They say that a change is as good as a rest: I’m not so sure.  Freshly returned from a long weeked [Easter] of “old boys and their toys” I am totally exhausted!  I am fast coming to the conclusion that bouncing around the rural roads of France in a diminutive, ancient saloon is an acquired taste, or am I simply becoming old?!

Still, safely back, I can now reflect upon how well the French “do”Easter. The shops, even hardware stores, were most attractively decorated with fluffy chicks and ducklings, Easter eggs abounded, and fragrant, fresh blooms sprayed bounteously from doorways, subtly scenting the breeze.  Generations of families filled restaurants, bars, and cafes to celebrate Pâques.  Why, I wonder, has this festival all but disappeared from our own sceptred isle?

Duly chastised.
Dear Charles....I cannot begin to explain how disappointed I was at reading “Too much Mother’s milk may not be best” in Newsletter 109....Shame on you, don’t you realise nature is by far the best....I hope all your research is not to be judged by this, as I normally trust your word....wrote Christine Gaskill. Several wrote in similar, if less severe, tone.

All are correct to chastise me, for I had not checked the veracity of the report in the British Medical Journal 2001; 322: 643-647, indicating a link between breastfeeding for longer than four months and reduced arterial distensibility (greater artery stiffness).  I apologise most sincerely for causing any anxiety.

Putting the record straight.
Thanks to La Leche League [Breastfeeding Help and Information], P.O. Box 29, West Bridgford, Nottingham NG2 7NP, I now understand that the authors of this paper [Leeson C. et al. Duration of breastfeeding and arterial distensibility in early adult life] conclude that their findings should not influence current advice on the importance of breastfeeding or change infant feeding recommendations.

The authors emphasise that the data does not establish a causal relation between length of breastfeeding and cardiovascular disease. They also state that there was no direct record of infant feeding method or duration and that maternal recall was the source of infant feeding information about the participants, aged 20-28 years. Participants were grouped according to either only bottlefed or having received breastmilk.

Therefore, confounding variables (aspects which may affect the outcome) of exclusive breastfeeding versus partial breastfeeding, timing of introduction of solids, weaning diet and childhood exercise were not controlled (accounted for).  The authors recognise that early dietary information was limited as the study was retrospective and that prospective investigations could take account of age of weaning and subsequent diet.

Conflict of interest.
The authors also declare their competing interest of collaboration with the infant food industry for its outcome studies on nutrition.

Mother’s milk vindicated.
I am advised by La Leche League that in other recent studies breastfeeding has been consistently linked with a lower risk of cardiovascular risk factors.  Indeed, evidence is now emerging that it is the early introduction of non-human milks and/or solid foods which appears to be a crucial determining factor in increased cardiovascular risk factors.

Meanwhile, the benefits of mother’s milk for premature infants have been confirmed by yet another study.

This latest study looked at the IQs of children aged 7-8 years who were born very prematurely.

Nearly three-quarters of these infants’mothers provided expressed breastmilk for feeding.  The children of these mothers ended up with a verbal IQ score six points higher than the rest [Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Edition, 2001; 84: F23-7].  I hope this is correct, as I am only writing what I read!

Caution queried.
Last month I thought (and probably hoped!) that I would never have to write another word about Colloidal Silver, but.......

I have looked at your newsletter with interest in the department of colloid [silver] and breast feeding, emailed Diane Young. It totally amazes me how people can decide for others on what is good and not so good....Doubts printed, as yours have been, can decry all the good done in the world: setting doubt into people’s minds around the world....The article you have on breast feeding???....

Colloidal Silver is a natural product....I have personally used it for years on myself [and] on my animals, which are dogs and horses....The fear of argyria is in my opinion (for what it is worth) propaganda, put out there by the FDA, to stop people taking profits away from the drug companies....

Silver sceptics silenced?
Well, it seems that the well-respected PROOF! journal [What works in Alternative Medicine] may agree. The latest edition reveals exciting new research which could silence the silver sceptics....What they have discovered is remarkable.  In their studies, this simple metal, now produced in a suspension of superfine particles, is capable of terminating virtually all bacteria and fungi tested against it in under six minutes. Polishing off  MRSA, for example, required just two minutes. Some indications show that colloidal silver may be effective against viruses which, so far, medicine has failed to develop effective weaponry to combat, write Lynne McTaggart & Bryan Hubbard in their editorial.

As the journal points out, this could be of profound interest to all Health Trusts involved in hospital management.  Furthermore, could it be the answer to foot-and-mouth disease?

Want to learn more?
This really is most exciting news. Read all about it in PROOF!  To get a subscription, phone +44(0)1858 438 894.

