Zing went, not the strings of my heart (who sang that song?), the muscle in my back. A couple of weeks shy of the Big 60, I really should know better than to help lift a 250kg pallet onto the back of a truck. In excruciating pain, I have tried Ulla-Maija’s Pain Relief Cream, Fibromix and Dr. Cream’s Red Hot Pepper Gel (an Essentially Oils exclusive) but to date, I regret, the only thing to provide temporary relief is Nurofen. All of which makes me understand better Tim’s dilemma.  Apart from the constant nagging pain in my lower back, I am sound in wind and limb but feel generally listless and debilitated.

Tim, about whom many daily enquire, has now been away from the office for more than six months.  I saw him the other day.  Frankly, I have never seen him looking better: however the pain around his heart persists.  Why?  None seems to know, and yet several have investigated. Most can come to terms with pain but, it is the unknown which is the blocker. In my own case, I know the reason for my pain and appreciate that with time it will gradually ease away: poor Tim has no such peace of mind.  A highly intelligent individual, he cannot believe that none can explain his affliction. 

Tribute to Tim.
Freshly graduated from Oxford with a top degree in Classics, Tim joined us six years ago for only a fortnight but, as many now know, he stayed and stayed.  Originally intending to become a film script writer, he found perhaps the daily doings of Essentially Oils useful future material! He took to essential oils like a duck to water and quickly became most knowledgeable about the subject. In fact, so accomplished did he become that many would speak to no other.  

Embracing avidly Justin’s newly introduced computer technology, he traversed cyberspace with glee and rapidly established an enviable overseas customer base. His scholarly e-mails must surely become collectors’ items but, whether they were ever completely understood by the recipients is a matter for debate!

During the daily grind, his encyclopaedic knowledge and acerbic wit contributed much to office banter, and his infedatigable work rate was something to behold.  He is sadly missed. However things must move on and Tim has chosen, for the time being, to return to his family home in Surrey.  Meanwhile he takes with him our most sincere thanks for his significant contribution to the growth of Essentially Oils and our warmest wishes for a most speedy recovery.

CST commended.
In response to my piece on Craniosacral Therapy in last month’s Newsletter, I received the following e-mail from Susan Cummins:

My daughter was born by emergency section after a very traumatic attempt at being delivered via the usual route.....At just a few weeks old she developed severe eczema, and always suffered dreadfully on her scalp.....After years of very little sleep, occasional hospitalization and just simply not knowing what it felt like to be comfortable, I was lucky enough to meet a Craniosacral Therapist called Penn Shewring.....Ever the sceptic, I didn’t believe a word of it, but a close friend of mine said Well if it DOES work, it could be the greatest gift you could ever give.....So we tried it.....One day, several visits into her treatment, my daughter Beth and Penn both experienced a huge release, and Beth announced that the “fizzing” in her head had stopped.....The eczema cleared completely over the next few days, and has not been a problem since.

An error corrected (hopefully!).
“Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells”, and justifiably so, Judith North wrote to tell me that, as someone with insulin dependent diabetes for over 40 years who has worked in diabetes and written much about it since 1985, she found herself reacting unhappily to Richard Helyer’s comment [in my last Newsletter]....shortage of available energy in diabetics would produce symptoms of rage.

Judith advises that rage [an interesting word to use, she comments] in people with diabetes [a preferable word to “diabetics”, she pleads] is most frequently present when they are hypoglycaemic [with low blood glucose levels] and has a physiological reason - anger raises adrenalin levels which causes glucose to be released from the liver which raises blood sugar.  She comments wryly.....If this is not understood, the “rage” can cause distress to all concerned when the only action needed is to pass over sugar of some sort without discussion!.....As you will gather, people with diabetes get psychological rages too but these are related to their character rather than to the fact that they have diabetes, I would insist!

Of course Judith is correct. One of the difficulties in turning a conversation into a written piece is that there are sometimes bits which are understood by both conversants, which get left out of the eventual text. I think that Richard and I both recognised the idea of hypoglycaemia, but for reasons of intellectual shorthand - and physical space in the Newsletter - this crucial word was inadvertently missed out.
However there needs to be a linkage of thought between what I wrote and the (unstated) hypoglycaemic response which produces the rage behaviour. Judith is right in that the glycogenolysis which takes place in hypoglycaemia is as a result of adrenal stimulation, but she omits the important point that the adrenal trigger, ACTH [adrenocorticotrophic hormone], is issued in a response action by the pituitary gland, and that the functioning of this organ, and by association the hypothalamus, produce auxiliary behaviour modifications. In other words, the familiar “fright, flight or fight” response to adrenalin is not the only factor here in determining behaviour.  My thanks to Judith and Richard for their stimulating discussion. 

