Senna, Stimulant Laxatives News

PHUKET: Everyone knows that some plants are poisonous, and we gardeners in Phuket know that Thailand has more than its fair share.

DSM Functional Materials, an Elgin-based division of Royal DSM, is teaming up with Brazil-based Empresa Brasileira de Biotechnologia to work on bio-based materials.

Got stomach pains -- like heartburn, constipation or diarrhea? Sure, you've heard the speech about avoiding problem foods and modifying your lifestyle, but sometimes it isn't enough.

By Francis Kagolo in Dar es Salaam Uganda has been warned against hasty large-scale production of biofuel following revelations that the sector could set off the worst food insecurity in the region.

Growing castor on U.S. soil and extracting castor oil for biofuels and industrial use is a growing controversy with supporters on both sides of the question: Would the benefits outweigh the risks? Since castor grows well on marginal land, it represents an alternative crop suitable for production in select areas of Texas.

BERNARD LODGE, St Catherine:RICARDO THOMPSON and spouse Shirley Lindo produce castor oil using the cold-press system which sees the seed being crushed and the oil mechanically extracted and water added before boiling.

BERNARD LODGE, St Catherine:TRADITIONALLY USED in Jamaica mainly as a laxative, as well as for styling the hair and as a gel, the threat of a "dose of castor oil" was enough to get most children to fall in line during the 1940s and '50s when it was administered orally as a panacea for "every conceivably bellyache among children". "God, the taste," ... (more)

DSM Functional Materials, the US-based developer of functional coatings, has teamed up with a Brazilian biotech firm to launch a new line of bio-based concrete floor coatings.

Do you know what I do on my children's birthdays? I spend the entire day remembering what stage I was in at this time on that day, however many years ago.A Kimberly celebrated her fourth birthday this week, and I marked each hour from about 10am till about 7pm, loudly declaring "At this time, four years ago, I was taking a dose of castor oil!" A or ... (more)

It was a choice of castor oil or church. The Right Reverend Claude Berkely chose the church and was enthroned as the Bishop of Trinidad and Tobago yesterday.