health and safety: 01/20/08

Saturday, January 26, 2008

India's 'healing' herb-dyed cloth

Ayurvastra sheet

Could an ayurvastra bedspread tempt you into the land of nod?

Cloth infused with the herbs of traditional Indian medicine is becoming increasingly popular as the country's stressed urban workers seek cures for conditions such as insomnia and eczema.

Wearing a special shirt is claimed to cure itchy or sore skin, while sleepless nights can be taken care of by putting a herb-infused sheet over your mattress.

The herbs are selected according to the traditional Indian medicine known as ayurvedia, with the infused cloth known as ayurvastra.

"We have selected 28 medicinal plants based on ayurvedic texts and theory - then we dip the natural cotton into it to make sleeping cloths," the chief dyeing technician of the ayurvastra project, Rajan Kay, told BBC World Service's Culture Shock programme.

"For skin problems we select a plant like indigo, and mix with the plant turmeric."

Proper effect

The main centre for ayurvedic practices is Kerala, where it has existed alongside Western medicine for two centuries.

The Keralan government is set to release a report on a local clinical trial that claims the clothes do indeed have health benefits.

And cloth which calms the nerves is certainly proving popular with stressed-out IT consultants from nearby Bangalore.

Ayurvastra dyeing

The herbs are added during the dyeing process

But Catherine Stubberfield, who has worked with textile manufactures all over the world before moving to work with ayurvastra, warned that the clothes must be combined with the right lifestyle to have the proper effect.

"I believe that wearing natural cotton, wool or silk which has been dyed naturally is going to obviously help your skin, but I think as far as the healing goes ayurvedia is a way of life," she said.

"Wearing a T-shirt made of ayurvedic dyeing is not going to cure you. What the government report will say is if you take it with ayurvedic medicine, it is OK. But it is very difficult for people from the West to understand this."

Meanwhile Dr K Ravi, who established the project, outlined that health benefits of ayurvastra cloth are only part of the story - he began the project not to promote health, but to sustain the traditional industries of rural Kerala.

"The tradition of the handloom is part and parcel of this land - and ayurvedia also," he said.

He pointed out that people in the area traditionally get only 35 rupees - $0.6 - per day to live on. But the ayurvedia sheets will allow them to get more money in domestic and international markets.

"The major part of that that will be transferred to these poor people," he added.

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Monday, January 21, 2008

Mobiles linked to disturbed sleep

Child using a mobile phone

The evidence on mobile phone safety has been contradictory

Using a mobile phone before going to bed could stop you getting a decent night's sleep, research suggests.

The study, funded by mobile phone companies, suggests radiation from the handset can cause insomnia, headaches and confusion.

It may also cut our amount of deep sleep - interfering with the body's ability to refresh itself.

The study was carried out by Sweden's Karolinska Institute and Wayne State University in the US.

This research suggests that if you need to make a make a phone call in the evening it is much better to use a land line

Alasdair Philips
Powerwatch

Funded by the Mobile Manufacturers Forum, the scientists studied 35 men and 36 women aged between 18 and 45.

Some were exposed to radiation equivalent to that received when using a mobile phone, others were placed in the same conditions, but given only "sham" exposure.

Those exposed to radiation took longer to enter the first of the deeper stages of sleep, and spent less time in the deepest one.

The scientists concluded: "The study indicates that during laboratory exposure to 884 MHz wireless signals components of sleep believed to be important for recovery from daily wear and tear are adversely affected."

Researcher Professor Bengt Arnetz said: "The study strongly suggests that mobile phone use is associated with specific changes in the areas of the brain responsible for activating and coordinating the stress system."

Another theory is that radiation may disrupt production of the hormone melatonin, which controls the body's internal rhythms.

Electrosensitivity

About half the people in the study believed themselves to be "electrosensitive", reporting symptoms such as headaches and impaired cognitive function from mobile phone use.

But they proved to be unable to tell if they had been exposed to the radiation in the test.

Alasdair Philips is director of Powerwatch, which researches the effects of electromagnetic fields on health.

He said: "The evidence is getting stronger that we should treat these things in a precautionary way.

"This research suggests that if you need to make a phone call in the evening it is much better to use a land line, and don't have your mobile by your bedside table."

Mike Dolan, executive director of the Mobile Operators Association, said the study was inconsistent with other research.

He said: "It is really one small piece in a very large scientific jigsaw. It is a very small effect, one researcher likened it to less than the effect you would see from a cup of coffee."

Last September a major six-year study by the UK Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme (MTHRP) concluded that mobile phone use posed no short-term risk to the brain.

However, the researchers said they could not rule out the possibility that long-term use may raise the risk of cancer.