Controversy over Vitamin C continues.
British researchers first raised the possibility of cell damage from Vitamin C three years ago, but their research methods were severely criticised.  In fact, since then, many scientists have urged doctors to increase their recommended doses of Vitamin C as a way to improve the public’s health.

However research released recently by the University of Pennsylvania suggests that Vitamin C can damage DNA and may lead to cancer. The article, published in Science journal, throws light on scientists’inability - despite much research - to link high doses of the vitamin to any improvement in health.

Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, can be prepared by synthesis from glucose or by extraction from plant materials such as rosehips, blackcurrants and the juice of citrus fruits. One of the richest sources, as yet really unexploited, appears to be the fruit of an edible Combretaceous tree, Terminalia ferdinandiana, about which I wrote a little in January, 1998.

Vitamin C is essential for the normal functioning of living cells and is involved in many enzymic reactions. It is required for the development of cartilage, teeth and bones, for wound healing and for aiding the absorption of iron from the intestine.  Man is one of the few mammals unable to manufacture ascorbic acid in his liver. 

Vitamin C is also famed as an antioxidant, a chemical that can battle dangerous free radicals in the human body.  Free radicals are molecules or ions with unpaired electrons, and  desperate for a partner [another electron]. Because they try to rob electrons from other molecules in the body, they can cause damage to cells. Vitamin C is happy to give free radicals one of its electrons, neutralising the molecules and creating a harmless by-product that is passed out through the body.

The latest research shows that while normal intake of Vitamin C - up to 200mg - is healthy, excessive intake may be very harmful. This is because after Vitamin C runs out of free radicals to target, it begins to interact with lipid hydroperoxide, a chemical derived from the intake of cooking oils. The by-product is more free radicals. 

These findings are likely to cause controversy, because Vitamin C has long been considered a valuable nutrient in the battle against a host of diseases, including cancer.

Sex, hayfever, hogweed and foot and mouth.
Sex causes hayfever!

Most people are surprised to discover this, because they had no idea that plants, whose lives seem fairly dull and uneventful, actually engage in sex. But the fact is that they do, and that the sexual exploits of plants set millions of people sneezing and sniffing every year.  [Very occasionally, the sexual exploits of human beings spark off hayfever-like symptoms in the partcipants, or an attack of asthma, or both.  This unusual reaction is discussed in Hayfever, an excellent reference book by Dr. Jonathan Bostoff and Linda Gamlin, pp. 231-2].

Plant sex is no different from any other sort of sex, in that it involves an interaction between male and female. But being rooted firmly to the ground makes it difficult for plants to pursue their mate, so they do it all at a distance, in a detached and dispassionate fashion that is rather like artificial insemination. Mating takes place without any meeting. Pollen - a fine powder which is the plant’s equivalent of semen - is dispatched from one plant to another while the plants themselves stay put. A tiny pinch of pollen dust contains thousands of microscopic pollen grains, and each of these carries inside it a potent male cell, equivalent to the sperm of an animal.

Hayfever [for many years termed “Bostock’s catarrh”, in memory of John Bostock, a London physician who, in 1819, reported the strange case of a patient with ‘a periodical affection of the eyes and chest’.  The patient was Bostock himself, and he attributed his symptoms (which were very unusual in those days) to the heat and sunshine of summer] affects almost 12m people in Britain and is caused by a sensitivity to pollens and mould spores which, once airborne, can travel hundreds of miles.          

In view of the date of Bostock’s discovery, I had thought originally that the advent of the Industrial Revolution might have played a part in the development of this modern disease but, research shows that hayfever began, not among the urban poor, living in the shadow of the Industrial Revolution and breathing the foul air of its foundries and factories, but among the upper classes. It then spread among the middle classes, and eventually reached the working class almost a century after it had begun.

Although many would have us believe that pollution plays a significant role in the continuing spiral of hayfever incidence in fact, thanks to the Clean Air Act of the 1960s, the air has been far cleaner than it was in the 1930s, ‘40s and 50s. Also, hayfever is four times more common among eldest children and only children than it is amongst the youngest in a family, a huge difference which the “pollution theory” cannot apparently explain.

This year, thousands of hayfever sufferers have been hit a month early because pollen counts have soared in the wake of foot and mouth.  Experts are predicting one of the worst summers for itchy eyes and streaming noses.  They blame the recent cull of more than 3m grazing animals, which has left tens of thousands of acres of farmland empty.  As grass and weeds have burgeoned in the absence of sheep and cattle, more than a ton of extra pollen is expected to be released into the atmosphere.  Data collected by the National Pollen Research Unit show that average peak pollen counts are up to three times higher in some areas than in the same period last year. 

