Gosh, it’s cold! Old barns are fine in the summer, but they are the very devil to heat during the winter months.  As it is I am virtually sitting atop an old gas fire in an endeavour to get some warmth.  Having endured snow and floods, which made it almost impassable to reach the office during the Christmas break, we are now in the grips of a biting wind. Roll on the summer!

The Christmas break provided a most welcome rest but upon return to the office I wondered seriously if it was all worth it, as I do every year. Phones, faxes and emails were haranguing me for late deliveries, couriers were ducking and diving to avoid the backlash, and all in the packaging room was chaos. Yet again, I can only apologise. Why does it all fall apart?

All was going fine until the final few days: stocks were promised, couriers and the Royal Mail primed, and you advised of the final date for last orders.  Whammy! The Post Office mounts a series of lightning strikes, road conditions worsen, many suddenly realise that Yuletide is almost upon them and they have still not bought Auntie’s present, and we decide to close between Christmas and the New Year.  Madness: in future I doubt that we shall close between Xmas and Hogmanay, if only to preserve my own peace of mind.

As it was I had to rush young Tim into the J.R. with a suspected heart attack. Complaining of severe chest pains, it was all rather alarming. The hospital responded magnificently, quickly attaching an electrocardiograph.  Thank God there was nothing amiss, but the crippling pain persisted. Twelve hours and many tests later we were safely back home, but it had been a severe shock.  I am delighted to report that, after a much-needed rest, he is well on the road to recovery.
Stress testing?
Stressed? Me? As long as I keep my pet and stop doing those silly tests, I should be OK, wrote Lucy Kellaway (lucy.kellaway@ft.com) in my favourite daily read, the Pink ‘Un. She was referring to a MORI compiled questionnaire, to assess one’s physical and mental health, and gauge how one is coping with life, which had been published in the paper a couple of days earlier.  Assured that there were no right or wrong answers but, by ticking the answers and working out my score, I could get an idea of how fit I was.  Taking the advice to cover up the scores while I filled out the questionnaire, I answered diligently the thirty questions.  Dismal! You should think about what you are doing to yourself, make a new year’s resolution to do better, and keep it! Okay, okay, but how did Lucy do?

Like me, not too well. Obviously we both have to drink less coffee, tea, and booze; give up shouting and children [not easy if you have already got them!]; and take more exercise and sleep longer. Lucy, however, had managed to wangle her way into the You could - and should - do better category by claiming that a guinea pig was a dog! It was the guinea pig that saved me.  Until I got to the pet section my score was abysmal.  Fortunately the rodent gave me the two points that I badly needed to lift my score out of the walking health disaster category.

Guinea pig?  I don’t remember any bonus points for owning a South American cavy. What pets, if any, do you have living with you? None -2; Dog +2; Cat +1; Other pets 0. Come on Lucy, own up, you are a walking health disaster like the rest of us!

Mind you I do wonder how you qualify for the Nice going. You seem to have life under control category.  Lucy suggests that you would have to be a stranger to worry, to anger and to stress. You would need to have no problems balancing home and work, eat more than five helpings of fruit and veg per day and care deeply about your diet, upon which you feel it is impossible to improve.  You would have a partner, no children and a menagerie of animals.  You’d exercise every day and never drink tea or coffee. You’d have just the right amount of work, be rolling in money and spend a large part of your time asleep. Are there such people?!

Colloidal silver: an antibiotic alternative?
Silver is “colloidal”when it is suspended in small amounts in liquid.  High parts per million, small particle size colloidal silver can be created by using a generating device (e.g. wiring 3 or 4 nine volt batteries together in series) that modulates and adapts to the changing resistance and conductivity of the water/colloidal solution [in which the piece of silver is placed]. Pure steam distilled water is perfect and allows the finest silver particles to slowly sinter off the larger piece of silver.  However, depending upon the parts per million required and the total amount being created, it can be a lengthy process.  At the end of the process the solution will appear virtually clear, or slightly golden. 


That’s about all I knew about silver in solution until the other day when, prompted by the inevitable enquiry, I decided to investgate further. However I did recollect reading that in the 1800s and early 1900s people put silver coins in their water barrels to kill microbes and make the water potable, but I had never given it another thought.

