Finnish Foray! Go!  Go! Go!  But what a nightmare it has been: the airlines seem to change their minds every five minutes!

I had originally been told that we could leave Stansted at the reasonable hour of 0920 on 14th June and return at 1730 on the 18th.  For reasons best known to themselves, I am now advised that we would have to leave at 1620, arriving in Turku at 2255, and return at 1045: to my mind not particularly user-friendly.

Therefore I have decided to switch to Heathrow and Finnair, leaving at 1020 and returning at 1710. There will be an hour or so stopover in Helsinki on both flights.  Although a little more expensive I do feel that the more civilised times justify the added expense.

How much?  Try as I may, I regret that I cannot get it lower than £599 per person. This is because of the higher cost of hotel rooms, as well as the flight. We were not able to get rooms from the hotel that we had planned.  There will be a big Church Music Festival in Turku the same weekend and so the hotels are pretty much booked already.  Also we have to pay a whopping 22% VAT on the Finnish portion of the trip.

What to do?  Simply send a non-refundable deposit of £100. The balance will be payable by 1st May, 2001.  Deposit cheques should be made payable to Orchard & Field Limited and should reach us no later than 31st March, 2001.  Should you require further details, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Heeding caution.
So how easily available are potentially harmful oils? asks the February edition of Health Which? The ATC (Aromatherapy Trade Council) told us that reputable suppliers wouldn’t sell anything that might put you at risk.  We decided to check this out. We chose three oils (alantroot, costus and savin) from the IFA list (International Federation of Aromatherapists list of ‘cautionary essential oils’), and one (verbena) from another - the International Fragrance Association (IFRA) list. We searched the internet, looking to buy them.

For years I have endeavoured to put safety before all - safety guide on the back of the order form, oil analyses, material safety data sheets, and a policy of not supplying the general public - but with the advent of the internet I fear that the task has become more formidable.  As far as we are able, which is extremely difficult during a business day, we like to ensure that we only supply aromatherapy professionals or similar but, inevitably the odd one must slip through the net.

Verbena oil was available from nine sites, and costus from four. Two sites offering verbena are ATC members.....Essentially Oils sold us the natural oil.  However, confusingly, with the oil came a ‘safety guide’, which listed verbena as one of a range of oils ‘unsuitable for home use’, reported the magazine (www.which.net).

However what Health Which? did not know is that we maintain a file of those of whom we are Not Quite Sure (NQS) whether they are aromatherapists or not.  Furthermore we take particular care to log those who purchase “oils unsuitable for home use”, as listed on the back of our Order Form [I commend Health Which? for at least having read it]. 

Rachel Clemons, whom I discovered subsequently is employed by the journal as a Research Assistant, stuck out like a sore thumb: she had never ordered before, was in a desperate hurry, and only wanted 2.5ml of True Verbena (Lippia citriodora Kunth).  Nevertheless I fear that she escaped our screening process unless, of course, she purported to be or is an aromatherapist. However, whatever the fact, she is entered on our NQS file.

Qualified professionals are well aware of the possible sensitization that verbena can cause, but value its ability to help insomnia, anxiety, stress and several more complex ailments [vide The Aromatherapy Practitioner Reference Manual], although Arab civilisations have traditionally regarded it as an aphrodisiac!  In qualified hands, it can be an useful oil. Notwithstanding it is not recommended for use on skin at massage levels [the IFRA strongly advises against the use of this oil in cosmetics and perfumes], and should be used with extreme caution in the bath: more than two or three drops in an average bath will cause stinging and blistering of the skin.

Therefore, faced with the dilemma of wishing to serve professionals only but, due to modern technology, seemingly attracting all and sundry, I can but concur with Health Which? I shall endeavour to remove all potentially harmful oils (according to whom?) from our Price List and make them available only upon request, and upon proof of status.  Hopefully honour will then be restored! 
Doctor no longer knows best.
Meanwhile it seems that the medical profession is faring little better.  The Lord Chief Justice recently issued a stark warning that the courts would no longer apply a deferential “doctor knows best” doctrine in medical negligence cases.  Lord Woolf made it clear that courts had no sympathy with doctors’ argument that a “compensation culture” is responsible for the huge bill for negligence run up by the National Health Service - £2.4 billion in its last set of accounts. Instead, he laid the blame firmly at the door of the medical profession.