Meanwhile Dr. Bill Morden, mass spectrometrist and narrow boat owner, draws my attention to the proliferation of Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum Sommier & Levier) along the towpath, because of the absence of cattle to trample it down.  This is bad news!

A native of the Ural mountains in the former Soviet Union, Giant Hogweed was first introduced to the United Kingdom by Victorian plant collectors.  However, it was not long  before it escaped from the captivity of walled gardens and established itself in the wild. An introduced plant can become a pest because it is often growing without the natural insect, disease, or climate conditions that tended to contol it in its native habitat.

The plant thrives in many habitats but does particularly well where the soil has been disturbed, such as on wasteground or on riverbanks, where erosion combined with a good supply of groundwater provide ideal conditions.  The plant, a member of the Apiaceae [which includes the carrot (Daucus carota L.)], has a base of large foliage surrounding the main stem which can grow to a height of 5 metres!  The small white flowers and seed pods radiate out from the top of the main stem and form a distinctive white canopy.  This is similar to, but much larger than, the flowering heads of the Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium L.). Flower heads of Giant Hogweed can reach almost 1 metre in diameter, while the smaller Common Hogweed seldom exceeds 30 or so centimetres.  Scale is definitely a defining characteristic for Giant Hogweed.

Everyone learns to treat nettles (Urtica dioica L.) with respect from an early age, but most people are unaware of the dangers associated with these impressive giants.  Every year there are reports of people sustaining horrific injuries as a result of their ignorance.

The growing season starts in late March, with full height and flowering being reached in late June and July.  It is at this time that the plants are at their most impressive, and dangerous. The sap from the leaves and particularly the stem is highly toxic and contact with the skin can lead to severe scars.  Contact with the eyes can lead to temporary or, in some cases, permanent blindness.  The sap [which contains furanocoumarins: cf. Bergamot (Citrus aurantium var. bergamia Risso & Poit)] renders skin photosensitive which means that exposure to sunlight following contact causes blisters and burns. In the 1970’s many cases of poisoning were seen in this country as a result of children playing with the hollow stems as pea-shooters or telescopes. Be warned!

Fibromix: does it work?
My piece last month on Fibromyalgia certainly hit the spot: we were cleared out of Fibromix three times in as many weeks! I asked Ulla-Maija Grace to send me brief details of her own research.

As I mentioned, Fibromix essential oil blend was developed together with and tested by two groups of the fibromyalgia sufferers from the Fibromyalgia group of the Rheumatic Association of Turku.  The first test was for a group of 20 sufferers, for which the results were very encouraging. The second test group included 7 individuals, who followed their daily feelings during three weeks. They took note of their daily pain by giving it numbers from 1 to 7 (7 being the worst situation and number 1 the best). The chosen fibromyalgia sufferers did not use any essential oil blend during the first week.  Fibromix was introduced at the beginning of the second week and after that it was used daily by everyone.  [I should have preferred a placebo as well].

The results were really positive.  Almost all the sufferers (6 out of 7) felt that Fibromix really helped them.  Their pain reduced and their sleep improved.  In addition people felt more positive in the whole when using Fibromix.  Some were even able to reduce their medication.

Encouraging though this little trial may appear, it is not definitive and, as Carol Rowe wrote today “I hope this Fibromix is as good as you say Charles”, I need to know more.    

I estimate that there are now several hundred of you either using it on yourselves or on your patients for this debilitating affliction.  Please let me know your results.  Several have already confirmed, based upon their own practice experience, that those suffering from fibromyalgia share common personality traits. Why? Perhaps those psychologists amongst you [and there are several, I know] would care to comment.

Meanwhile Christine Havard kindly e-mailed.....I have read your Newsletter with great interest.  I suffer from Hashimoto’s Disease, an autoimmune condition which affects my thyroid. Much has been written on the subject but some of the best work I send to you here.  It has been discussed that ME/Fibromyalgia/Thyroid Disease form a debilitating and interesting trio.  Mary Shomon has written a most interesting and authoritative book on the subject: a brilliant and compassionate woman.  Worth investigating!

