Well we survived, and without a glitch!  Computers clicked remorselessly on; the kettle did not explode; and the pump in our cellar kept relentlessly baling out as the rain pounded down. Above all it was a marvellous and most welcome break.

I must admit that I had contemplated it being a permanent break (forty years of turning up daily at work can have that effect!) but, as the pre-Christmas furore took hold, I became increasingly involved again in day-to-day affairs and thoroughly enjoyed myself.  I wonder now if I shall ever give up!  Still I must be careful not to go past my “smell-by” date.

When Shiseido, the Japanese cosmetics and toiletries manufacturer, launched last September a range of products that suppress unpleasant odours associated with older men, Japanese women rushed out to buy them.  Husbands, uncles and grandfathers suddenly found them-selves receiving beautifully wrapped gifts from Shiseido’s Care Garden range of toiletries designed to quell the pungent odours of ageing. Makes you think?! 

Amongst my beautifully wrapped Christmas gifts was one from Justin: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Online Marketing. He doesn’t give up, does he?!  Nevertheless he is absolutely correct to endeavour to keep me up-to-speed.  As the 1990s drew to a close e-commerce at last topped the business agenda.

E-business is changing all industries and markets and there are no exceptions. The most significant changes will involve industries in which information makes up a large element of the product and service. I would have thought that that involved us, but some still seem to doubt it. However, e-business should not be confused with e-commerce.  E-commerce deals with the internet, digital communications and IT applications which enable the buying or selling process while E-business involves optimising the value-added by an organisation through the adoption of digital technology and the use of the internet as the primary communications media.

Notwithstanding, technology alone will not solve the problem.  Many seem to think that they, or their existing staff, can handle e-business issues. I doubt it.
 E-business is, by its nature, fast moving and new and most companies have not had the time to acquire or build in-house expertise. Many traditional companies have also discovered that an influx of “web-heads” can unsettle an organisation and lead to misunderstandings. As one senior US banker noted recently, “the web-heads want  toys not titles”. Don’t tell me!

I note from my old Newsletters that I succumbed finally in May 1994 and acquired our first computer.  A little over a year later we were set to surf the net and by April 1996 we were attending the first ever Internet Cruise in Geneva.  When at that time I exhorted all with a computer...Go get a modem!...little did I know into what I was getting but, it was the right move: now would be too late.
Clay Therapy.
Melanie Coningham wrote.....A few years ago I read an article about the many benefits of clay, in Country Living. [The clay from Argiletz has been known and used for a long time in France and throughout the Continent.  The clay is obtained by digging up to a depth of 60 meters along the side of clean rivers, in rich woody areas in northern France.  The clay is then naturally dried by the sun and wind and, without any further additions, it is then broken or purified and ground for use]. I was particularly interested in its application for asthma related problems.

The article by Barbara Griggs mentioned the experience of Dutch-born Marijke Vogel, a natural therapist, who had been asthmatic from the age of two. Her condition worsened after the birth of her first child and she was frequently hospitalised by severe attacks.  One summer when her asthma was worse than usual her sister sent her a packet of clay from Holland.  She started drinking clay water every morning, and within five or six weeks already detected a difference in her condition.  By the autumn she no longer needed her regular cortisone injection - and has not needed one since.

It has been suggested that clay is able to find abnormalities in the body, absorbing harmful substances and leaving healthy areas untouched.  It is effective in helping to maintain normal digestion and protects against harmful bacteria in the gut, which could be causing headaches, inflammations, infections, food-poisoning, stomach-ache, asthma, rheumatism and many other ailments.  It is also said to help maintain healthy immunity and cell function, even of older people, allowing them to regain vitality without any side effects.

In 1961 a New York physician, Dr. Frederic Damrau, tested clay on 35 patients suffering from acute diarrhoea, the causes of which included viral infection, food-poisoning, spastio or mucous colitis and headache.  The patients were given drinks of powdered clay in distilled water. The clay was bentonite and classed by geologists as a hydrated aluminium silicate.  The results, published in the Medical Annals of the District of Columbia, were

astounding.  Clay brought relief to 34 of the 35 in under four days. Those due to a viral infection cleared up specially fast, some of them in 24 hours.

