Calm Your Baby Naturally With Lavender

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Here are some tips on using lavender to create a more relaxed atmosphere while caring for your baby:

Massages: Both baby and mom can benefit from a relaxing lavender massage. Try a ready-to-use lavender massage oils, or mix a few drops of the essential oil with sweet almond oil or unscented lotion to create your own. Lavender is one of the most gentle essential oils and needs only a little dilution for application to even a baby's skin.

Baths: A soaking bath with lavender is another wonderful way to relax. Choose from a variety of lavender bath products, or simply add a few drops of lavender essential oil to the bath water. For baby's bath, use just two or three drops; for Mom, use five to ten.

No time for a baby bath?: Rub a few drops of lavender into your baby's hair for a fresh, floral aroma, or add 2-3 drops of lavender to a bowl of warm water to enhance a quick sponging off.

In baby's room: Use a diffuser or a lavender mister to disperse the scent of lavender throughout the room during naps and bedtime. And don't just limit these to baby's room-- lavender will help you feel more relaxed too.

Laundry: Add a few drops of lavender essential oil to the baby's laundry (including the crib sheets), not only for the aromatherapy benefits, but also for the soft, clean aroma it will add to your baby's things.

In the car: Parents are usually excellent multitaskers, but trying to calm a fussy baby while negotiating traffic is never easy. To help keep peace in the car, sprinkle a few drops of lavender onto the baby's car seat or a handkerchief or use a special car diffuser (which plugs into the lighter).

Diaper cream: Add a drop or two of lavender oil to diaper cream to help protect and soothe baby's bottom.

Note that essential oils are extremely concentrated. Follow usage directions carefully and keep them tightly closed and out of the reach of children.
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Bad Chemistry

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Everyone knows that World War II left us, as a legacy, the atomic bomb. Far fewer people are aware that the war also left us a chemical bomb, silently, inexorably ticking away, that may threaten our health, our intelligence, and even our ability to reproduce. It may be exploding as you read.

Before the war, only a few synthetic chemicals -- laboratory-made compounds that do not exist in nature -- had been invented. With the onset of the war, chemists eager to help their countries achieve victory began inventing plastics, pesticides, solvents, degreasers, insulators, and other materials that could be used to make more effective weapons, increase crop yields, and feed more soldiers. They were, understandably, more focused on success than on safety.

In peacetime, these same labs helped fuel the economic boom of the second half of the twentieth century, formulating new chemicals manufacturers needed to create cheaper, smarter products.

Federal regulation was fragmentary at best, and manufacturers were allowed to provide their own proofs of safety, a situation that remains true today. There are now more than 100,000 synthetic chemicals on the market, and these chemicals are everywhere. They enter our bodies and those of other animals through every possible route of transmission. They are in our food supply, so we eat them. They drift in the air, so we breathe them. (Carried on thermal currents, they have long since reached the Arctic, so polar bears breathe them too.) Present in landfills, they leach into the water supply, so we drink them. Released as effluent into lakes and rivers by factories, they affect the habitat of fish, frogs, and all aquatic life, right down to plankton. Ubiquitous in cosmetics, they are absorbed through our skin. Pregnant women pass them to their fetuses; mothers feed them to their newborns when they breastfeed. A large, uncontrolled scientific experiment has been in progress for the last 60 years, and the question now is: Can we figure out what the results are? And if those results show we are in danger, what we can do about it at this late date?

For almost two decades after the war, our great faith in the new chemistry went untested. It seemed as if one miracle after another emerged from the labs, providing abundant, cheap food, drugs to cure disease, and technology that made life easier and more pleasurable: televisions, dependable cars, inexpensive, reliable refrigerators to replace the icebox.