Consulting Martindale [the complete drug reference], I discovered that colloidal silver is mentioned as having antibacterial properties. An oblique reference to an old issue of Science Digest [83:57-60 March 1978] further revealed that....Thanks to eye-opening research, silver is emerging as a wonder of modern medicine. An antibiotic kills perhaps a half-dozen different disease organisms, but silver kills 650.  Resistant strains fail to develop. Moreover, silver is virtually non-toxic. Silver is the best all round germ-fighter we have, claimed Dr. Harry Margraf of St. Louis. Fascinated, I thought that I had better get myself a little more up to date on this potential antibiotic alternative.

It appears that the use of colloidal silver, which was once quite common, diminished with the introduction of antibiotics. However, with the current growth of superbugs, attention has once again turned to silver. According to a recent study [reported in Deseret News, May 16, 2000] by researchers at Brigham Young University in the States colloidal silver exhibits an equal or broader spectrum of activity than any one antibiotic tested [the tetracyclines, the penicillins, the cephalosporins, the macrolides and flourinated quinolones]. Where each antibiotic was effective against specific susceptible organisms, the solution is equally effective against both gram positive and gram negative organisms.

The data suggests that with the low toxicity associated with colloidal silver, in general, and the broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity, it may be effectively used as an alternative to antibiotics.  Do you know any more?

Cur moriatur homo cui Salvia crescit in horto?
Why should a man die whilst sage grows in his garden? was the claim among the Ancients and throughout the Middle Ages.  The herb was even once spoken of as Salvia salvatrix [Sage the Saviour]. 

However, in spite of the undoubted value of Sage (Salvia officinalis L.) [commonly known as Dalmatian or Common Sage] in the form of the fresh or dried plant, the essential oil should be viewed with a great deal of caution. The volatile oil is said to be a violent epileptiform convulsant, resembling the essential oils of Absinthe (Artemisia absinthium L.) and Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans Houtt.).  When inhaled for some time it is said to cause a sort of intoxication and giddiness.  This toxicity has been attributed to the ketone terpenoids in the oil, namely camphor and a- and b-thujones, which can be as much as 60%. It would seem therefore extremely unwise to ingest it [A case of human poisoning has been documented following ingestion of sage oil for acne: Centini F. et al. A case of sage poisoning. Zacchia 1987; 60: 263-74].
In fact, in view of the toxicity of the essential oil, I would think that sage extracts should be used with caution and not ingested in large amounts.  Sage may also interfere with existing hypoglycaemic and anticonvulsant therapies, and may potentiate sedative effect of other drugs [Herbal Medicines: A guide for health-care professionals].  Also, because a- and b-thujones are known to be abortifacient and emmenagogic, sage oil should definitely be avoided during pregnancy. 

Patricia Davis, in her excellent Aromatherapy an A-Z, relates some grisly tales: I have collated first-hand experience of poisoning with essential oil of Sage from a number of women who attempted self-treatment based on information in books.  The symptoms and severity of their experiences ranged from feeling slightly faint and shaking, through to such violent abdominal pain that the victim was admitted to hospital for three days. The most common experience, though, was moderate to severe uterine contractions and menstrual bleeding so excessive as to verge on haemorrhage.  In every case [and this really surprised me] except that of the girl who needed hospitalisation, the Sage oil was used externally only, either in a massage oil or in baths, and in amounts varying from 2 or 3 drops to about 10. No wonder that most prefer to use Clary Sage (Salvia sclarea L.), which has many of the same therapeutic properties.

ClarYfication.
I see from my own Fact Sheet that Salvia sclarea L., N.O. Labiatae, variously known as Clarry. Orvale, Toute-bonne, Clear Eye, See Bright and Eyebright, is not a native of Great Britain, having been first introduced in 1562. A perennial native to Mediterranean countries, it grows wild in Southern France, North Africa, parts of Italy, and Eastern Europe.  Years ago it was occasionally planted in the vineyards of Germany, where wine merchants used it as an adulterant, infusing it with Elder flowers, and then adding the liquid to the Rhenish wine, which converted it into a Muscatel.  It is still called in Germany Muskateller Salbei (Muscatel Sage).  Here in Britain, it was also employed as a substitute for Hops, for sophisticating beer, providing considerable bitterness and intoxicating property, which produced an effect of insane exhilaration, succeeded by severe headache!