Geophagy.
One of the most common recorded uses of earths is as a food supplement during periods of famine, for in addition to its mineral content, a small amount of clay will remain in the stomach for a long time, dulling the appetite. The eating of edible clays during famines has been recorded in Germany, Sweden, Finland, France, and Italy - in some instances as recently as the nineteenth century.  However whether the ingestion of earth is a good thing still remains undecided, since some earths contribute to nutrition and others detract from it. An additional problem is that eating earth not only takes away hunger pangs, it can also remove the desire for appropriate food. Ingesting too much clay or dirt can lead to anaemia, stunted growth, and even outright starvation regardless of the nutrients in the soil.  Most people who take up clay eating find it nearly impossible to stop.  While a bite or two a day may do little harm, more can create enteroliths, literally “stones that block the intestines”, and eventually cause death. A sobering thought!

Clay posology.
The drinking of clay water first came to my attention amongst equine aromatherapists who not only give it to their animals but also imbibe it themselves. My research revealed that the suggested dose for humans is ¼ to ½ teaspoon dissolved in a glass of pure water for children, up to two times a day as required. The adult dose, as a detox (3 to 4 times a year) or general tonic, is 1 teaspoon in pure water, taken twice daily, morning and night on an empty stomach or 30 minutes before or after a meal.  Taken for two or three weekly periods, with one week’s break in-between, it is recommended that for the first week only the clay water should be drunk whilst the clay remains at the bottom of the glass. From the second week onwards the clay can be prepared and used instantly.  During illness or recuperation clay can apparently be used three times daily. 

Clays examined.
Clay comes in a number of colours, its hue varying according to its mineral content. I understand that green clay is the most widely used, and recognised as the most powerfully therapeutic.  Red clay is a useful tonic for convalescence and because of its iron content, good for fatigue and anaemia.  White clay is milder in its action, suitable for babies (?), and useful as a beauty treatment for sensitive skins.  Yellow clay is recommended for joint and skin problems, and for extreme fatigue; and pink, which is a mixture of red and white, is popular as a mask for tired, dry or ultra-sensitive skins.

Clay contains important minerals such as silica (52%), iron (4-6%), calcium (7-9%), sodium (0.1-0.3%), magnesium (2-3%), manganese (0.3%), potassium (3-5%), phosphorus (0.2%) and other trace minerals.  The balance of these individual elements is such that they are easily assimilated, only those elements needed are utilised, and serve to maintain the physiological equilibrium.

More specifically, for cosmetic purposes, Kaolin or China clay is a hydrated aluminium silicate also known as Montmorillite.  It is a white-to-pale-cream powder with absorbent properties, used on oily and acne-type skins.  Fuller’s earth is a grey-green coloured powder containing hydrated aluminium silicate and aluminium magnesium silicate.  It has a stronger action than kaolin, having deep cleansing and absorbent properties. Bentonite is a greyish-white clay containing a minimum 90% hydrated aluminium silicate. Magnesium carbonate is a light, fluffy white powder. It has a toning effect on the skin, and is added to clays to give bulk. It is used on normal-to-dry skins. Sulphur is a fine, yellow powder, added to fuller’s earth for treating oily skins. It has keratolytic properties, and is used in face masks for acne. Calamine is a pale pink powder containing zinc carbonate and a little zinc oxide. It has a soothing effect on the skin, and therefore is used on inflamed or sensitive, delicate skins. Any substances obtained from the ground are sterilized before use to ensure destruction of any spores or pathogenic bacteria.

Clay Case Study.
Both Melanie and her son suffered mildly from asthma and needed to use an inhaler at various times of the year. They assumed [perhaps incorrectly] from the Country Living article that, for breathing purposes, clay could be taken on a regular basis which they did, once a day, for the best part of two years. They both experienced great benefits and were able to give up the inhaler.

However on a routine visit to hospital for a mammogram, specks of calcification were found in Melanie’s breasts.  After an exceptionally worrying few weeks, and a small biopsy, which was found to be benign, Melanie was told that she had extra ductal calcification, which the consultant said was unusual.  She was asked if she had been in an accident, played contact sports, or had had a silicon implant; none was the case. She mentioned that she took clay: this was thought to be the cause. 

A blood test, and X-ray of her hands, revealed little except a marked calcium build-up in one finger tip.  The hospital sent a sample of the clay to the “powers that be” [probably the Public Health Laboratory Service] and made phone calls to the Nutri Centre, the suppliers of the clay, and to Marijke Vogel. Because of a comparative lack of knowledge of clay in this country, nothing was definitively determined.