Rachel Carson pushed Americans to question these miracles when she published Silent Spring in 1962, and legislation was passed to address concerns she and others raised about environmental toxins. By the early 1970s, more warning signs had showed up on the radar. DDT, the pesticide that had saved American soldiers who fought in the South Pacific from malaria and been sprayed on millions of acres of cropland, was fingered as a killer of birds, especially the beloved bald eagle. Eggshells thinned by exposure to the compound meant fewer hatchlings survived. DES, a drug believed to prevent miscarriage, was found to cause cancer in the young women whose mothers took it during pregnancy; emergency hysterectomies saved many of the daughters' lives, but at a terrible cost. PCBs, highly effective lubricants and insulators used in electrical capacitors, transistors, hydraulic fluids, plasticizers, inks, waxes and adhesives, were deforming and killing birds and fish; by 1971, Monsanto had voluntarily stopped making them. Each of these problems was seen as an isolated case: A few rogue chemicals had wreaked havoc, but havoc could be contained. Ban DDT, ban DES, ban PCBs -- perhaps we couldn't undo the damage already done, but we thought we could stop it in its tracks and breathe a sigh of relief.

The average person still thinks about chemicals as single entities, and our system of federal regulation still decides on a case-by-case basis whether chemicals are safe enough to circulate in our world. But a paradigm shift is underway among some scientists, who have over the last 30 years quietly begun to wonder: By introducing so many substances that did not evolve along with living organisms over hundreds of millions of years, have we unwittingly initiated changes in our biology that may be damaging it profoundly?
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Read the Label Before You Run the Bath

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The evening baby bath routine is one of the simple pleasures of life for young parents. My three girls loved playing in the water. And seeing their unfettered delight in splashing in the water calmed me down after harried days. Now that sweet ritual has a cloud hanging over it: hazardous baby bath products.

Last week, the Los Angeles Times reported on a study that found that infants and toddlers who used baby lotions, shampoos, and powders have high concentrations of phthalates in their bodies. Phthalates are known to disrupt hormone functioning and can cause abnormalities in sexual organs and infertility, particularly in boys.

The study’s findings were stark:

• The children who used baby lotions, shampoos and powders had 4 times the levels of phthalates as those whose parents did not use those products on them.
• The 3 phthalates found in the highest levels were shown in a 2006 study to lead to reduced testosterone levels in newborns.

This is frightening news for parents. We have enough to worry about--and feel guilty about--what with ensuring that our children are kind, learn to share, and do their homework. Now add to that list the concern that the nightly bath routine may cause our children to experience the heartbreak of infertility or worse, cancer.

But worry we must because the government is failing to do anything. The EU has laws banning various phthalates, but here in the US, manufactures of consumer products don’t even have to include them on their labels. When NRDC’s public health specialists are trying to identify phthalates, we have to send products to a lab and pay for elaborate testing.

The EPA is in no better position. NRDC recently petitioned the agency to take action on phthalates in household air fresheners (see our report), but the agency admitted it had no idea what was in these products.

We are continuing to put pressure on manufacturers, retailers, and government agencies to protect consumers from these dangerous toxins. In the meantime, what’s a parent to do?

• Always look for a list of ingredients. It’s true, you may need a degree in chemistry to fully understand all the items listed, but the very fact that the company is willing to list its ingredients is a good sign.
• Look for unscented products. Phthalates are commonly used to carry scents. And manufacturers can sometimes hide the presence of phthalates simply by using the word “fragrance.” If you like your baby to smell like roses, look for shampoos and lotions that use essential oils.
• Use your consumer muscle. Many products include a phone number on the packaging: Use it. If there is a shampoo you like, but you are worried about its safety, call the manufacturers and ask them if there are phthalates in their products. When manufacturers start hearing from consumers, they do take notice.
  
  And frankly, I’m worried about the lotion I use too. We need to get to the bottom of this.

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Salicyclic Acid and Safe Skin Treatments - Acne During Pregnancy

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There are several acne treatments that are safe for pregnant women, some of them natural and or homemade. There are others that are manufactured which also have been deemed safe for use during pregnancy.

Of course there are some that are not to be used during pregnancy. Before we discuss any of these products remember that before you use any acne treatment consult with your obstetrician.

Benzoyl peroxide, an ingredient in some over the counter acne treatments, has been tested and deemed safe for use by pregnant women.

However salicylic acid, which is also used in some non-prescription acne fighting products, has not been tested on pregnant women and is not recommended for use by them.

Most acne breakouts in pregnant women occur during the first three months of the pregnancy while hormone levels are increasing, causing increased oil production in you skin which causes acne flare-ups. By the second trimester the acne begins to clear up.

