Hello Nairalanders,

I wonder why people find it hard to carry out online conversations without resorting to angry outbursts, assumptions, presumptions, insults, abuse and HEAVY curses. In one thread I was reading, a lady acknowledged she lied to her parents. When she was called out for doing so, instead of being remorseful, she attacked the messenger(s). There was also counterattacks. It was painful to read.
Indeed the online sphere is where people bring out their true selves.

Anger and bitterness are not good for the health or even the spirit. PLEASE HELP YOURSELF!

This is dedicated to Dora and Chike Akunyili.[color=#770077][/color]. I will never forget
Many of us are perplexed by the fake goods, materials and concoction people sell in the market. You may think it is a Black man's thing. Be rest assured that greed is a universal language and behavior. Continued activitism against such ills are key

I present to you the Swill Milk Sandal of 19th century New York.

According to Wikipedia, the swill milk scandal occurred in New York in the 1800s and resulted in the death of thousands of infants.
In those days, many women were looking to wean off their children to go back to work or be involved in other activities. Cow milk was seen as desirable and healthy and so demand was high especially in highly populated cities like New York.

Unfortunately, New York didn't exactly have grazing reserves to house the dairy cows. Transportation of such perishable liquid from the country to the town was also not feasible as refrigeration and pasteurization was not yet discovered.

At the same time, distilleries were having a hard time disposing of the byproducts of the grains they used for production of their alcoholic products. They decided to invest in cow milk production by feeding cows with this waste byproducts. They bought several cows and housed them in tiny metal sheds attached to their factories. The cows were fed the waste by products. Of course, the cows would not touch such waste, but ultimately ate it due to hunger and starvation. They were also made to stand in these sheds, covered with their manure.

The cows became sick with a variety of virulent diseases, with rotting teeth, falling tails and sores on their udders. They were said to produce between 5 to 25 times more milk than their rural grass fed counterparts. This was because toxic impurities from the cows and pus from the udders were passed into milk. Because the milk was watery and had a bluish tint, the unscrupulous owners mixed up the milk with rotten eggs, chalk, flour, burnt sugar and Plaster of Paris to improve taste and color and then marketed as "pure country milk".

In an editorial published at the height of the scandal, the New York Times described swill milk as a "bluish, white compound of true milk, pus and dirty water, which, on standing, deposits a yellowish, brown sediment that is manufactured in the stables attached to large distilleries by running the refuse distillery slops through the udders of dying cows and over the unwashed hands of milkers..

About 50-80% of milk produced in northeastern US was swill milk. Many low income women and even the middle class purchased this milk that was sold very cheaply. As a result, many of their infants died of uncontrollable diarrhea that baffled doctors. It was the disease age then, where many childhood infant diseases were rampant.

The New York Academy of Medicine and Frank Leslie Illustrated Newspapers did several investigations and exposes on the matter. It led to public outcry. The owners of the distillers defended themselves and at point stated that this adulterated swill milk was actually better than real milk because it contained more minerals and proteins! The local government, and politicians also colluded with these devious business men to protect their business due to the bribes they received.

Leslie’s continued activism led the New York state legislature to finally issue milk regulations in 1862. Nevertheless, issues with milk adulterants persisted until rail transport and pasteurization made it viable to get cold, pure milk into the city from rural farms. The matter was then helped further when, in 1906, Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act, which prevented “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated or misbranded or poisonous or deleterious foods, drugs, medicines, and liquor.”

Sources
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/swill-milk-scandal-new-york-city
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swill_milk_scandal


LESSON
Adulterated foods for gains are centuries old
Continued investigation and activism are key to eliminating societal ills
The results of silence is suffering and death to the vulnerable. Vulnerability is only a matter of time

Are you overweight?
Have you been sexually active?
Have you taken contraception/birth control recently?

Other cancer presentations

A recent thread commented on how girls and women cared for little about Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), but were rather more concerned about pregnancy ( https://www.nairaland.com/6805342/why-nigerian-girls-dont-fear )
I read the responses and concur with many of the intelligent responses there. It is true that a lot of sexually transmitted infections do not overtly manifest in women as they do in men. Often times, the symptoms are milder and the girls carry on. Sometimes the disease can be treated early on, most times, they are incompletely treated. Unfortunately, these diseases can manifest several decades later.

Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) can cause several types of diseases including inflammation of the genital organs and the tract, systemic disease, cancers, warts, and several others. Some diseases are chronic and are also transmissible from mothers to their babies. Today millions of Nigerians are carrying diseases they have no explanation for. The poor state of healthcare, the traditional and religious beliefs of the populace make the matter worse. If our eyes were truly opened, many of us will be strictly asexual or follow abstinence.

There are about 20 known STIs. Common sexually transmitted infections include :
Human Papillomavirus (HPV)
Chlamydia
Gonorrhoea
Bacterial Vaginosis
Syphilis
HIV
Genital Herpes
Hepatitis B
Hepatitis A and C
Molluscum contagiosum
Scabies and pubic lice

These can be spread through various forms of sex- vaginal, anal, oral, where an infected body part comes in contact with another body part. Other less common modes of transmission are through sharing of needles, vaginal delivery or even breastfeeding.
Although a healthy immune system may suppress and clear some of these infections, People who are on immunosuppressant drugs or are immunosupressed through other diseases( like HIV) are very prone to STDs.