Obviously Melanie stopped taking the clay but remains deeply concerned about any potential long-term effects, due to a possible mineral build-up, and wonders if there is anything that she can do to counter such effects.  Comments please!

An Odd Pepper.
In the third volume of Guenther’s seminal work The Essential Oils, sandwiched between Oil of Jaborandi Leaves (Pilocarpus species) and Oil of Rue (Ruta graveolens L.), there is Oil of Sansho (Zanthoxylum piperitum D.C.).  Also known as Hua Jiao, Japanese pepper, Sichuan pepper, or fagara, the fruits and leaves of this plant are used in China and Japan as a popular spice.  The seeds have also been used for thousands of years in China as a perfumery ingredient and are burnt as a room freshener.  There is some evidence that Hua Jiao can repel insects and has anti-microbial properties.

Peter Holmes, in the first volume of his excellent Jade Remedies [A Chinese Herbal Reference for the West], suggests that a decoction or tincture of the berry is a mild remedy with minimal chronic toxicity, useful for epigastric and abdominal pain and distension, nausea, flatulence, fatigue, loose stools, and cold extremities. At once stimulant and relaxant this remedy from the Western kingdom of Shu (Sichuan) is ideal for those intestinal conditions with colic and diarrhoea that present an overall cold condition. However it is contraindicated in Yin deficiency conditions with empty heat and should be used with caution during pregnancy.  I do note that he refers to the botanical origin as Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maximovicz and species and, therefore, am assuming that Z. piperitum is included within this general ambit. As it is, I am unable to unearth immediately any reference to Z. bungeanum in the botanical literature.

The Aromatherapy Practitioner Reference Manual is more confusing.  It lists two species of Zanthoxylum and I can find neither. It refers variously to Zanthoxylum as Fagara (Fagara schinifolia), the essential oil of which apparently contains up to 89% of methyl chavicol and is suggested to be antispasmodic and variably anti-infectious, and Mulilam (Zanthoxylum rhetsa) which is considered to be anti-inflammatory, anti-infectious and sedative.  I should be most interested to know the source of these references.

Meanwhile I would suggest that F. schinifolia should perhaps be more correctly called Z. schinifolium, and Z. bungeanum is perhaps more accurately Z. bungei (syn: Z. simulans Hance), both of which are used interchangeably with Z. piperitum in Chinese medicine. However as this member of the Rutaceae has more than 250 species scattered throughout Asia, America, Africa and Australia, many of which have traditional medicinal uses, it is perhaps understandable that there is some confusion.

For example, the dried bark of the hardy shrub Z. americanum Miller, from the eastern and northern United States, was officially listed in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia  from 1820 to 1926 and, from 1926 to 1947, in the National Formulary. It was introduced into mainstream American medicine in 1894 by the eclectic physician John Nash who used it to treat typhus and cholera epidemics.  In the central and southern United States it is replaced by the southern prickly ash (Z. clava-herculis L.), or Hercules’ club, as a toothache cure.  In South Africa Z. capense (Thunb.) Harvey is called the “fever tree”, and chewing-sticks from the roots of the west African Z. xanthoxyloides (Lam.) Zepernick & Timler are used with marked antimicrobial activity against oral flora. Perhaps this is not so surprising as most prickly ashes contain alkaloids, including chelerythrine, an effective antimicrobial.    

Well, after all that, I am sitting with an authenticated sample of Hua Jiao (Z. piperitum) essential oil from Sichuan in front of me. The analysis of the oil, by the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, shows the main components to be d-limonene (44.35%), b-myrcene (16.42%) and b-pinene (0.58%).  The main aromatic part of the oil, which characterizes its distinctive fragrance, is 1,6-Octadien-3-ol-3, 7-dimethyl (13.59%). Bactericidal tests against various bacteria indicate that the oil can inhibit growth and kill bacteria in vitro.   Tests show low eye and skin irritancy and an LD50 of 4320mg/kg and LC50 >8300mg/cubic metre.  A seemingly well researched oil, and worthy of further consideration I would have thought.  At present, however, it is extremely expensive due to the high cost of raw material in Sichuan but, if for interest only, I shall probably stock a little.

