HEALTH AND WELLNESS

                               Assisted reproductive technology has given hope to many infertile couples who want to have a child. Does it matter which method or procedure is chosen?                          A BABY BOOM THROUGH ASSISTED REPRODUCTION On July 25, 1978, a unique birth took place in Oldham, England, when a baby girl named Louise Joy Brown entered the world. Louise was history’s first test-tube baby. Nine months earlier, Louise had been conceived in a laboratory through a process called IN VITRO FERILIZATION [IVF]. By means of this procedure, an egg extracted from her mother was united with a sperm in a glass dish. Two and a half days later, after the egg cell had subdivided into eight microscopic cells, this little cluster of dividing cells was inserted into her mother’s uterus to develop normally. Louise’s birth opened up a whole new chapter in the treatment of infertility. IVF gave momentum to what is now known as ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOG

                        RUSSIAN BLINI                                  The French have their CREPES, the Scots their BANNOCK, and the Americans their FLAPJACKS. So it comes as no surprise that Russians have their own version of the PANCAKE –the BLIN, which is a staple with a long history. The ancient Slavs used blini for food sacrifices in their pagan rituals and saw in blini an appropriate symbol of round, warm, golden sun. Women who had recently given birth were fed blini. These were also served at weddings and at funerals, so they figured in peoples’ lives from birth to death. Russians today usually make blini with wheat flour, but other flours can also be used.                                       RECIPE FOR BUCKWHEAT BLINI INGREDIENTS 120 grams buckwheat flour 120 grams wheat flour 20 grams butter, melted 2 eggs 720 milliliters or so of milk 30 grams sugar Pinch of salt PREPARATION: Mix buckwheat flour with 240 milliliters of milk.

                                             Vitiligo, also known as LEUKODERMA is triggered by the loss of pigment-producing cells in the skin. This results in the formation of white spots and patches on the skin. Sometimes Sarah speaks of humorously of her skin condition. She says with a smile, “I was born black, became white, and now I’m just confused.” She has VITILIGO. With some patients the condition never progresses beyond the appearance of one patch. With others, however, it spreads over the body quickly. Still others may suffer a slower form of vitiligo that continues to spread over many years. Vitiligo is neither physically painful nor contagious. Not all cases of vitiligo may be as obvious as Sarah’s because it is most noticeable on dark-skinned people. But there are many people afflicted to one degree or another. Statistics show that between 1 and 2 percent of the population is affected. Vitiligo knows no racial boundaries and affects men and women equa

                 Grab a handful of soil from your vegetable garden. Has it been so drenched with herbicides, insecticides, rodenticides, and fungicides that it seems virtually sterile? Or does it teem with earthworms, insects, and microorganisms of all sorts?    If your soil is pulsing with life, chances are that, knowingly or unknowingly, you are applying the principles of organic gardening. Organic gardening often involves methods of improving the quality of garden soil using natural biological substances. One of its aims is to foster an ecosystem in which plants are strong enough to resist pests and diseases. In countries where synthetic chemicals are commonly used in gardening, interest in organic gardening is growing. Why? For several reasons. First of all, pesticides residues on fruits and vegetables have at times posed serious health hazards. To illustrate, the book Pesticide Alert reported that “in the summer of 1985, nearly 1,000 people in sever