Today, I want to talk about Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)
1. It is the most common sexually transmitted infection in teens and young people under 20
2. Only one sexual contact may be sufficient to transmit the virus
3. Infected persons may have no or little symptoms. Symptoms can develop many years after the sexual contact
4. Most commonly spread via vaginal or anal sex, but can also be spread vial MouthAction.
5. HPV can also found on medical/surgical instruments and can not be easily killed by most disinfection measures.
6. HPV DNA is also found in the surgical smoke generated when burning the HPV lesions/warts
7. HPV can be spread by non-sexual skin contact especially when touching the warts.

Diseases associated with HPV
1. Genital warts: These are flat or raised bumps around the genital area. It can be found in the external Instruments or inside the vaginal or around the cervix. Cervical warts can not be seen via the naked eye because the cervix is above the vagina.
2. Ano-Genital Cancers: most cancers or the penis, vagina, vulva, anus are caused by HPV. They occur several years or decades after the infection
3. Cervical cancer: Also all cervical cancers are caused by HPV (almost 100%). This is the most common cancer in black women in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa.
4. Testicular, Testicular, Bladder and other urinary cancer can be caused by HPV.
5. Oropharyngeal cancer: these are cancers that occur on tissues of the tongue, palate, throat, oesophagus. HPV causes 70% of these cancers

Diagnosis
1.Warts are usually a sign of HPV infection
2. If it is not visible, vinegar (acetic acid) solution can be dabbed in the genital region. If it turns white, then HPV is present.
3. Pap test
4. DNA test of the tissue

Cure
Infection can clear on its own. Otherwise there is NO CURE.
Visible warts can be surgically or chemically eliminated
Cancers are managed via standard surgery, radiation or chemotherapy depending on early presentation. Most present late with fungating, metastatic cancers and ultimately die

Prevention
Abstinence.
HPV vaccine

A recent thread commented on how girls and women cared for little about Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), but were rather more concerned about pregnancy ( https://www.nairaland.com/6805342/why-nigerian-girls-dont-fear )
I read the responses and concur with many of the intelligent responses there. It is true that a lot of sexually transmitted infections do not overtly manifest in women as they do in men. Often times, the symptoms are milder and the girls carry on. Sometimes the disease can be treated early on, most times, they are incompletely treated. Unfortunately, these diseases can manifest several decades later.

Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) can cause several types of diseases including inflammation of the genital organs and the tract, systemic disease, cancers, warts, and several others. Some diseases are chronic and are also transmissible from mothers to their babies. Today millions of Nigerians are carrying diseases they have no explanation for. The poor state of healthcare, the traditional and religious beliefs of the populace make the matter worse. If our eyes were truly opened, many of us will be strictly asexual or follow abstinence.

Common sexually transmitted infections include :
Human Papillomavirus (HPV)-
Chlamydia
Gonorrhoea
Bacterial Vaginosis
Syphilis
HIV
Genital Herpes
Hepatitis B
Hepatitis A and C
Molluscum contagiosum
Scabies and pubic lice

These can be spread through various forms of sex- vaginal, anal, oral, where an infected body part comes in contact with another body part. Other less common modes of transmission are through sharing of needles, vaginal delivery or even breastfeeding.
Although a healthy immune system may suppress and clear some of these infections, People who are on immunosuppressant drugs or are immunosupressed through other diseases( like HIV) are very prone to STDs.

Today, I want to talk about Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)
1. It is the most common sexually transmitted infection in teens and young people under 20
2. Only one sexual contact may be sufficient to transmit the virus
3. Infected persons may have no or little symptoms. Symptoms can develop many years after the sexual contact
4. Most commonly spread via vaginal or anal sex, but can also be spread vial MouthAction

Diseases associated with HPV
1. Genital warts: These are flat or raised bumps around the genital area. It can be found in the external Instruments or inside the vaginal or around the cervix. Cervical warts can not be seen via the naked eye because the cervix is above the vagina.
2. Ano-Genital Cancers: most cancers or the penis, vagina, vulva, anus are caused by HPV. They occur several years or decades after the infection
3. Cervical cancer: Also all cervical cancers are caused by HPV (almost 100%). This is the most common cancer in black women in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa.
4. Testicular, Testicular, Bladder and other urinary cancer can be caused by HPV.
5. Oropharyngeal cancer: these are cancers that occur on tissues of the tongue, palate, throat, oesophagus. HPV causes 70% of these cancers

Diagnosis
1.Warts are ususally a sign of HPV infection
2. If it is not visible, vinegar (acetic acid) solution can be dabbed in the geneitall region. If it turns white, then HPV is present.
3. Pap test
4. DNA test of the tissue

Cure
Infection can clear on its own. Otherwise there is NO CURE.
Visible warts can be surgically or chemically eliminated
Cancers are managed via standard surgery, radiation or chemotherapy depending on early presentation. Most present late with fungating, metastatic cancers and ultimately die

Prevention
Abstinence.