Tailed Pepper.
Of all the essential oils that I have researched over the years there are only a couple or so that I can definitely substantiate as having antiviral activity, and one of those is Oil of Cubebs (Piper cubeba L.).  I was quite surprised but, had not the comment been made by the essential oil educator Martin Watt, I doubt that I would have given this member of the Piperaceae a closer look.

Why “tailed” pepper? Cubeb is the dried, nearly full-grown, unripe fruit of P. cubeba, a climbing perennial native to Malaysia and Indonesia. The fruits are borne on spikes, each of which carries about 50 or more. The latter are globose drupes, with a stem-like portion attached to the base of each drupe.  When dried, cubeb berries closely resemble black pepper berries, except for the fact that the base of each cubeb is prolonged into a firmly attached stalk, or tail!

The fruits have long been used by local people as a condiment and in herbal medicines, and powdered dry fruits widely used to treat amoebic dysentery (Burkhill, I.H., 1966, A Dictionary of the Economic Products of the Malay Peninsula, 2 vols., Govt. Printer, Kuala Lumpur). Used mainly as a spice in Classical Europe, it later became widely used in medicine, but by the end of the seventeenth century was both uncommon and expensive. It did enjoy a brief revival in the nineteenth century and Guenther, ibid. Vol. V, mentions that cubeb berries, as well as the essential oil, were once used as stimulants to the genita-urinary mucous membranes, especially in the latter stages of gonorrheal urethritis, and as stimulants to the bronchial mucous membranes in the treatment of bronchitis.

The fruits yield 10-20% volatile oil which contains mainly sesquiterpenes and monoterpenes and their alcohols, with their relative concentrations varying considerably according to different analyses. Sesquiterpene hydrocarbons present include caryophyllene, cadinene, a- and b-cubebene, copaene, and 1-isopropyl-4-methylene-7-methyl-1,2,3,6,7,8,9,-hepta-hydronaphthalein; monoterpene hydrocarbons include sabinene, a-thujene, b-phellandrene,    a-pinene, myrcene, b-pinene, a-phellandrene, g- and a-terpinene, among others.

As Martin correctly said, the oil has been reported to exhibit antiviral activities in rats as well as weak to strong antibacterial activities in vitro; it also has certain urinary antiseptic properties (D. L. J. Opdyke, Food Cosmet. Toxicol., 14, 729, 1976). Berry and oil have been used in diuretic and urinary antiseptic preparations.     

Tested at low dose non-toxic, non-irritant and non-sensitizing, it is suggested as useful for dermatitis, bronchitis, rheumatism, intestinal colitis, cystitis, and for neuro-muscular and mental fatigue, among other ailments (The Aromatherapy Practitioner Reference Manual). However it should be noted that prolonged and excess use can cause diarrhoea and nervous-ness.

The adulteration of cubebs has always been a problem, intentional or not.  In addition to the true cubeb (Piper cubeba), there are numerous varieties of this species whose berries resemble cubebs. These are generally termed “False Cubebs”.
 
Most important of the false cubebs appear to be Piper crassipes Korthals, which according to the literature has a cajuput-like odour, and Piper molissimum Blume.  Apart from these false cubebs, native to Malaysia and Indonesia, there are those from Africa, Piper clusii C. DC. and Piper guineense Schum. et Thonn. These are known as “African Cubebs”. However oil of clove leaf (Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merr. & L.M. Perry) seems to be the most common adulterant in cubebs oil of Indonesian origin!

Nature’s Valium?
I was interested to read in Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology (1999) 51 (5) 505-512 a review of a paper presented by P.J. Houghton of King’s College, London, at the 135th British Pharmaceutical Conference in 1998: The scientific basis for the reputed activity of valerian.

Although we loathe bottling Valeriana officinalis L., because of the nauseating aroma which hangs around for days, we do sell a fair amount of it. Considered amongst the least toxic of essential oils [to rats at least!] (E. Skramlik, 1959, Pharmazie, 14, 435), it is used almost exclusively for its powerfully calming effect on the nervous system, thus aiding all conditions related to severe mental stress, e.g., insomnia, agitation, nervous headaches, nervous stomach, palpitations, etc. (Shirley Price’s Aromatherapy Workbook).