Lord Woolf said “he could not help believing” that those involved in the scandals had “lost sight of the limits on their powers and authority. They acted as though they were able to take any action they thought desirable, irrespective of the views of others.”

He supported the shift from the “doctor knows best” old approach to the more critical current one in which “it could be said that doctor knows best if he acts reasonably and sensibly and gets his facts right.” It does make me wonder where “potential harm” really lurks, perhaps Health Which? will take a look?!

Diones discussed.
Dr. Brian Lawrence mentioned back in 1978 [Essential Oils 1978, p. 2] that oils and absolutes originating from several European countries had appeared on the world market under the names Helichrysum, Immortelle, Everlasting, and St. John’s Herb. A few years earlier (1971), Peyron and Roubaud [L’Essence d’immortelle del’Estorel. Parfum. Cosmet. Savons. France, 1, 129-138] had examined the origin of some of these oils. After extensive study, they came to the conclusion that French and some Spanish oils originated from Helichrysum stoechas L., whereas Italian, Yugoslavian and some Spanish oils originated from Helichrysum angustifolium D.C. (syn. Helichrysum italicum G. Don). 

Using a combination of GC and IR, Peyron and Roubaud found that the French (Estorel) oil contained a-pinene, camphene, b-pinene, myrcene, limonene, 1,8-cineole, cis-ocimene, trans-ocimene, 4,7-dimethyloct-6-en-3-one, linalool, terpinen-4-ol, neryl acetate, nerol, geraniol, eugenol and three b-diketones. These b-diketones were further identified as 2,5,7,-trimethyldec-2-en-6,8-dione, 2,5,7,9-tetramethyldec-2-en-6,8-dione and 2,5,7,9-tetramethylundec-2-en-6,8-dione.

At about the same time, Manitto et al. [Two new b-diketones from Helichrysum italicum. Phytochem., 11, 2112-2114 (1972)] reviewed the chemical composition of the oil of Helichrysum italicum G. Don and showed that a-pinene, b-pinene, nerol, neryl acetate, linalool, eugenol, sesquiterpene hydrocarbons and b-diketones had been previously identified in the oil. In this same paper, the authors used modern spectroscopic techniques to characterize 3,5-dimethyloctan-4,6-dione and 2,4-dimethylheptan-3,5-dione for the first time in the oil.  Furthermore, the authors stated that these two minor compounds were believed to be responsible for the unpleasant odour associated with Helichrysum italicum oil.


Three years later, Zola and LeVanda [Quelques huiles essentielles en provenance de la Corse. Rivista Ital., 57, 467-472 (1975)] reported on Corsican Immortelle oil and found that it contained 64% esters (calculated as neryl acetate) and 77.7% alcohols after saponification (calculated as nerol).  The authors also mentioned that the oil differed somewhat from the previously reported information of Peyron and Roubaud, although they did not elaborate.

This Corsican subspecies is now botanically defined as H. italicum (Roth.) Guss. ssp. serotinum Boiss., and is mentioned by Franchomme & Penoel in L’ aromatherapie exactement as being antihaematoma (le plus puissant actuellement connu: the most potent actually known).  They mention b-diones: italidones I, II and III.  Upon checking the chemical dictionaries I cannot find italidones listed anywhere but I think that I know now what they mean, and hope you do too!

Helichrysum could help M.E.
By the way it is worth noting that this particular helichrysum oil, which we have offered from time to time, is considered by Patricia Davis “to help reduce, and possibly even prevent, stress which makes it particularly relevant to all stress-related conditions. Unlike some of the anti-depressants, it is a tonic oil and very helpful for people who are exhausted, lethargic or debilitated.” She comments further “I haven’t had an opportunity to use Helichrysum for anyone suffering from M.E. but everything about this oil suggests it that it would be very valuable.”