I have to admit that when I first stumbled across colloidal silver three months or so ago my first thought was that it might be of assistance to infection control units, but I was unable to find any proof.  It seems that Dr. Mark Farinha, Professor of Microbiology at the University of North Texas, may have come up with the evidence we seek. Although his results have yet to be published they can be seen on his website [www.silver-labs.com].  Regardless of the strain tested (MRSA or non-MRSA), colloidal silver showed a killing rate that exceeded 10 billion bacteria/mL in under two minutes. All that is needed now is immediate replication of these results and clinical application.

Are others getting the message?!
Meanwhile I was interested to read in last week’s Sunday Times “What’s the Alternative?”, in response to I am travelling to Ecuador and am worried about mosquito bites, that one of the most important medicinal plants to come out of India is Neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss.). Good heavens, I have been trying to get this point across for several years.
Susan Clark of the Sunday Times suggests that, until researchers at Glasgow University have launched their new neem-based mosquito repellent, it might not be a bad idea to take a bottle of the odd-smelling Neem oil to massage into the skin, which will act in the same way.

Odd-smelling?  Why not add a drop or two of Sandalwood (Santalum album L.) as they do in India?  Go for it, and keep those dipterous flies at bay!

Hamamelis hailed.
Living midst the Wychwoods, Aston, Milton and Shipton, it is surprising that I have not sought earlier the derivation of the word wych.  From the Anglo-Saxon wice, which is akin to wicker, it can be compared with the Middle Swedish wika [to bend], the Swedish vika [to fold or plait] and the Danish veg [pliant], and originally probably meant a pliant twig. All of which conveniently brings me to the subject of witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana L.). As I doubt that this small tree ever had any specific connections with sorcery, I prefer the alternative wych hazel. Hamamelis, by the way, is probably adopted from a Greek word to indicate its resemblance to an apple-tree.

Witch hazel water (also known as hamamelis water and distilled witch hazel extract) is obtained from the recently cut and partially dried dormant twigs.  The twigs are macerated for about 24 hours in twice their weight of warm water followed by distilling and adding the required amount of alcohol (normally about 14%) to the distillate and thoroughly mixing, so that 1000 volumes witch hazel are derived from 1000 parts crude.

Witch hazel leaf contains 8-10% tannin that is composed of hamamelitannin, gallotannins, and/or proanthocyanadins.  Other constituents present include free gallic acid, saponins, resins, flavonoids [quercetin, kaempferol, astragalin, etc.], 0.5% essential oil (hexenol, a- and b-ionones, safrole, sesquiterpenes, etc.), and others.

Witch hazel bark contains 1 to 7% hamamelitannin, and smaller amounts of condensed tannins; saponins; fixed oil (0.6%); wax; 0.5% essential oil (sesquiterpenes, a phenol, etc.); and a resin.

Witch hazel water contains a trace of essential oil consisting of eugenol, carvacrol, and probably similar compounds (e.g. safrole) as the essential oils of leaf and bark.  However, as it is a steam distillate, it does not contain tannins.

Witch hazel leaf, witch hazel bark, and witch hazel water have all been reported to have astringent and haemostatic properties. These properties can be attributed to the tannins contained in the leaves and bark, but it is not known what is responsible for these activities in witch hazel water.

Whilst all three are used in preparations for use in treating haemorrhoids, itching, irritations, and minor pains, witch hazel water is by far the most commonly used.  They are also used in eye drops, shaving lotions, and others.

In phytomedicine preparations are used as an astringent, antiinflammatory and local haemostyptic for mild skin injuries, haemorrhoids, varicose veins, and local inflammations of the skin and mucous membranes [Monograph Hamamelidis folium et cortex, Bundesanzeiger, no.154 (Aug. 21, 1985); revised (Mar. 13, 1990)].

A useful item for the medicine cabinet?

Healthy heels?
Whilst I fear that I may be exposing myself to yet more chastisement, I cannot resist a piece of research from Harvard Medical School, reported recently in The Lancet.

It seems that women who leave their Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo skyscaper heels at home and wear sensible “flatties” to work may be damaging their health.  Wide-heeled shoes with plenty of toe space may put women at greater risk from osteoporosis than from gravity-defying stilettoes.

According to the researchers, both types of shoes increased a specific knee joint pressure called the varus torque [an inward twisting force?], but the wide-heeled shoes increased pressure by 26% from the normal rate when standing when compared with a 22% increase in pressure from stilettoes.  The extra pressure on the knee joint means the quadriceps muscles in the thigh have to work harder, which increases the pressure on the knee-cap.  The knee is particularly vulnerable to degenerative joint changes and diseases such as osteoporosis.

