Malaysia, Can Traditional Medicine Survive?
In many countries, public health authorities are concerned about the quality, safety and efficacy of drugs used by traditional medical practitioners. In 1992, the Malaysian government introduced the registration of drugs and cosmetics marketed for public use by traditional practitioners. But by mid 1994 the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) feared that registration procedures would destroy the practice of traditional medicine in Malaysia.
Registration fee
Traditional practitioners import many of the
medicines they use. One importer of medicines from the world famous ayurvetic centre in India, Kottakal Arya Vaidya Sala, Kerala, says it is possible to pay RM80,000-100,000 (RM=Malaysian ringgit) for registration as some practitioners import up to 800 to 1000 types, each registration application costs RM100. Drugs prepared and dispensed directly to patients by individual traditional practitioners, and herbal substances containing naturally occurring substances of plants, animals or minerals prepared by drying, crushing and milling don't have to be registered.
Western procedures and criteria
Required pharmaceutical data includes scientific evidence for efficacy and safety, and end product testing results, these methods are based on Western standards. CAP says traditional systems are all embracing systems of health care and cannot be evaluated by western (or allophatic) standards. E.g., substances classified as toxic by western standards are not toxic when present in certain traditional medicines as they have undergone a process of detoxification before use, these medicines have been used for hundreds of years and that in itself is evidence of efficacy. CAP calls for registration to be done by people qualified in traditional systems.
No Official policy on traditional medicine
Registration is meant to be the first step towards recognition and integration of traditional medicine into the health system, but it seems to be going against them, CAP fears that now many traditional practitioners will have to close their practice.
Source: UTUSAN KONSUMER. April 1994, Consumers Association of Penang, 228, Jalan Macalister, 10400 Penang, Malaysia.
BLACK HENNA HAIR DYES Your crowning glory is a health hazard
Henna is a hair dyeing agent used by women and men for centuries, but the Consumers Association of Penang, CAP, warns that black henna users risk cataracts, blindness and skin inflammation if they use black henna preparations mixed with coal tar dyes. We reprint their warning as many women use henna based hair dyes.
Natural henna cannot blacken hair, it can only give a range of colours from dark brown to various shades of reddish blonde. Black henna dye is thus likely to have chemicals added, natural henna leaves used as a dye do not. Some black henna brands contain a harmful chemical, para phenylenediamine, which is also present in chemical hair dyes and is a constituent of coal tar dyes, it has been recognised as an irritant. Studies by the Department of Ophthalmology of the Post Graduate Institute at Chandigarh, India, show an abnormally high incidence of cataracts in users of hair dyes containing this chemical.
Dangers of chemical hair dyes
How many of us read warning signs on labels? But the label on one brand of black henna dye. Black Rose [made in India], warns that preparations containing this chemical 'may cause serious inflammation of the skin in some cases. This preparation should on no account be used for dyeing eyebrows or eyelashes as severe inflammation of the eye or even blindness may result'.
CAP advises consumers to stop using all chemical hair dyes as studies show that users are at increased risk of cancers, with users of black, brown and red hair dyes having a slightly higher risk than those who use lighter dyes. Hair itself is not living, it is attached to the living tissue of the scalp. When you colour your hair, some of the chemicals in the dye can penetrate your scalp and enter the bloodsteam.
PESTICIDES
A research study has found that women with the highest exposure to the pesticide DDE, a derivative of DDT, had four times the breast cancer risk of women with the least exposure (Wolff et al 1993). Compounds like DDT increase the amount of oestrogen produced by the body. This information is from Rose Sorger, Research Officer for the Healthsharing Women's Health Resource Service in her article 'Toxic Residues and Breast Cancer'.
Researchers Hunter and Kelsey (1993) state that breast cancer is clearly linked to oestrogens and both DDT and DDE are 'weakly estrogenic', this raises the interesting point that this source of oestrogenic stimulus would appear to be small, relative to other sources of oestrogens, such as oral contraceptives and post-menopausal hormones.
Dr Kate Short, author of Quick Poison, Slow Poison considers there is a deliberate and orchestrated campaign on the part of the international pesticide industry to minimize the dangers and promote a myth of 'non-persistence', this view holds that chemicals such as DDT and Dieldrin are compromised, but associated chemicals break down in the environment and are not harmful.
The use and effects of pesticides are global issues requiring responsible action across many sectors of society. It is a major public policy challenge which goes to the heart of human, animal and plant survival.
Source: 'Toxic Residues and Breast Cancer' by Rose Sorger, Healthsharing Women. Vol.4, No.6, June-July 1994. Newsletter of Healthsharing Women's Health Resource Service, 373 Little Bourke St., Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 3000.
Safer, cheaper methods
CAP says traditional methods can be used to keep hair healthy and, if you feel the need, also color it. E.g., henna leaves for natural henna treatment, grind some henna leaves and squeeze out the juice. Massage into your scalp and work as a shampoo, comb well so that it is evenly distributed. Leave on for at least an hour. Alternatively, grind the leaves into a thick paste, and add some egg white and a few drops of lime juice, make sure the mixture is not too watery then pat it on hair, leave on till dry or when the desired colour is obtained for a darker colour, the process can be repeated.
Coconut milk softens and moisturizes the hair, thus preventing dryness and split ends. Better yet, add tamarind to the santan and leave standing for 10-20 minutes before applying to your hair. Towel-wrap it for at least half-an-hour. The combination will enrich the hair colour, making it very black as well as smoothen rough ends. Chinese herbs like tong kui and pai chan, when boiled and taken regularly, increase the strength and elasticity of the hair, and help prevent greyncss, some women also wash their hair regularly with the concoction. Gingelly oils, extracts from sesame seeds are popular among Indians. When rubbed deep into the scalp the oil cools the head and helps maintain the hair, Gingelly oils also reduce thinning, breakage, dandruff and dryness.
Source: UTUSAN Konsumer. April 1994, Consumers Association of Penang 228 Jalan Macalister, 10400 Penang, Malaysia.
BEWARE OF QUINACRINE
Quinacrine, a drug originally used to treat malaria is being used for non-surgical female sterilisation. When inserted in the vagina in pellet form the drug acts as a sterilising agent, it is easily manufactured and low-cost. The Centre for Research on Population and Security has been supplying Quinacrine pellets at no cost to researchers and government health agencies, field trials have also been reported in India. However, large scale clinical trials have not been done and the safety and efficacy of the drug remains to be established.
According to an article in the medical journal Lancet, the side effects include severe bleeding and pain, toxicity and the risk of ectopic pregnancy, failure rates have also been reported. Quinacrine pellets have not yet proven to be a safe and effective non-surgical method of female sterilisation.
Source: The NGO Planning Committee for the ICPD, 777 UN Plaza, 8th Floor, New York 10017 USA, September, 1994.
TALC HAZARD
A study was undertaken in July 1992 aimed at determining whether common talc contributes to the risk of ovarian cancer. Talc was suspected because its chemical makeup is similar to that of asbestos. A group of 235 women with diagnosed ovarian cancer was compared to a control group of 239 women. All were asked about talc exposure through dusting of underwear, sanitary towels and diaphragms (for storage); exposure due to male partners' use of talc; and exposure through the use of talcum powder directly on the genitals. Results revealed women who applied talc daily to their perineal area for more than ten years were at 60% greater risk for ovarian cancer. Users with thirty years exposure raised the risk to 80%. Talc * products used before 1970 gave greater risk because of their increased use of asbestiform content, which seems to have decreased since 1976.
Source: Consumer Currents, September/October 1994.