Although some might disagree, preferring the Greek derivation skleria, meaning hardness, because the petals end in a hard point, the English name Clary is generally believed to originate in the Latin specific name sclarea, a word derived from clarus (clear).  This name Clary was gradually modified into ‘Clear Eye’, one of the popular names and generally explained from the fact that the seeds have been used for clearing the sight, being so mucilaginous that a decoction from them placed in the eye would ‘clear’it from any small foreign body, which might have caused irritation.  Mucilage of seed is still used for tumours and in removing dust particles from the eyes, amongst others [Izv. Acad. Nauk. Inst. Fiziol., Bulg., 13, 89 (1970), S. Atanasova-Shopova and K.S. Rusinov].

For the production of oil, clary is now mainly cultivated the wild growing plants being too scattered for collection, except during periods of great demand and high prices. France used to be the premier producer, but these days it has been much overtaken by Eastern Europe.  In fact, at one time, the French producers were almost forced out of business.  Even today, despite its obviously superior quality, the high price of the French oil often precludes its purchase.

Clary sage should be distilled fresh; otherwise a considerable amount of volatile oil is lost by evaporation, or resinification. The woody stalks should be cut off prior to distillation, as the distilling of only the flowering tops and leaves saves considerable steam.  Distillation must not be stopped prematurely, as the high boiling last runs contribute greatly to the oil quality.

Of sweet-herbaceous and tenacious odour, some say reminiscent of ambergris, there is a very characteristic smell to clary sage. Some perfumers describe it as tobacco-like, others as balsamic or tea-like.  It also has an odour somewhat akin to Cistus Oil and Chamomile Maroc.

Devoid of the thujones, the main components of the oil are linalyl acetate and linalool, with smaller amounts of myrcene, limonene, b-caryophyllene, a-terpineol, germacrene D, neryl acetate, geranyl acetate and geraniol midst a myriad of other trace components [G. Mazza, L’Arome de la Sauge Sclaree: Identification des composes volatils dans L’huile essentielle et dans L’infusion hydroalcoholique des sommites-fleuries. Sci. Aliment., 8, 489-510 (1988)].
    
Aromatherapy Use.
One of the most widely used oils in aromatherapy and yet there is little scientific evidence to support its actions, whether invented or developed through observation.  However it does seem prudent, based upon the antics of winemakers and brewers, not to take alcohol when using Clary Sage as many say that the combination causes extremely severe nightmares. Some describe it as being like a “bad trip”on drugs! Perhaps, also, it would be wise not to use this oil on somebody who has to drive immediately after the massage, as it has a reputation for making one very relaxed and, possibly, drowsy.

However, be this the case, it seems reasonable to assume that it could be a good oil for treating all types of stress and tension.  It is a powerful muscle relaxant and should assist muscular aches and pains, spasms and cramp.  Many aromatherapy authors commend it for treating asthma, as it both relaxes spasm in the bronchial tubes, and helps the anxiety and emotional tension experienced by asthma sufferers. Similarly, it could assist sufferers from migraine.

All seem agreed that it can assist digestive problems, especially colic, stomach cramp and gastric spasms.  There is a suggestion that it may ease constipation, as it stimulates digestion and the metabolic rate.

Considered an excellent oil for balancing the menstrual cycle, it can help scanty or missing periods. According to Patricia Davis [vide ibid.] it is best used during the first half of the cycle, as if used in the second half it can sometimes induce very heavy bleeding. It should not be used during pregnancy.  Ulla-Maija Grace, in Aromatherapy for Practitioners, cautions that it should not be used for young girl’s menstrual problems, or for continuous use with HRT.

Patricia Davis mentions further that it is good for preventing excessive sweating. Apparently, when tuberculosis was widespread, the oil was used to combat night sweats and to strengthen the defence system.  She suggests that it may assist AIDS patients in the same way.

The Aromatherapy Book, by Jeanne Rose, mentions that clary sage can be used in home diffusers set on twenty minute bursts of operation for adrenal problems and heat waves for people who use steroids, and for the elderly who often suffer from waves of heat and other disorders. G. Rouliere, Les Huiles Essentielles pour votre Sante, suggests that it can even reduce epileptic attacks.

On a psychological level, Julia Lawless [Aromatherapy and the Mind] confirms the use of clary sage to encourage vivid dreams and enhance creative work due to its narcotic effect.  She opines that the scent of clary sage may bring about a sense of calmness or confidence in stressful situations such as before an exam or interview.  Maggie Tisserand highly recommends the oil in baths for over-excited, fretful or anxious children but, Ulla-Maija Grace contra-indicates its use for children.