Clouds on the horizon?
A paper in Nature magazine claims that climatologists and policymakers have overlooked an important ingredient in the global warming equation: ordinary soot. Mark Jacobson, a professor at Stanford University in California, concludes that soot - or black carbon - may be responsible for 15 to 30% of global warming, yet it is never mentioned. According to Prof. Jacobson it could be the second-largest contributor to the greenhouse effect after carbon dioxide [most scientists assumed it was methane]. Most computer models of global warming assume that soot never mixes with other particles.  In fact it seems that soot does combine with particles such as dust, sea spray and sulphates, giving them a darker colour that absorbs more solar heat.

Meanwhile down under in Australia native flora could be making that country’s problems with pollution even worse. Researchers at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation studied the organic chemicals emitted by indigenous plant life, such as eucalyptus trees and grasses.  These organisms were found to release highly reactive hydrocarbons that mix with man-made pollutants on which sunlight acts to form an unpleasant photochemical smog [this is a most interesting point, and worth further study].

Cut grasses seem to be the worst.  Emission rates are highest during the day and drop during the evening.  The effect of the gases emitted by the plants can be seen even in areas that are quite free from pollution, in the form of a blue haze over mountains.

Finally a report from the Environment Committee of the Council of Europe, on one aspect of the environmental aftermath of the 1999 Balkans conflict, suggests that ‘massive’ levels of Nato air activity - 34,000 missions flown over a relatively small area - resulted in high-level contamination of ambient air and rainfall.  Polluting sources included fuel additives such as ammonium perchlorate, lead stearate, polybutadiene and polyethylene. The report points out that, in addition to jet exhaust gases containing ozone-depleting nitrogen oxides, fuel used by US-designed F16 and French Mirage jet fighters contains toxic hydroxides.  Good grief! I just wish that politicians would realise that there is more involved with human conflict than just knocking hell out of one another: will they never learn?

Wealthier but overweight.
The English are nearly twice as wealthy as they were 20 years ago but they are almost three times fatter, according to the National Audit Office (NAO).  Where do they get these statistics from?!

Obesity is estimated to cost the nation £2.5 billion a year. It accounted for 18 million sick days, 30,000 deaths and 40,000 lost years of life in 1998, the NAO calculated.  It estimated that the NHS spends about £500 million a year, or 1.5% of its budget, treating obesity, although international studies suggest the figure could be as high as £2.1 billion. No wonder that GPs are prescribing free, supervised exercise in leisure centres!

Chaste Lamb eases PMT.
Although Simon Mills wrote must succinctly on its potential almost a decade ago in his handy reference Woman Medicine, the British Medical Journal confirms today that a herbal remedy for premenstrual tension, based on agnus-castus extract, is remarkably effective.

According to scientists at the Institute for Health Care in Huttenberg, Germany, a “randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled” trial revealed that the women taking agnus-castus showed an overall reduction of about 50% in PMT symptoms - such as irritability, anger, headache and breast pain - compared with the placebo group. There were no significant adverse effects.

Extracted from the dried peppercorn-sized berries of the chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus L.), which grows wild in the Mediterranean region and western Asia, the German scientists say the biochemical key to its effectiveness may lie in natural compounds, related to human sex hormones found in the berries. As Dr. John Cosh wrote on the back of Simon’s book....The history of agnus-castus is a long and fascinating one. Since the days of ancient Greece, when the plant was associated with chastity and dedicated to the mother goddess Demeter, it has been used for women’s ailments, particularly those connected with menstruation, lactation and the menopause....is there nothing new?! Now where did I put Simon’s book?

Gingering it up!
Speaking of Demeter, or Ceres as she may be better known, the goddess of corn and of harvests and the daughter of Saturn and Vesta, I am reminded that I stumbled across the most fascinating website the other day. 

The brainchild of Phillip Shallcross, the innovative proprietor of Demeter Wholefoods, allaboutginger.com is truly worth a visit. I could never have imagined that there are so many aspects of this hot, spicy root.  However Phil tells me that he has barely started on his ginger data bank.

The site so far has been almost completely researched in the English language, whereas ginger is obviously most understood in those countries where it grows and has been used for the longest time.  Eventually the site will be translated into most of the local languages and, as the indigenous people get more ‘wired’, it will appeal for information about the local use of ginger and local recipes. Then the site can really grow: it is potentially a powerful resource which only the internet can provide. Phil would love to hear from anyone with information about ginger.  Pay him a visit!   