More logical, perhaps, is the fact that court shoes may carry additional risk because 
women wear them for longer and walk further than they would dare in stilettoes, thus exacerbating the pressure.

However Dr. Casey Kerrigan, the report author, still seems to have her feet firmly on the ground as she cautions against tottering into the office on spindly stilettoes, saying that she recommends shoes with low or preferably no heels!

Ethical consumerism.
Three or four years ago, in response to a request from the Health Editor of the Ethical Consumer Research Association for a formal environmental policy statement, which we did not have, I wrote explaining that we do consciously endeavour to source all our essential oils from sustainable resources because....

Research in the pharmaceutical industry is currently concerned with combinatorial chemistry - forging molecules from other molecules.  There is an interest in “new”molecules - and novelty is something which is most likely to come from the plant kingdom. But research is rather different from production, and specific conservation issues affect the supply to pharmaceutical companies. 

In complete contrast to the world production of essential oils where only 1,000 tonnes are taken from the wild compared to 44,000 tonnes from cultivation, many medicinal plants are collected from nature.  Unfortunately, one of the disincentives to medicinal plant cultivation is the prejudice in many parts of the world against plants which are not gathered from the wild because they are seen as less potent. But with some species the choice may soon become having cultivated stock or having none at all.

Last month, The Inside-Story [www.inside-story.com or telephone 020 7722 2866] carried a report from the Natural Medicines Society, illustrating how true this prophecy could be.  Amazingly, 90% of all herbs used in herbal medicine are not farmed but are gathered from the wild, driving some important medicinal plants to the verge of extinction.  Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis L.), for example, traditionally used to treat a range of immune deficiency problems, is now listed by CITES [Convention on Trade in Endangered Species] as the fifth most endangered species on the planet.

Fortunately herbal and conservation organisations have finally got themselves together in a series of international conferences but, when all is said and done, it is the consumer who will force manufacturers to harvest and grow sustainably by refusing to buy products which do not meet those criteria. 

To date, the essential oil industry would seem to have acted in a most responsible way in this respect but will aromatherapy, with its desire for more wildcrafted oils, jeopardise this record?  I hope not: just think before you pick. We remain committed to the cultivation of aromatic plants so that wild stock can be preserved for the future of mankind.

ADHD pioneer dies.
Having written about the Hyperactive Children’s Support Group (HACSG) in my October 2000 Newsletter, I was extremely sad to read of the death of one of the founders, 80-year-old Vicky Colquhoun, who, with her daughter Sally Bunday, worked tirelessly, both to support the families of hyperactive children and to raise awareness of the roles that food and chemical sensitivity, and imperfectly metabolised essential fatty acids, play in hyperactivity.

She must have been pleased to have her theories about fatty acids so comprehensively supported by the recent findings of Dr. Basant Puri, Consultant at Hammersmith Hospital. Dr. Puri has used sophisticated imaging techniques to study the role of fatty acids in brain function and has unearthed a wealth of evidence showing how supplementation with specific fatty acids can help not only ADHD but also dyslexia and dyspraxia. His best results came from supplementing with a combination of marine and botanical oils rich in EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid). These are currently being combined in a supplement made by Equazen Neutraceuticals called ‘eye q’ [www.equazen.com].
 Ernst errs, or does he?

I have long respected the views, and hard work, of Prof. Edzard Ernst, of Exeter University, and therefore was a little surprised to read in a recent edition of the Sunday Telegraph that he is at the centre of a major controversy over the efficacy of chiropractic. 

It is alleged that Prof. Ernst, who strenuously denies the allegations, has deliberately misreported research to weaken the case for alternative medicine.  Widely regarded as Britain’s leading authority on alternative medicine, many of his reviews of the scientific evidence for therapies such as acupuncture have concluded that the scientific case for such therapies is weak.  Such sceptical conclusions have led to a growing hostility towards him, and he is now accused of harbouring a deliberate bias against alternative therapies.

The current allegations centre on his reviews of chiropractic. Prof. Ernst has argued that there is no convincing evidence that the method has any real effect, and that some practitioners use potentially dangerous methods in treating patients.

In response, three leading advocates of the technique claim to have uncovered evidence that he has deliberately misquoted or omitted evidence to back his conclusions.  In a detailed analysis of his published reviews in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, the authors allege that he played down or ignored positive findings, while exaggerating the risks involved.