All seem agreed, however, that it should be avoided with endometriosis, breast, ovarian and uterine cysts and other oestrogen dependent conditions.

A chemist comments.
In your December Newsletter, you mentioned a pleading note from a customer who wished to know which essential oils work effectively for sinusitis emailed Jane Pallanca, a Chartered Chemist and aromatherapy diplomate.  My word she must have fine eyesight: I could barely read my own reference!  Still....

I and various other family members have suffered with sinusitis for as long as we can remember....I suggest your customer tries a 50:50 mixture of peppermint and rosemary (your own Pyrimidal clone is particularly effective), in a burner or a diffuser. Alternatively, fold an old handkerchief into a triangle, add 3 drops of each oil, fold again, and put it down the neck of your shirt/jumper/pyjamas! This smells lovely and seems to work synergistically on both the pain and congestion.  Thanks Jane!

Putting back some of what we take out?
Jane also suggested that I might like to look at an article, “It’s only Natural”, in the January 2001 issue of Chemistry in Britain.  Not on my usual reading list, I quickly obtained a copy from Bill Morden.

Reviewing the current state of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), following their Lordships’ report [mentioned briefly in last month’s newsletter], the article notes their Lordships’recommendation that CAM practitioners and researchers should attempt to build up an evidence base with the same rigour as is required of conventional medicine, using randomised controlled trials (RCTs): Does the treatment offer therapeutic benefits over placebo? Is it safe? How does it compare in terms of medical outcome and cost-effectiveness
with other treatments?
.   
Whilst the report recommended that the NHS R&D directorate and the Medical Research Council should ‘pump-prime’CAM research with dedicated funding to create centres of excellence, and also that bodies such as the DoH, the research councils and the Wellcome Trust should also make the CAM world aware of funding opportunities they offer, it also called on manufacturers to invest in research.

While the lack of patent protection means that the CAM industry cannot be expected to invest in R&D on the same scale as conventional pharmaceutical firms (typically more than 25-28% of turnover), the report suggested that manufacturers could spend 5% of their turnover on research - this could mean an extra £12m per annum for the herbal products sector alone, which currently turns over £240m per annum. On this basis, I wonder if the aromatherapy products sector could not come up with the odd million or two. Quite a thought!

Meanwhile, for our part, we shall continue to invest our 5% [as we have done for some years] in the provision of GC/MS analyses, Material Safety Data Sheets, and the free dissemination of information.

Traditional use to be tested.
The distinction between medicines and non-medical products, such as foods and cosmetics, is often blurred, and the decision rests with the individual EU member state to define any substance or combination of substances, presented for treating disease....or which may be administered with a view to making a medical diagnosis or to restoring, correcting or modifying physiological functions [EC Directive 65/65/EEC] as a medicinal product, requiring a licence or marketing authorisation, causing confusion and inconsistency across the EU.  

In an endeavour to address this, the Medicines Control Agency (MCA), in association with the Pharmaceutical Committee of the European Commission, has produced a Draft Directive on Traditional Medicines (TUD).  These proposals would allow herbal medicines [and essential oils, I presume] to be granted a licence if the product, or a product with the same ingredients, dosage and route of administration, had been in ‘traditional use’ for at least 30 years for a particular indication. Manufacturers would also be required to provide a bibliographic review of safety data, and an expert report on those data.

Move over Europe, we want to come through!
However, even if the proposed Directive is adopted, it could be at least 5-10 years before it is implemented.  Michael Baker, the director of legal and regulatory affairs at the Proprietary Association of Great Britain [PAGB, the trade association that represents manufacturers of over-the-counter medicines and food supplements], believes we shouldn’t be waiting for Europe to get its act together. Instead, the association suggests that the UK should introduce its own, similar, legislation in the meantime, requiring safety and quality to be demonstrated but not clinical efficacy. “The public should be told: This is safe, its effectiveness has not been proven, but it has been traditionally used to treat X, and left to make their minds up”, says Baker.

A question of standards.
This would certainly answer the question of inadequate quality control but, currently, herbal products [and essential oils, I would suggest] are immensely variable in their composition and, as Chemistry in Britain points out, the user has no reliable way of knowing what they are taking.  Varro Tyler, professor emeritus of pharmacognosy at Purdue University, having looked at the composition of a number of common products, declared that many were “complete junk”. A sobering comment: surely the question of standards must now be moved smartly up the agenda.