Salicyclic acid, taken orally, has been known to cause complications of pregnancy and birth defects. However again there has been no testing of topical use.

Some "natural" remedies you can try are: keep your skin clean. After washing rinse your skin with luke-warm water to remove any remaining soap. Don’t pick at your pimples or pop them, this can cause scarring.

Some products that are safe to use on your skin are tea tree oil, lavender essential oil and Echinacea to name just a few.

There are safe acne treatments, that reportedly work, as close at hand as your kitchen. A mask of lukewarm cooked oatmeal applied once a day for 15-20 minutes, is said to begin clearing your acne in a matter of days.

A halved lemon applied to each blemish is another. Garlic, mashed tomatoes, uncooked natural oatmeal, warm sugar water and olive oil are all natural acne treatments that are safe for use during pregnancy. If you are allergic to any of these items of course don’t apply them to your skin.

A diet rich in fruits and vegetables may prevent or reduce many acne outbreaks. Apples and blueberries are said to be particularly good to prevent acne outbreaks.

If you do a web search for natural acne treatments, you will get several links to natural acne skin treatments that can’t all be mentioned here.

In addition to the salicylic acid some others that doctors want their patients to stay away from are: retinoid, a form of vitamin A. High doses of vitamin A can be harmful to unborn children and oral retinoid, like Accutane(an acne treatment), have been reported as causing birth defects.

While there is no evidence that retinoid applied to the skin causes damage to an unborn child, there is also no certainty that they are safe. The same is true of salicylic acid, no proof either way. Most physicians prefer to err on the side of caution.

If you are pregnant, whether you are interested in natural or manufactured acne treatments, you should consult with your obstetrician or dermatologist before beginning any acne treatment regimen.

As you can see, according to current information, salicylic acid and safe skin treatments of acne during pregnancy are incompatible.
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'Good bacteria' in women give clues for slowing HIV transmission

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The findings come from physicians and scientists at the University of Washington and the University of Rochester Medical Center, who worked together in an effort to learn more about how HIV survives and spreads from person to person. The study involving 57 women was done in Seattle and Rochester through the Women’s HIV Interdisciplinary Network (WHIN), which is based at the University of Washington.

The team studied the vaginal environment, examining the mix of bacteria that reside there and taking into account several other factors. Physicians tracked the level of HIV virus in the vagina as well as infection by common sexually transmitted diseases like trichomoniasis, gonorrhea and chlamydia, and other more common types of vaginal infections.

Physicians also monitored the levels of beneficial bacteria known as Lactobacillus in the vagina, as well as hydrogen peroxide, which is produced by the bacteria and hinders the virus. They also measured the level of HIV in the women’s blood and the rate of progression of the disease overall.

The team found that women with hydrogen-peroxide-producing Lactobacillus in the vagina had lower levels of HIV virus in genital secretions – what physicians call the genital viral load. Physicians know that the lower the level of HIV in the sexual tract, the less likely that the virus will be spread from person to person through sexual contact.

Scientists have previously recognized from laboratory studies that Lactobacillus might give women some natural protection against HIV. The bacteria, commonly found in most women, bind to the virus and secrete hydrogen peroxide. The bacteria are a close cousin of the Lactobacillus bacteria found in the small intestine, a type of “good” bacteria widely found in yogurt.

While previous work in the laboratory has indicated that Lactobacillus might help prevent HIV infection in women, the current study actually links, in women, decreased levels of the virus in the vagina with the presence of Lactobacillus that produce hydrogen peroxide there.

The team also found that the amount of the virus in the vagina varied in step with the presence of Lactobacillus: Women who did not have the bacteria at first but who had acquired it by a subsequent visit had their vaginal HIV levels drop, while vaginal HIV levels increased in women in whom the good bacteria had disappeared between visits.

The research was presented this week at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Boston by Jane Hitti, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Hitti has been working closely with Robert Coombs, M.D., Ph.D., the principal investigator for the WHIN study and professor of Laboratory Medicine and of Medicine at the University of Washington. Amneris Luque, M.D., associate professor of Medicine and medical director of the AIDS Center at Strong Memorial Hospital, and Susan Cohn, M.D., associate professor of Medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, also took part in the study.

