We like listening to the podcast The Nod. It’s a fun, witty and insightful look at black American culture. The hosts have a great way of exploring important topics and unearthing interesting untold stories.

In their episode released on 10th September 2018, ‘Bleeding and Healing‘, host Brittany Luse focuses on a common women’s health issue (we won’t tell you which one, so we don’t spoil the episode for you), that is overlooked and disproportionately affects black women.

This health issue is one that we have explored over the past couple of years and this episode of The Nod does a great job at raising awareness and highlighting some of the keys challenges such as:

• The extent to which women normalise pain
• Not having a clear idea of what is normal and abnormal when it comes to period pain and menstrual bleeding
• The lack of awareness of women’s health issues
• The length of time it takes for women to be diagnosed
• The confusion that can exist when it comes to making treatment decisions
• The challenges of finding not just a good doctor, but one black women feel comfortable with

This episode provides some good food for thought. You can listen to it here and below is the description of the episode from The Nod team.

“For years, KalaLea experiences painful periods that keep her in bed for days at a time. As she tries to figure out what’s happening to her body, she discovers that she has a condition that disproportionately affects Black women. This is the story of how KalaLea listened closely to her own body and made her doctors listen, too.

 

“This week’s story comes from the Bodies podcast. After the show, KalaLea joins Brittany in the studio to share advice on how to better advocate for your own wellness.” 

Have you listened to  the ‘Bleeding and Healing’ episode of The Nod? We’d love to hear what you think. Please leave a comment in the comments section below or send us an email.

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

 

Back in November 2017 we published a blog post where we summarised research on hair dyes, relaxers and breast cancer, and (sigh) we’re sorry to say we’re back here again writing about black hair products and their harmful effects.

A couple of weeks ago the results from another research study was published and this showed that 80% of black hair products contain endocrine disrupting and asthma causing chemicals. Endocrine disrupting chemicals are of concern as some studies have linked these chemicals to hormone-related health conditions including breast cancer and fibroids.

Latest Research

On 25^th April 2018, researchers from the Silent Spring Institute and Battelle Memorial Institute in the USA published the results from their study which investigated the endocrine disrupting and asthma-associated chemical content of black hair products. They tested 18 black hair products that cut across 6 types of products. These included hot oil treatments, anti-frizz/polish, leave-in conditioners, root stimulators, hair lotions and relaxers. Within these products they tested for the presence of 66 chemicals including BPA, phthalates (a solvent) and parabens (a preservative).

What Did They Find?

Researchers found that the black hair products tested contained 45 endocrine disrupting or asthma-associated chemicals. They stated that they found cyclosiloxanes (used for conditioning and spreadability), parabens and the fragrance marker diethyl phthalate (DEP) at the highest levels, and DEP most frequently in these products.

In their study, root stimulators, hair lotions and relaxers more frequently contained nonylphenols, parabens and fragrances whilst anti-frizz products tended to contain cyclosiloxanes.  Worryingly hair relaxers for children contained five chemicals that are regulated by California’s Proposition 65 or were prohibited from being used in the EU.

What we found particularly disturbing was that ingredients lists were incomplete, meaning that the researchers found chemicals in the products that were not listed on product labels. This is disturbing because many women do try to avoid chemicals such as parabens, but researchers found that butyl and ethyl paraben were never listed on labels and 12% of products with methyl paraben didn’t include this on their label. This is extremely misleading and means that women can’t make an informed choice about the products they purchase. Other chemicals that were frequently not included on ingredients lists were fragrance chemicals and cyclosiloxanes.

You can listen to  Dr. Jessica Helm from the Silent Spring Institute and Tola Okogwu from My Long Hair Journey discuss this latest study in the video below.

California’s Proposition 65 and EU Regulation

There are regulations in place to protect consumers and deter manufactures from including chemicals that are hazardous to our health in their products. Two such regulations are Proposition 65 and the European Union Cosmetics Directive.

California’s Proposition 65, more formally known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, aims to “help Californians make informed decisions about protecting themselves from chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm.” By law, all businesses selling products to people in California must ensure clear and reasonable warnings are included on items that contain harmful chemicals so that people are aware that they will be exposed these chemicals. Some chemicals that are regulated by Prop 65 are o-phenylphenol, BPA, phthalate, ethanolamine and benzophenone.  Businesses don’t have to include any warnings if the chemicals are at concentrations that don’t pose a health risk. Now, in this current study,  it was found that even though two no-lye hair relaxers for children contained a Prop 65 regulated chemical, no warnings were included, and researchers made the point that these would not meet the Prop 65 labelling requirements.

The EU Cosmetics Directive states that all cosmetic products sold in the EU must be safe and they prohibit the inclusion of chemicals in products that have been shown to cause cancer, female reproductive toxicity and developmental toxicity. Some of the compounds prohibited by the EU include BPA, phthalate, alkylphenol and ethanolamine. In this study, some products were found to contain products prohibited by EU law – BPA, phthalate, nonylphenol and diethanolamine. So these products would not be fit for sale in the EU.

What Can We Do?

