::This is a fictional paid advertisement::

Q: When did you start reading labels?

A: October of 1998. Before October of 1998, I never read labels. I couldn’t care less what I was putting on or inside my body. Whatever it was, my body could handle it. Not so much because my body could handle everything under the sun, but because there are scientific people, scientific government administrations, guaranteeing that any products good enough to sell on grocery store shelves are good enough to put on or inside your body. But it just took one day in October of 1998 to shake my confidence in the FDA forever. The FDA is fallible and corrupt. Now I question everything I buy, and then I question it some more.

Q: Can you please describe what happened?

A: I was sitting down for lunch when this guy I highly respected asked, “What kind of deodorant do you use?” “Right Guard.” My answer was automatic. I had been using  Right Guard for as long as I can remember. Right Guard was reliable. I could count on Right Guard. But apparently this guy I highly respected, almost revered even, didn’t approve of my answer. He ate a cheerio, nibbled on it like it was a donut seed, shook his head, and said, “Are you wearing Right Guard right now?” “Yes, as a matter of fact I am.” He shook his head gravely, “You know what that means. The sweat glands in your underarms are being clogged with aluminum.” “You mean, like a soda can?” “That’s exactly what I mean. Bits of aluminum are clogging your sweat glands, and this is what keeps you from sweating and developing body odor. God forbid, you don’t want to have B.O. Better to jam up all your pores with a metal.” “Are you kidding me?” “Not at all. Just read the label on the back.” “Ok, I will. But what’s wrong with aluminum?” This guy I highly respected finished his cheerio and said, “Well, the bits of aluminum that save you from smelling bad eventual get absorbed and enter your body. You use deodorant everyday, so over time your aluminum level increases. There’s such a thing as aluminium neurotoxicity. Aluminum has been correlated with Alzheimer’s and brain disorders and is a possible risk factor in breast cancer, although the latter is not really proven. Still, why poison your body with aluminum when it is definitely toxic? Has our culture brainwashed us so thoroughly? Have our friends and family and media persuaded us that it is better to risk brain disorders and cancer rather than smell bad?

Q: And you just took this guy’s word for it?

A: No, I did research, and most of it corroborates his claims. But what I researched the most was the label on the back of my deodorant. Here are the ingredients:

Active ingredient

Aluminum Zirconium Octachlorohydrex GLY 16.0% w/w… Antiperspirant

Inactive ingredients

water, alcohol denat, cyclopentasiloxane, propylene glycol, dimethicone, trisiloxane, calcium chloride, PEG/PPG-18/18 dimenthicone, fragrance.

In my opinion, being a unscientific man, it seemed entirely unnecessary to apply this list of toxic ingredients to my underarms just to keep from smelling.

But, to be honest, I didn’t want to smell bad. I hate smelling bad. I just wanted to accomplish this without using a poisonous deodorant.

Q: That’s where we come in, right?

A: Yes, precisely. Tom’s of Maine, which you represent, is one possible solution.

Q: Can you please list our ingredients, for the record?

A: I’d be more than happy to. Reading your list of ingredients makes me happy for my life. Propylene glycol, water, sodium stearate, organic Aloe barbadensis leaf juice, Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel) water, zinc ricinoleate, glyceryl laurate, Chamomilla recutita (Matricaria) flower aqueous extract, apricot fragrance, Humulus lupulus (hops) [CO2] extract, caprylic/capric triglyceride, ascorbic acide silica shells.

Q: No Aluminium?

A: No aluminium.

Q: And it works.

A: It works like a charm. I smell vaguely like apricot all day long.

Tags: ::ADVERTISING::, ::HEALTH::, aluminium free, aluminium neurotoxicity, alzheimers, breast cancer, breast cancer risk, deodorant, fda, natural care, read labels, tom's of maine

It all began tonight with an  NPR article about Huntington’s disease.  Charles Sabine, a famous journalist, had a family history of HD and decided to undergo genetic testing. The test revealed that he will inevitably die from the genetic mutation and its horrific outcome.  I continued reading and was brought to tears about how he and his wife decided to conceive “anyway”.  They decided to have their 17-month-old daughter tested as well, and – thankfully – discovered that she does not have the mutation.

This all got me thinking about the courses that I’ve taken in which genetic testing, and the bioethics that come along with it, came up. I always enjoyed the debates and controversy over it all. I thought, “Hey, that’s interesting- these people have a chance to know their fate, in a way. They should take advantage of recent scientific advances and get that figured out right away!” I began thinking again about selective abortion in cases such as Down’s syndrome, in which a pregnant woman can know with certainty that her child will have the disorder.

It all got worse, however, when the topic hit Home.

I suddenly heard the familiar voices of family members wagging their fingers and advising me to get genetic testing.  You see, I have a pretty long list to check off when it comes to my family health history.  When I visit a medical office for the first time, it’s not the burden of the time that it takes to fill out the forms, nor the shame that accompanies answering such intrusive questions for complete strangers to read, that bothers me.  It’s the worry that overcomes me when glancing at my chart once it’s filled out! I’ve got a history of it all: diabetes, heart disease, epilepsy, brain aneurysm, stroke, AND breast cancer (there’s probably even more).

My mother is a breast cancer survivor and, ironically, an ex- mammogram technician. When I was in high school and she was only about 40 years old, my Mom underwent radiation therapy and a double mastectomy.  Now, I won’t get into the trauma that our family incurred as a result; there are countless similar stories on the Internet for you to sob through. The point is that it has left me terrified of cancer and the fact that I am at elevated risk.

Anyway, my habitual glance at the front page of NPR led to a tidal wave of emotion and a frantic series of google queries.  Back at age 20, I asked my doctor when I could get my earliest mammogram, considering my family history.  Two women staffers debated about it, and eventually declared “35″ an appropriate age.  Shit, I felt like I deserved one right then and there….

[TO BE CONTINUED]

Tags: bioethics, brain aneurysm, BRCA1, BRCA2, breast cancer, breast cancer gene, breast cancer risk, breast enhancement, breast implants, charles sabine, chemotherapy, diabetes, double mastectomy, epilepsy, genetic counseling, genetic testing, HD, heart disease, huntington's disease, mammogram, mastectomy, npr, radiation therapy, stroke