Hashimoto’s Autoimmune Thyroid disease (HAIT) investigated.
Named for the Japanese surgeon H. Hashimoto (1881-1934), Hashimoto’s disease [also called Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, struma lymphomatosa and lymphadenoid goitre] is an autoimmune thyroid disorder characterized by the production of antibodies in response to thyroid antigens and the replacement of normal thyroid structures with lymphocytes and lymphoid germinal centres. The thyroid, typically enlarged and lumpy on the surface, shows dense lymphatic infiltration, and the remaining thyroid tissue frequently contains small empty follicles. The goitre is usually asymptomatic, but symptoms occasionally include dysphagia [painful swallowing] and a feeling of local pressure.

With HAIT, the thyroid fails to produce sufficient thyroid hormone to regulate metabolism. Symptoms of the resulting underactive thyroid usually include some complaint of fatigue or depression, but may include a host of other symptoms, including muscular and joint pain, excessive weight gain, hair loss, dry and coarse skin, menstrual irregularities, infertility and recurrent miscarriage, low blood pressure, high cholestrol and others. Diagnosis is most often by the sensitive thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) test, but some doctors also use the thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) test or tests for thyroid antibodies.

While HAIT is known to be an autoimmune illness, researchers are beginning to believe that there is a strong autoimmune component to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS) as well. Ultimately, the three diseases may, in fact, be found to be varying manifestations of the same underlying autoimmune problems.

Until definitive research is completed on CFS, FMS, HAIT and other autoimmune diseases, there are many hypotheses as to the causes behind these diseases.  Some FMS researchers are looking at abnormally low levels of the hormone cortisol and its relationship to FMS. Others are studying regulation of the adrenal gland [which secretes cortisol] in fibromyalgia.

Some medical researchers believe that a virus, such as Epstein-Barr [which resembles herpes virus and is associated with infectious mononucleosis], is at the core of these diseases.  While no single virus or cause has been firmly associated with CFS, FMS or HAIT, one medical journal reported that 78% of the CFS patients studied in one research effort also tested positive for the Epstein-Barr virus.  Anecdotally, many thyroid patients report having serious bouts of mononucleosis, or recurrent Epstein-Barr virus, prior to being diagnosed with HAIT.

Other researchers believe bacterial infection, stress, an accident (e.g. a car accident) or other trauma may chronically activate the immune system. The immune system, which ordinarily returns to normal after successfully fighting an infection, then remains in a hyperactive state.

Others have suggested that the development of one autoimmune disorder, such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus, may then precipitate the onset of CFS, FMS or HAIT.

And certain researchers are looking to autoimmune thyroid disease itself as perhaps the underlying cause of some CFS and FMS symptoms, or perhaps the root cause of the diseases themselves. What do you think?

Personal Comment.
Some may accuse me of dwelling overlong on matters not aromatherapy, but my mailbag reveals that many have interests far beyond this complementary therapy.  As one who has the opportunity, via the Newsletter, to correspond monthly with 18,000 people and receives in excess of 150,000 visits monthly to the website, I have the opportunity to collate evidence, anecdotal or otherwise, which could accelerate research and lend credibility to the efforts of complementary practitioners. To my mind, each and every therapist is a researcher in her/his own right but I fear, too often, the fruits of their labours are not revealed.  Do you have any practical evidence which might support any of the above hypotheses?

Aromatherapy assessed.
An increasingly common condition in young children, childhood atopic eczema , as well as being irritating for the child, causes sleepless nights for both the child and the family and leads to difficulties in parental relationships and can have severe effects on employment.

Researchers at the School of Applied Science, South Bank University, London, studied a group of 8 children [unfortunately, again, a very small number upon which to base any meaningful research, I would have thought: perhaps Maria Lis-Balchin and Mike Kirk-Smith will let me know], born to professional working mothers, to test the hypothesis that massage with essential oils used as a complementary therapy in conjunction with normal medical treatment, would help alleviate symptoms of childhood atopic eczema [Anderson, C.; Lis-Balchin, M.; Kirk-Smith, M.  Evaluation of massage with essential oils on childhood atopic eczema. Phytotherapy Research (2000) 14 (6) 452-456].

The children were randomly allocated to the massage with essential oils group and both counselled and massaged with a mixture of essential oils by the therapist once a week and the mother every other day over a period of 8 weeks.

The preferred essential oils, chosen by mothers for their child, from 36 commonly used aromatherapy oils, were sweet marjoram (Origanum majorana L.), frankincense  (Boswellia spp.), German chamomile (Matricaria recutita L.), myrrh (Commiphora spp.), thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.), benzoin (Styrax spp.), spike lavender (Lavandula latifolia Medik) and may chang (Litsea cubeba Lour.). [A somewhat odd selection in my opinion, but I am no aromatherapist.  Which would you have chosen?].

A control group of children received the counselling and massage without essential oils.