Well… ladies, we must demand better from brands. We must see what we can do to get companies to remove these chemicals from their products. In the meantime, we have to be very selective and only buy from brands that sell products that are safe, but this can be hard to do if brands are not listing all the chemicals in their products on their labels.

 Here are some brands that we use, or have used in the past, and we believe are safe, but we recommend that you do your research too.

Afrocenchix
Almocado
Camille Rose Naturals
Pure Goodnes
Root2Tip
Shea Butter Cottage
Shea Decadence
Yaphene

Finally, we are currently in discussions with the team behind My Long Hair Journey to see what we can do to start addressing this problem. We’ll keep you updated and let you know how these discussions go. In the meantime, let us know your thoughts on this topic. How do you feel about this new piece of research and are you concerned about the hair products that you use?

More Information

You can download the full research paper below as well as the study’s supplementary material which lists the brands tested in this study and information about EU regulation and California’s Prop 65. And, you can purchase some of the products from the brands listed above on Amazon below.

 

 

Smashed Screen Films are to produce and direct a touching new short drama exploring love, identity and faith from a black woman’s point of view.  The story will be brought to life through three women of colour, Maia Waktins (writer), Chloe Tai (director) and Dominique Toussaint (producer), alongside co-producer and executive producer Nathan Adabadze.

Alpha and Omega will be set amongst the thriving multicultural epicentre of South London and will follow the story of Imani, a budding Rastafarian artist and health-stall owner, who upon learning of her diagnosis of breast cancer begins to question her faith, her relationship with her partner and what it really means to be a Rasta.

The film explores the conflict Imani has when she is forced to consider man-made treatments which goes against her faith and she has to evaluate her holistic lifestyle. This is a universal story about doubting your strength, facing your fears and the importance of relationships.

The film is inspired by writer Maia Watkin’s loss of her Godfather to cancer last year and coming from a Rastafarian family herself, the script is based on a world she knows very well, giving her great insight to not only bring this story to life but play the lead role with authenticity. Ms Watkin’s credits include starring in BBC’s East Enders and Channel 4’s The Educatoror as well as being a 3-time winner of the Monologue Slam UK.

Through this film Ms Watkins hopes to raise awareness of cancer and its devastating consequences, open up dialogue about how people cope with cancer and promote a better representation and understanding of Rastafari culture.

“I wrote this film first and foremost because I wanted to see untold stories on screen.      Having never seen Rastafari culture explored or represented in a positive light before, and coming from a Rastafari background myself, I wanted to portray a journey of consciousness and understanding of self through film, that is so rooted in the culture.”  Maia Watkins

The Lake Foundation is delighted to see this much-needed film produced. We believe it will provide an  engaging and effective way to raise awareness of cancer within the black community, addressing not only the myths but enabling discussion around some of the challenges that black women face when diagnosed with this serious condition.

You can help bring this story to life by supporting their IndieGogo fundraising campaign. You can also support them with in-kind donations or help promote the great work they’re doing. You can find out more about their work on Facebook and Instagram

“Alpha & Omega is a refreshing new perspective on the universal experience of fear, doubt and acceptance. Told through the eyes of a strong independent black woman, so rarely seen in film, but also entrenched in the Rasta culture barely explored in media, we have to make this film!”

What is Lupus?

Lupus is a chronic (it lasts a long time) disease where the body’s immune system doesn’t function properly and begins to attack healthy cells, tissues and organs.

There are four types of lupus. The most common type of lupus is systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE); it can affect many parts of the body such as the heart, kidney, brain and lungs. The second type of lupus is called discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE) and this affects the skin causing rashes and a change in the colour of the skin. Drug- induced lupus is caused by certain types of medication (for example hydralazine and procainamide which are used to treat heart conditions). It tends to be a mild form of lupus and goes away when the medication is stopped. Finally, neonatal lupus is a very rare type of lupus that affects new born babies.

It is not contagious, the severity of the disease varies from person to person – it can be mild or severe – and today, patients rarely die from lupus as an improved understanding of the disease and advances in healthcare has meant that patients can successfully manage their condition.

What Causes Lupus?

The exact cause is unknown but it is thought to occur due to a combination of genetic and environmental factors. There are certain triggers that cause someone’s immune system to become activated inappropriately and attack the body. These triggers include infections, drugs, sunlight and hormonal changes. These triggers as well as a genetic predisposition are thought to lead to lupus.

Researchers have found that there are a number of different genes that together dictate whether a person will develop lupus, what type of lupus they will develop and how severe it is.

What are the Symptoms?

Because lupus can affect a number of different organs and tissues, it can cause a variety of symptoms. The most common symptoms are:

• Joint pain
• Swelling of the joints
• Muscle pain
• Fever
• Rashes, mostly on the face
• Chest pain
• Hair loss
• Pale or purple fingers or toes
• Sensitivity to the sun
• Swelling in legs or around eyes
• Mouth ulcers
• Swollen glands
• Fatigue

Less common symptoms include: anaemia, headaches, dizzy spells, depression, confusion and seizures.

The symptoms and the severity of symptoms vary between people. Some sufferers will have episodes where they experience symptoms followed by periods where they have no symptoms whilst others will have symptoms all the time.