Callitris corroborated.
Just a short note about your November 2000 issue on Australian Callitris oils, emailed the distinguished Australian essential oils researcher Lui Doimo.  Lui has worked on Callitris oils for almost six years now, and has another paper on the subject shortly to be released in the next edition of The Journal of Essential Oil Research.

The blue oil you refer to can be made from Callitris glaucophylla or Callitris intratropica  under correct conditions.  I have analysed the oils from both these species and they are quite similar. You are correct. The blue is the result of the distillation process.  Guaiol is converted by dehydration to two azulenes: chamazulene and guaiazulene. The process is similar to the production of German (or Blue) Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) by distillation.  It is usual however to make blue oil from C. intratropica.

There are at least four species of Callitris that produce similar oils: C. glaucophylla (western cypress, white cypress pine), C. intratropica (Darwin cypress, northern cypress), C. columellaris (dune cypress, coastal cypress, Bribie Island pine) and C. endlicheri (black cypress).  The first mentioned is by far the most common tree.

Thanks Lui.  It’s good to know that someone’s keeping an eye upon what I write, and very much appreciated.

What’s so special about Monoi de Tahiti?
Traditionally well known for its special medicinal properties, the Gardenia Taitensis flower [commonly known as Tiare] is the symbol of French Polynesia and the key ingredient in the production of Monoi de Tahiti. This beautiful blossom from the Rubiaceae family grows on a small bush that is covered with glossy, dark green oval leaves. The Gardenia Taitensis variety displays six to eight brilliant white petals that are displayed in a star pattern. Its potent yet enchanting fragrance is its unique trademark. The tender young buds are handpicked only in specific selected plantations. The stalks are carefully detached by hand from the buds to ensure that the soaking process is unadulterated by foreign bodies such as chlorophyll and pigments, for example.

Following the harvest of the Coconut (Cocos nucifera), the kernels are split open. The fleshy meat is removed and sun dried for at least a week until a 10% minimum water content is left. The coconut meat is then crushed, heated and pressed.  Only one single pressing is performed. No chemicals are used in the process and the oil is never mixed with a lesser quality second pressed oil.  This particular process is probably unique to Tahiti.

The oil from the first pressing is then filtered, first with phosphoric acid and clay, then exposed to a 200 C vacuum steam process, to undergo a neutralising distillation effect.  After four or five hours, the oil is finally filtered through cellulose and emerges as a top quality refined coconut oil.

Exceptional climatic conditions play an important role in the cultivation of the palm-trees from which Monoi de Tahiti’s coconut oil is obtained.  Year round near perfect weather conditions and the unique mineral rich formation of coral islands, found only in a few other areas of the world, are the key factors to the uniqueness of Monoi de Tahiti.

The natural production process of Monoi de Tahiti ensures that the oil’s unique organoleptic qualities are preserved.  Only the young, unopened Gardenia taitensis blossom buds are hand picked and soaked in the first pressed oil within 24 hours of their harvest. A minimum of ten buds are soaked in each litre of oil, no later than the day following picking.

After the soaking stage is completed, a final, filtering process is applied to keep each ingredient’s unique qualities and properties intact.

How good is it?
Interestingly in vitro and in vivo tests have validated Monoi’s efficiency with respect to skin hydration.  A reputed independent research laboratory has recently conducted extensive tests comparing Monoi with other refined coconut oil.  The results clearly demonstrate that Monoi has more significant hydrating abilities.

Similar tests comparing the hydrating action of Monoi with those of Vaseline, jojoba oil and shea butter have also been conducted.  Once again the excellent hydrating qualities of Monoi have been clearly established.  It is important to note that all the other products used in the study acted only through a simple blocking action that slowed down the evaporation of water through the cutaneous barrier.  Monoi is therefore the only ingredient tested that actually provides significant hydration.

When applied to the skin, Monoi leaves a thin layer on the epidermis, which softens and protects the skin without blocking its vital functions.  A combination of the coconut oil’s natural anti-fungal abilities and the natural antiseptic properties of the gardenia oil [rich in methyl salicylate] ensures a significant protection of the epidermis and the scalp against mycosis and dermatitis.

That’s it for this month.  I’m off to feed the birds.         

 

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