The treatments were evaluated by means of daily day-time irritation scores and night-time disturbance scores, determined by the mother before and during treatment, both over an 8-week period; finally general improvement scores were allocated 2 weeks after the treatment by the therapist, the general practitioner and the mother.

The study employed a single case experimental design across subjects, such that there were both a within-subject control and between-subjects control, through the interventions being introduced at different times.

The results showed a significant improvement in the eczema in the 2 groups of children following therapy, but there was no significant difference in improvement shown between the aromatherapy massage and massage only group.

Thus, there is evidence that tactile contact between mother and child benefits the symptoms of atopic eczema but there is no proof that adding essential oils is more beneficial than massage alone.

Further studies on the essential oil massage group showed a deterioration in the eczematous condition after 2 further 8-week periods of therapy, following a period of rest after the initial period of contact. This may have been due to a decline in the novelty of the treatment, or, it strongly suggests possible allergic contact dermatitis provoked by the essential oils themselves.

The report suggests that the results of this study indicate the necessity for prolonged studies with novel plant extracts, as short-term beneficial results could be overturned by adverse effects after repeated usage.  Mind you, as a small child, I am not too sure that I would bond readily with my mother if I was being smothered constantly with vinaigrette.  Think about it!

Fashion distorts statistics.
Meanwhile researchers in Japan report the annual results of patch testing with lavender [species unspecified] essential oil for a 9-year period from 1990 to 1998 [Sugiura, M. et al.  Results of patch testing with lavender oil in Japan.  Contact Dermatitis (2000) 43 (3) 157-160].

Using Finn Chambers and Scanpor tape, they performed 2-day closed patch testing with lavender oil 20% pet. on the upper back of each patient suspected of having cosmetic contact dermatitis.  They compared the frequency of positive patch tests to lavender oil each year with those to other fragrances.  The positivity rate of lavender oil was 3.7% (0-13.9%) during the 9-year period.  Suddenly, in 1997, the positivity rate of lavender increased.    

With the growth of aromatherapy in Japan, there has been an upwards trend for using lavender oil.  With this trend, placing lavender flowers in pillows, drawers, cabinets, or rooms has become a new fashion. 

The researchers asked patients who showed a positive reaction to lavender oil about their use of dried lavender flowers. They confirmed the use of dried lavender flowers in 5 cases out of 11 positive cases in 1997 and 8 out of 15 positive cases in 1998 [yet again, mini numbers]. They concluded that the increase in patch test positivity rates to lavender oil in 1997 and 1998 were due to the above fashion, rather than due to fragrances in cosmetic products. An interesting hypothesis?

Analytical Intelligence leads....
Whilst reviewing Suzanne Catty’s ground-breaking Hydrosols:The Next Aromatherapy, I was interested to read....It has been mentioned several times that botanical specificity is absolutely necessary for essential oil plant production, or for any plant being grown for therapeutic applications.  Even then, the chemistry of the plant changes and your active ingredients will be quite variable from year to year and from producer to producer....Until the day comes when labs can assess hydrosols by GC/MS as easily as oils, we must rely on this cross-referencing system [as described in her book] when we buy our waters....For the moment no one is offering analysis of hydrosols.

Similarly, in an article published in the current [May/June, 2001, Volume 26, Number 3] edition of Perfumer & Flavorist, entitled Aroma Quality of Lavender Water: a Comparative Study, the authors comment....To our knowledge, there is no published data on the analytical composition of lavender water.  Aye, there’s the rub! Our own sister company, Analytical Intelligence, has been assessing hydrosols by GC/MS for six months [Newsletter 106], but has published nothing.

Perhaps Suzanne would care to send me samples of her hydrosols, preferably together with the essential oil from the same distillation, and much could be revealed!

....and Essentially Oils is not far behind!
I was delighted, also, to read in her book....Some ceramic filters are impregnated with silver nitrate, a sort of colloidal silver [I’m not too sure about that!], to boost their effectiveness. Colloidal silver burst onto the health scene a few years ago as an alternative to antibiotics and is useful for treating antibiotic-resistant infections. Many books have been written about colloidal silver’s effectiveness, and testimonials are excellent. Silver enhances ceramic’s filtering capability because it acts even on germs that are smaller than the size to which the ceramic alone is effective. 

Finally.....
For your delectation this month, Dr. Cream has whipped up some super Summer soothers: Cucumber After Burn Gel to soothe and comfort after a day in the sun, Mosc’off Lemon Repel to keep the nightly nippers at bay, and Silver Rose Colloidal Foamer to freshen up for the evening out.

Enjoy!
 

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