Meanwhile, here’s a snippet to get him going.  Since a very small boy, I have always preferred ginger to orange marmalade, but why these days do they never make it ginger-tasting enough? In the good old days it was truly scrumptious!

It’s all in the mind, or is it?
UK biotechnology group Phytopharm must have thought that they had got a winner: a ‘cure’ for baldness! P45 (someone had a sense of humour!), derived from an African desert plant, caused much excitement among investors last year as rumours spread that a number of balding traders were regrowing hair after registering in one of Phytopharm’s trials, being conducted in a clinic in the City of London.

Results just published show that 38% of patients in one arm of the 52-week study report hair regrowth. Sadly for Phytopharm, those were the ones receiving a placebo, a widely available cream for itchy skin with no pharmacological properties. It seems that many may have been using unwittingly a product sold by Boots under the trade name E45.

“We never expected to see such a high placebo response,” said Richard Dixey, chief executive of Phytopharm. “If E45 is really a good treatment for alopecia then Boots are going to do very well out of it. Though I fancy it is not,” he said, attributing the hair growth to a psychological response. 

Off the top of my head.
I might mention that when I worked as a trader in the City I also suffered from severe hair loss, and was fast-becoming prematurely bald. My barber recommended ‘dry’shampoos with quinine.  Within weeks my hair returned, and I do not lie.  Mind you, being a former wrestler, his weekly 15-minute massage of my scalp had probably as much to do with the cure as anything: he used to almost wrench my head off my shoulders.  However I still use quinine, or eau de cologne, as a scalp conditioner to this day.  Just a hint!

Hydrosols: what are they good for?
As Tim has still not returned [he is still not at all well], those that pick ‘n’ pack are again making the Special Offers selection, amongst which are hydrosols of Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus L.), Peppermint (Mentha piperita L.), Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis L.) and Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus Labill.).  I thought that I might check for what they are useful. Fortunately there is a most helpful chart to assist me.



Cornflower may be used as an eyewash, or as a compress for swollen or itchy eyes.  It tones crepey skin, and is the aesthetician’s first choice for dry, devitalized or mature skin.  Once considered good for ‘hot flushes’, it is a general system tonic.

Peppermint, cooling yet stimulating, is suggested as being great for ‘hot flushes’, and a useful bust line toner according to my American information. Mildly antiseptic, I can confirm that it is good for razor burn and makes a great aftershave. It also seems to combat itching and stings.

Lemon Balm hydrosol, apart from being an affordable alternative to the essential oil, is an ideal cleanser for all skin types. Calming but not sedative, it helps relaxation and may dispel exam jitters. I read that it can be good for baby bath, cradle cap, and as a wet wipe.

Eucalyptus seems ideal to spray around when colds, respiratory infections and sore throats are raging.  It is suggested that it is also stimulating to mind and body when sick but unable to rest.  It could suit nursing mothers.

Personally I think that there is more to hydrosols than meets the eye: might be worth a try?

Support for Silver.
Rarely have I been deluged with so much information. Last month’s item on colloidal silver certainly touched a nerve. Very many thanks to all those who took so much trouble to bring me up to speed on this fascinating natural antibiotic alternative.

Maureen Newton, a retired Practice Sister with 22 years experience and a qualified Clinical Aromatherapist and Bowen Technique Practitioner, wrote....

I read with interest your article on Colloidal Silver...I have been taking this for various problems for a number of years...Just recently my granddaughter aged 5 years was ill with tonsillitis and had developed a productive cough...She had been ill for about a week, with fluctuating high temperatures...Her neck glands were up and she was very miserable.

Consequently she was seen by her doctor who said that, although she was a sick child, she wasn’t bad enough for antibiotics as she had a ‘virus’...It is a well known fact that no doctor can diagnose a viral infection unless throat swabs are taken for culture to rule out bacterial infection...This is too time consuming, and is not cost effective as by the time the results are back the patient has usually got better or worse.

