activities organised to commemorate  Caribbean Wellness Week which runs from 8th to 14th September.

Owner of Elite Fitness, Althus Herbert, said:

“The Elite Fitness Gym is glad to have been afforded the opportunity to partner with the Ministry of Health for Caribbean Wellness Week and honoured to be the leading gym to spearhead the walk. We pride ourselves in maintaining the physical well-being of our clients. We are also looking forward to this being an annual event and collaborating on future events with the ministry,”

The meeting point is at the Caribbean Cinemas  parking lot. The event will start with a warm-up activity and then attendees will make their way to the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank and back.

Registration is just $10EC for children who are 12 and under and $20EC for attendees who are 13 or older.  We delighted to say there is a special corporate registration package of $15EC per person for every 10 people registered from the same organisation.

Join us for an invigorating, fun walk to start your day on a healthy note. We hope to see you there!

You can listen to a short promo clip here

A big big thank you to everyone who has completed our black hair products survey. We really appreciate you taking the time to provide us with your thoughts and concerns on the research published back in April about the chemicals in black hair products and what we can do to raise awareness and begin to address this issue.

Your feedback has been really useful and  we’ll be exploring how we can take forward your suggestions by continuing our partnership with Tola Okogwu of My Long Hair Journey.

We’re delighted to say that over the past few months we’ve been charting a way forward and are on the cusp of starting a hair revolution! You can be a part of the change by supporting our journey to explore the potential health issues surrounding Afro hair care products. How do we plan to do this? Through a documentary film that aims to demystify the harmful ingredients in black hair products and answer the question once and for all – are our products safe?

To be kept up-to-date, you can sign up to our mailing list here

We’re really excited about this new project and hope you’ll join us on this interesting exploration.

Looking For Organic Black Hair Products?

Check these brands out:

Afrocenchix
Almocado 
Camille Rose Naturals
Pure Goodnes
Root2Tip
Shea Butter Cottage
Shea Decadence
Yaphene
CARA B Naturally – Natural Products for African American babies

And view some more on Amazon – Organic Black Hair Products

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Disclosure: this post contains an affiliate link. Find out more here

OH Services will be launching their four-week Emotional Impact of Fibroids online course on 7th November. This course is aimed at women who have been affected by fibroids, professionals who would like to support and understand their clients better and family members and friends who would like to learn more about fibroids so they can help their loved ones.

The course will be led by Olivia Haltman who is an accredited Integrative Humanistic Counsellor and an Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapist.  She is also a member of British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), EMDR UK & Ireland and BAATN (Black and Asian Therapist Network). Ms Haltman has over 10 years experience working in the mental health sector having worked for organisations like Mind and established her organisation to support people who want to develop their lives on a personal level and reach their best potential. Of her approach to tackling mental health issues she says:

“I believe everyone is different, with unique needs and aspirations so I use an integrative approach to apply and integrate the most suitable solutions for my clients. Within my practice, I also apply (where necessary) a holistic approach to help clients enjoy the essential benefits of wellbeing and healing processes.”

The Aim of the Course

This course will empower attendees, enabling them to

• Get an understanding of how fibroids affect your emotions and life
• Create a stepping stone to start a routine to work on their self-care
• Create their own self-care plan
• Learn how to support and understand others with fibroids
• Start a self-development journey to improve their general wellbeing

It will be interactive and include: a lecture, break out exercises, Q & A, guest speakers, home work, hand-outs and a Certificate of Attendance upon attending the full 4 weeks.

Why Four Weeks? 

Usually workshops or seminars are a few hours with very important information, but once these sessions are over many people go back to their normal routine and lose motivation.  With a four week course OH Services will help you start to create a habit and assist you in dealing with what is going on in your life. This is a journey of reflection to explore how your emotions and fibroids are linked.

To give an extra boost to your journey OH Services has added a BONUS week (week 5) a few weeks after the course ends so you can check-in and monitor your progress.

We’ve Teamed Up With OH Services

We’re delighted to have formed a partnership with OH Services. We’ll be hosting a Fibroids Self-Care Webinar Series which starts on 27th October with a session on Fibroids, Diet and Hormones. The first few people who register for our webinar can claim a £5 discount on OH Services’ online course in November.

And, if you’ve already registered for the OH Services course and were one of the first 10 people to do so, you can claim a 10% discount on one of the seminars in our Fibroids Self-Care Series.

More Information

For more information you can visit OH Services Eventbrite page, visit their website or email us

Disclosure: this post contains an affiliate link. Find out more here

At the thirty-ninth regular meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on 4-6^th July, leaders made a commitment to tackle non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the Caribbean.

Six priority areas were endorsed. These included:

• Establishing and maintaining a smoke-free status for the region
• Implementing policies geared to preventing childhood obesity including health-promoting school environments and improving front-of-package labelling
• Promoting the elimination of cervical cancer
• Support for mitigating post-disaster vulnerabilities related to NCDS, particularly nutrition, treatment and care
• Increasing international financing and technical support
• Strengthening accountability through national coordinating mechanisms

Leaders of the Caribbean discussed the upcoming UN High-Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases which will be held in September. The theme of this meeting is: scaling up multi-stakeholder and multi-sectoral responses to the prevention and control of NCDs. It was felt that CARICOM member states should be well-represented at this meeting especially as, in 2007, CARICOM led the way on NCDs by hosting the first ever summit on NCDs.  This put the spotlight on this area leading to NCDs being included on the UN Development Agenda.

About CARICOM

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) consists of a group of 20 states, from the Bahamas in the north to Suriname and Guyana in the south, working together under four main pillars:  economic integration, foreign policy coordination, human and social development and security. You can find out more about the work of CARICOM here.

More Information

For more information about the 39^th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM held in July you can visit their website here or you can watch the videos below.

Opening Ceremony of the Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government

Closing Press Conference of the Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government

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Picture Credit: CARICOM