Valerian is still the subject of considerable research aimed at establishing the chemical and pharmacological basis of the activity which has been clearly shown in a number of animal and clinical studies. The constituents of the oil are very variable due to population differences associated with genetic and environmental factors. The major constituents include the monoterpene bornyl acetate and the sesquiterpene valerenic acid, which is characteristic of the species, in addition to other types of sesquiterpene.  Some of these have been shown to have a direct action on the amygdaloid body of the brain and valerenic acid has been shown to inhibit enzyme-induced breakdown of GABA (gamma aminobutyric acid) in the brain resulting in sedation.

The non-volatile monoterpenes known as valepotriates were first isolated in 1966 and contribute to the overall activity by possessing sedative activity based on the CNS although the mode of action is not clearly known. They act as prodrugs which are transformed into homobaldrinal which has been shown to reduce the spontaneous motility of mice. More recent studies have shown that aqueous extracts of the roots contain appreciable amounts of GABA which could directly cause sedation but there is some controversy surrounding the bioavailability of this compound.  Another recent finding is the presence of a lignan, hydroxypinoresinol, and its ability to bind to benzodiazepene receptors.

Valerian is a good example of both the negative and positive aspects of herbal drugs.  The considerable variation in its composition and content, as well as the instability of some of its constituents, pose serious problems for standardization but the range of components which contribute to its overall activity suggest that it may correct a variety of underlying causes of conditions which necessitate a general sedative or tranquilizing effect.   

Fungus Fighter.
A report (Shahi, S.K. et al. Broad spectrum antimycotic drug for control of fungal infection in human beings) in Current Science (1999) 76 (6) 836-839 suggests that, during evaluation of essential oils of some Eucalyptus species, Eucalyptus citriodora Hooker was most effective as an antifungal against Microsporum nanum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes and T. rubrum.  Comparing the minimum effective concentration of the oil with those of prevalent synthetic antifungal drugs, the oil was more effective.  It did not exhibit any adverse side effects on mammalian skin up to 5% concentration.

The oil in the form of ointment broad spectrum antimycotic drug was subjected to topical testing on patients. Patients were diagnosed with either tinea pedis or tinea cruris. At the end of treatment, while 55.5% of patients recovered completely, 44.5% showed significant improvement from the disease.

Simply interesting.
It seems that pacemakers, once considered to be at the cutting edge of medicine, are now an everyday element of cardiac care with an estimated one person in 2000 in the UK fitted with such a device. Now the theory behind pacemakers - that a tiny implant programmed to fire electric impulses can correct problems with the body’s messaging system - is being adapted to fight such diseases as Parkinson’s, epilepsy and even depression.

Last year, the Medicines Control Agency granted a UK licence to a product called Activa Parkinson’s Control Therapy - a radical new method for controlling the symptoms of the disease. A wire carrying four tiny electrodes is inserted deep inside the part of the brain known as the subthalamic nucleus, which is responsible for controlling movement, and a battery-operated pulse generator is implanted beneath the collar-bone. By passing a hand held magnet over the device, the patient can trigger tiny electrical impulses that block the signals known to cause Parkinson’s symptoms - such as tremors and muscle stiffness.

Impressive results have also been obtained in the treatment of epilepsy, in which the normally regulated electrical activity in the brain becomes chaotic and disturbed - causing seizures.  An estimated 430,000 people in Britain suffer from epilepsy and in past years about 350 have been fitted with the NeuroCybernetic Prosthesis (NCP) system. The treatment uses a pace-maker to send minute amounts of current down the vagus nerve - one of the most important of the cranial nerves which carries vital information from the brain stem to the lungs, heart, throat, windpipe and digestive system. The device stimulates the part of the brain which controls moods and can cut in half the number of seizures.  Clever stuff! Following animal tests which showed that by stimulating the vagus nerve - which plays an important role in telling the brain when the stomach is full -  some believe that patients could suppress appetite and achieve significant weight loss.   

Finally......
Quote of the month: There should be an acknowledgement that aromatherapy is nowhere near the maturity of other and older disciplines.  It seems futile to fashion an expert-driven therapeutic technique from a substance matter as little understood in its fundamentals as aromatherapy.  Progress will result when the value of empirical and anecdotal knowledge of essential oil enthusiasts is recognized.  This knowledge summarizes what traditional science, in the fields of molecular and evolutionary biology may discover in a drawn out and tedious process (Dr. Kurt Schnaubelt, Aromatic Thymes, 2000, Vol. 7.3, 30-32). 

 

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