Faced with this situation, I presented my daughter-in-law with the information that I have on colloidal silver and suggested that she give her half a teaspoon daily...The following day she had improved and continued to improve thereafter...I suggested that she carry on giving it to her for the rest of the month...I believe that had she not had this treatment she would have got worse and eventually had to have antibiotics because of secondary infection.

Richard Strauss of the House of Strauss emailed...

In April 1999 I began making and using colloidal silver after reading the book The Body Electric, by Robert O. Becker MD.  While studying the regeneration of limbs, spinal cords and organs in the late 1970s he discovered that electrically charged silver ions promote growth and kill surrounding bacteria, viruses and mycelia.

I had been tumbling from one cold, or flu outbreak, to another for several months, and I felt severely depleted and tired.  My immune system was  very low, and the whole thing was making me very depressed...I downloaded some basic information from the internet regarding how to make colloidal silver, which in essence is very easy [a fact confirmed by several], except for the challenge of procuring medicinal quality 99.999% silver wire.

The two main questions I was asking were: Why should a dietary supplement of silver be required? and How effective would this supplementation be over a prolonged period of time?...Since I had no desire to manufacture colloidal silver as a retail product, I could apply the evidence procedure to my own experience and results...At the time I seemed to be a worthy case!

Which takes me to today, where I can honestly report that I have had one minor cold (2 days) since April 1999 (all other factors remaining status quo). I have had no diarrhoea or sickness, and can report absolutely no unwanted side effects. So, it works! But why...?
[Interestingly many wrote in similar vein: it does seem to keep colds and flu at bay]

Subsequent research by Richard into those two earlier questions revealed some interesting facts:

In 1940, R.A. Kehoe (UCLA) reported that under normal circumstances the average daily intake of fruit and vegetables would provide between 50-100mcg of silver as trace element. Since that time, the commercial farm soils of western industrialised countries have become extremely deficient in trace minerals. It can be speculated that since levels of soil based minerals in North America have dropped over 85% since 1900 [Earth Summit Report, 1992] our diet today, compared with that of our ancestors, has greatly reduced levels of silver [and other minerals].

That said, it should not be assumed that electro-colloidal silver is equivalent to or has the same metabolic effect as receiving silver from our diet. Research in this field is missing completely, according to Richard.  Take any of the books on nutrition and look for silver in the index, you will not find it listed.  Small scale research on colloidal silver used on plants and animals, “healthy” and “diseased”, however is showing astonishing results and it can be suggested that silver is of major importance to the growth and maturing of plants and animals.

Regarding the second question...Well, initially, I was going to carry out the personal trial for a year, but here I am 22 months later, and I don’t want to stop...but I have carefully monitored the supplementary dose...At a concentration of 10ppm true colloidal silver will contain approximately 100mcg elemental silver in 10ml of liquid...This I consider to be a sufficient maintenance dose for the average adult, as it approximates the values that would result from a balanced bio-mass.

I really am extremely grateful to Richard for all this information, and to Sarah June Burgoyne and Deborah Woodings for their significant contribution to my knowledge of this amazing antibiotic alternative.

I am also deeply indebted to Timothy Freer of The Well-Being Programmes, who is not only a fellow car buff but also incredibly knowledgeable on this particular subject, for it was he who really got me excited about colloidal silver, sending me a sample of the real stuff and two most informative publications on the subject.

Frankly I have been overwhelmed by the response, and shall be supplying this natural antibiotic alternative: hopefully at a somewhat lower cost than advertised elsewhere! 

However, whilst I am assured that colloidal silver is safe for use both internally and externally, and does not interact or interfere with other medications, I should still prefer to restrict its use to topical applications only.  Therefore I intend to package it in a spray bottle for topical application to acne, wounds, eczema, burns, fungus and the like.  When I know more, I may relent.
 
Citron comes!
Following my jottings about the “the first citrus of the Western world”[November 2000], many asked if I could find a source of oil of  Ethrog (Citrus medica L.).

It was not easy but at last I have managed to secure a tiny quantity, procured in very difficult circumstances and at no small cost.

This is a true “library” oil to be treasured, and I doubt that it will be available again until conditions in the Middle East stabilize. Enjoy!  
 

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