“These findings underscore the importance of maintaining a healthy, Lactobacillus-dominant vaginal flora for HIV-positive women,” said Hitti. “I hope that we can explore Lactobacillus replacement in the future for women who do not have this bacteria, as a strategy to decrease the amount of HIV in the vagina.”

“The research opens up some doors,” said Luque. “Sexual activity is the most common mode of transmission of HIV. Perhaps we can make it less likely to spread by somehow taking advantage of good bacteria as a natural way to stop HIV and prevent transmission. These findings are striking, though preliminary, and should be looked at further.”

Luque and Cohn both care for patients at Strong’s AIDS clinic, which provides ongoing care for approximately 900 patients with HIV. The center is part of a broader AIDS treatment and research effort at the University of Rochester Medical Center. The University is the only institution in the nation to be part, since inception, of two major national AIDS research efforts – the search for a vaccine, and the testing of new treatments. More than 3,000 Rochester-area residents have taken part in treatment and vaccine studies at the University’s HIV/AIDS Clinical Trials Unit, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Cohn stresses the importance of HIV-positive women participating in clinical research. “These women made a large contribution to knowledge about HIV and reproductive health by participating in this study. Advances in the care of HIV-positive women really depend on the dedication of study subjects.”
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Soap nut billed as chemical-free detergent alternative

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Saponins occur widely in many plant species, including the soap nut tree Sapindus mukorossi, found in North India and Nepal, and the soap bark tree Quillaja saponaria native to South America.

Both species have long been known for their detergent qualities to local populations and both appear in personal care products currently on the market.Saponins are glucosides consisting of a polycyclic aglycone called a sapogenin and a sugar side chain, joined by an ether bond.

The sapogenin is hydrophobic (not water soluble) whereas the sugar side chain is hydrophilic (water soluble), the combination of which leads to a stable soapy foam when in contact with water - producing the detergent-like quality that is of interest to the personal care industry.

Saponins can replace conventional chemical detergents such as sodium laureth sulphate that are becoming increasingly unacceptable to the consumer due to fears concerning the safety of the chemical.

Certain studies suggest that sodium laureth sulphate and other chemical surfactants can leave the skin dry and irritated, especially in individuals suffering from eczema and other skin conditions.

In addition such chemicals are not biodegradable, a factor that is becoming increasingly important to the environmentally-minded consumer.

In contrast, naturally occurring saponins provide the foaming agent necessary in shampoo or shower gel, whilst being both gentler on the body and environmentally friendly.

A small number of products containing soap nut extracts are currently on the market, for example Sapon'hair, a shampoo recently released by a small French manufacturer Cosmigea.

The product contains 100 per cent plant and plant based ingredients and remarkably high proportions (70 per cent) of soap nut extracts. Creator of the product Mehdi Ouahchi told Cosmetics Design that his unique selling point was the mix of ancient Ayurvedic traditions with traditional European natural ingredients.

His product combines the soap nut extracts from India with Rosemary oil to calm the scalp and tone the hair shaft, and cider vinegar to rid the hair of chlorine and calcium residues.

Other products to be released by Cosmigea in the autumn include a range of bath soaps containing a mix of soap nut extracts and vegetable oils such as jojoba, olive and macadamia.

The soaps will be manufactured at low temperatures, which will not damage the oils, and any fats that rest unconverted in the saponification process will remain in the product to hydrate the skin.

Cosmigea is one of a large number of small manufacturers specializing in natural products that appeal to an ever-growing consumer base, with market research company Organic Monitor estimating that the revenues of the global naturals market are doubling every few years.
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Organic Foods 101

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Over the last 50 years, farming across the United States and beyond has become increasingly reliant on pesticides, fertilizers, and hormones. While this has contributed to a substantial rise in yield, it may wreak havoc on human health and the natural environment. In response, thousands of farmers across the country have switched to organic growing methods. By supporting their efforts, an increasing number of consumers are helping to protect their bodies and the environment.

What is organic food?

The concept of organic food is simple: If it's produced without the aid of chemical pesticides and is processed only with natural additives, it's organic food. What's far more challenging is trying to determine whether a head of lettuce or loaf of bread at your local supermarket actually meets these requirements.