Diagnosis and Treatment

Diagnosing lupus is very challenging because recognising the symptoms can be difficult. This is because the symptoms can seem quite vague, are similar to those of a number of other conditions and they may come and go; this makes it hard to pin down what may be causing the symptoms. Furthermore,there is no specific test for lupus and this all means that it can take years for a patient to receive a confirmed diagnosis.

To make a diagnosis doctors have to carry out several tests and they’ll also have to look at the person’s medical history. The American College of Rheumatology has developed the ‘Eleven Criteria of Lupus’ to help doctors diagnose lupus. A person must have four or more of these criteria for a diagnosis of lupus to be made.

Lupus is incurable so when it comes to its treatment patients are typically given medication to help manage their symptoms and are also given advice on lifestyle changes such as avoiding triggers.

Who is at Risk of Developing Lupus?

Lupus is a fairly rare disease and in the UK it affects just 5 in 10,000 people. It is more common in women with 90% of suffers being women and most of these women are aged between 15 and 44.

Black women and Hispanic women are at a higher risk of developing lupus as are people who have family members with lupus, have taken certain medications and have been affected by specific infections such as Epstein-Barr virus and cytomegalovirus (CMV).

This means that the key risk factors for lupus are:
1. Age
2. Gender
3. Ethnicity
4. Family history
5. Taking certain medications
6. Certain infections

Lupus and Black Women

Black women are three to four times more likely to develop lupus than their white counterparts and results from the Lupus in Minorities study has shown that black women develop this condition at a younger age, experience more severe symptoms and overall develop more complications. When looking closely at these complications, black women with lupus tend to develop more neurological complications (such as seizures and strokes) and are more likely to develop lupus-related kidney disease.

Researchers are trying to understand why it is more common in black women and why it is more severe. It is thought to be due to a combination of genetic and environmental differences.

The Black Women’s Health Study identified four specific genetic differences that are associated with a higher risk  and these were seen in black women with lupus.

As work continues in this area we can begin to gain a better understanding of why lupus is more common in black women and hopefully this will provide information that can help in the development of effective treatments.

For more information about lupus please visit Lupus UK’s website and if you are concerned about any symptoms you may have, visit your GP.

Fibroids are very common in black women with an estimated 55% of black women expected to develop them. This is significantly more common than in white women with black women being 2-3 times more likely to develop fibroids than their white counterparts.

The reason that fibroids are more common in black women is not fully understood but it is thought to be a combination of genetic and lifestyle factors.

The quest to understand why fibroids are more common in black women is an ongoing one, and one area that was explored a couple of years ago by researchers at Boston University was whether relaxers (chemical hair straighteners) increase a women’s risk of developing fibroids.

Relaxers are seemingly a good place to start when it comes to identifying factors that put black women at a higher risk of developing fibroids. This is a product that is specifically used by black women and is used by millions of us worldwide.  But, more importantly, as fibroids can be stimulated by the hormones oestrogen and progesterone and relaxers are known to contain chemicals that behave like hormones (phthalates), then logically we can hypothesise that use of relaxers may have an impact of the development of fibroids.

As part of the Black Women’s Health Study in the US, researchers explored whether relaxers may play a part in the development of fibroids. This study included 23,580 black women from across the US and they found a very slight increase (17% increase) in the rate of fibroids when women who  used relaxers were compared with women who had never used relaxers. They also found that there was a slightly positive trend when they looked at how often people used relaxers, how long and how many relaxer burns they experienced. So for example women who had used relaxers for more than seven years had the highest rate of fibroids, but this was still only slightly higher (23% higher) than women who never used relaxers.

Looking at this we could say that the findings suggest that relaxers may play a part in the development of fibroids but when you delve deeper it is harder to say for sure. Firstly, the study shows an association between fibroids and relaxers it doesn’t actually confirm that relaxers cause fibroids. Also, researchers found through DNA testing that black women with more African ancestry used relaxers more than those with more European ancestry and once they took ancestry into account there was less of a link between fibroids and relaxers. What this means is that the association between relaxers and fibroids in this study may have had nothing to do with the relaxers  playing a part in the development of fibroids but it was actually the degree of African ancestry that is the important factor.

The researchers therefore stated that:

“ We cannot rule out the possibility that greater African ancestry, thought to increase genetic predisposition to uterine leiomyomata  (fibroids), explains part or all of the observed association”.

Additionally, researchers didn’t have any information on the brands of relaxers women used or the exact chemicals that women would have been exposed to and how much they were exposed to. This makes it hard to say if women were in fact exposed to the hormone-like chemicals that are of concern when it comes to fibroids.

The take home message is that relaxers probably do not play a major role in the development of fibroids and if they do their impact is very small.  It would appear that the main risk factor is African Ancestry.

We do know that there are some lifestyle factors that can reduce a women’s risk of fibroids. These include exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, reducing your red meat consumption and eating a diet high in green vegetables.  So, we can all reduce our risk by adopting a healthy lifestyle

You can read the original research paper from the Black Women’s Health Study below.