As of October 2002, shopping for organics became much easier. The U.S. Department of Agriculture finally put in place a national system for labeling organic food. Although states can continue to maintain their own certification programs -- for a long time California's program was the de facto standard for organic farmers -- their requirements cannot be less strict than the national guidelines.

Under the 2002 standards, produce and other foods that consist of at least 95 percent organic ingredients can carry the USDA's organic seal, while foods that are at least 70 percent organic can bear the phrase "Made With Organic Ingredients." Animal products certified as organic must come from livestock that has had access to the outdoors, has not been treated with hormones or antibiotics and has been reared on organic feed.

These standards are much stricter than those the USDA initially proposed, which would have permitted the use of genetically modified foods and sewage-based fertilizers. Angry letters from the public -- 275,000 of them -- sent the USDA back to the drafting board.

Even with these labeling rules in place consumers should be prepared for some confusion when shopping for organic foods. For one thing, organic products are not uniformly labeled because many farmers using organic methods do not pursue certification at all. And, as some small organic farmers point out, the standards do not differentiate between foods produced by small-scale, eco-friendly farms and those produced by huge factory-style farms -- which take a heavy toll on the environment whether they use organic methods or not.

Why organic?

There are numerous problems associated with traditional chemically-dependent, land-intensive agriculture:

• Topsoil erosion. One-third of our nation's topsoil has eroded due to modern industrialized farming practices. Not only does each lost inch cause a 6% drop in farm yields, but it also leads to increased flood exposure as a result of siltation.
• Toxic runoff. Pesticide-heavy runoff from farmland into rivers, lakes, and streams takes a toll on wildlife. Riparian habitats within watersheds are destroyed by chemical contamination. Additionally, the conversion of wild habitat to agricultural land significantly reduces fish and wildlife populations through erosion and sedimentation, the effects of pesticides, removal of riparian plants, and the diversion of water.
• Decreased biodiversity. With its emphasis on yield, uniformity, market acceptability and pest resistance, present-day agricultural norm sacrifices variety of species. Before the advent of modern industrialized agriculture, farmers produced roughly 80,000 species of plants; today farmers rely on about 150. The increasing reliance on a small number of crop species means declining nutritional variety for consumers as well as increased strain on overburdened farmland.
• Health risks. Heavy reliance on pesticides by conventional farmers is suspected of leading to increased rates of cancer and reproductive problems in humans. More than 80% of the most commonly-used pesticides today have been classified by National Academy of Sciences researchers as potentially carcinogenic -- and are routinely found in mothers' milk.

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If you don't care about the health of your vagina, then what DO you care about?

If you don't care about the health of your vagina, then what DO you care about?

I went out reading labels on boxes of tampons. Although some make weak claims to be rayon cotton blends, the major brands in the major stores are made of rayon. The only thing that is generally cotton is the string.

Toxic Shock Syndrome is a bacterial illness that is caused by the Toxic Shock Syndrome Toxin, TSST1. Rayon encourages the toxin to grow while cotton is inhospitable to the toxin. Yes. TSS is what they warn you about on the side of tampon boxes.

Rayon is a very absorbent synthetic fiber . I suspect the synthetic rayon is cheaper to work with than organic 100% cotton. Women are warned to watch absorbency to guard against toxic shock syndrome. Yes. A super tampon will have more absorbent rayon in it's makeup than a regular tampon because it is larger. Is the risk in higher absorbency found simply because these tampons are larger pieces of the toxin promoting rayon?

Then there's dioxin. That nasty by-product of chlorine bleaching. Dioxin in tampons has been linked to higher rates of female reproductive system cancers. We know that dioxin can hurt the immune system as well as the reproductive system.

Rayon and other synthetic fibers in tampons have been linked to TSS. The dioxin and other environmental toxins found in non-organic, chlorine bleached products cause cancer and disrupt normal hormonal activity. The good news is that there are alternatives that are safe, comfortable, affordable, and even kinder to the planet.

Wouldn't a woman who cares about the health of her vagina use a feminine hygiene product that is totally chlorine free and 100% organic cotton in order to reduce exposure to harmful toxins? How can anyone claim to care about the health of the vagina and continue to use a product that is linked to illness of the vagina? Do you care about the health of your vagina? If you don't, then what do you care about?

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