In a rejoinder in the journal, Prof. Ernst insists that his reviews are a fair reflection of current knowledge. He said: Because the data are insufficient, we cannot currently be sure that spinal manipulation does more harm than good.  He called for medical researchers to work together to discover whether techniques such as chiropractic offer real benefit.

Having read this, I was reminded of a fascinating paper by Maria Hondras, a chiropractor and researcher at the Western States Chiropractic College in Portland, Oregon, which was published in Examining Complementary Medicine (1998) [ISBN 0-7487-3314-0].

Chiropractic reviewed.
For more than a century, chiropractors have wrestled with the concepts of philosophy and science. The founder of chiropractic in 1895, D.D. Palmer, characterised his offering as ‘science, art, and philosophy,’ and his son, the ‘Developer’ preached a philosophy of ‘pure, straight and unadulterated chiropractic,’which bound the doctor of chiropractic to spiritualism and dogmatic clinical theories. Many leaders of chiropractic’s educational reform and accreditation movement (1973-1974) offered a philosophy that emphasised basic scientific knowledge, but rejected clinical research as irrelevant, impractical and too expensive for the poverty-stricken chiropractic colleges.  Others held that clinical research and experimentation ought to provide a knowledge base for clinical decision making, and that the responsibility for conducting clinical research rested with chiropractors [Keating, J.C. (1992) Toward a Philosophy of the Science of Chiropractic: A Primer for Clinicians].

Many argue that all health care disciplines must embrace the notion of providing evidence for decisions. The information explosion allows lifelong learning habits for all people.  In this paper, Maria Hondras examined the critical discourse that links the professionalism and education of chiropractors with science in chiropractic. She underlined the intensity of the warning sounded by Ebrall [Ebrall, P. (1995) Chiropractic and second hundred years: a shiny new millennium or the return of the dark ages?  Journal of Manipulative Physiological Therapies, 18, 631-5] that, as the third largest health provider in the United States, the profession’s future was far from being assured, and that chiropractors should be deeply concerned with the challenges of change the profession was facing. Although she did not discuss the intraprofessional discord over ‘super-straights’, ‘straights’, and ‘mixers’, she pointed out that it is important to remember that there is a large faction in the profession that treats only the subluxation (partial dislocation), denounces the diagnostic process and makes no claims of treating illness.  Rather they are in the business of ‘subluxation removal’.

However she concludes the introduction to her paper with some most interesting comments.... Chiropractors have a long history of circling the wagons, and then turning in - to fire....I believe that our scope of practice will be sharply defined by outside forces and that chiropractic colleges that survive the next quarter of a century will be remarkably different from what they are today....I also believe that if sufficient attention is not paid to the socialisation of chiropractors to scientific principles, chiropractic will not survive for a second hundred years.

Is this, perhaps, what Professor Ernst is also trying to say?

Aromatherapy: does it work?
Meanwhile, in today’s Sun newspaper [April 19th, 2001], the eminent professor turns his attention to aromatherapy....I would like to see evidence for effects beyond a palliative element. The claims are hanging in the air....It is probably best considered as a pleasant diversion for those who can afford it.

New Scientist magazine reports that researchers in Germany and Austria have found smelling essential oils has no direct effect on the brain. The study reveals that the oils will only make a difference to how you feel if you believe they will. 

Psychologist Josef Ilmberger at the University of Munich and his researchers studied how people’s reaction times were affected by oils that are supposed to make you more alert.  The volunteers were all asked to wear surgical masks.  Water was sprinkled on the masks and their reaction times were tested.  Some of the volunteers then had oils such as peppermint, jasmine and ylang-ylang sprinkled on their masks, while others just got more water. Reaction times were tested again.  The researchers found no significant difference between the reactions of people given oils and those given only water.

Writing in the journal Chemical Senses, Dr. Ilmberger said this suggested the oils had no effect on the brain when inhaled and there was no significant statistical evidence that aromatherapy worked.

He now plans to test the effect of massaging the oils into the skin to see whether there is any effect when they are absorbed that way rather than inhaled.

Based on this, Jacqui Thornton, Health Editor of The Sun, devotes two-thirds of a page to It doesn’t work!  What rubbish!

Inside the front cover I note that the paper asks if you’ve got a story. Well now you’ve got your chance. Phone 020 7782 4100 (London), 0161 935 5323 (Manchester), 0141 420 5200 (Glasgow), or e-mail news@the-sun.co.uk or fax 020 7782 4108, and mark for the attention of Ms. Thornton!

Finally.....
M. Scott Peck (1995) wrote [In Search of Stones: A Pilgrimage of Faith, Reason and Discovery, Hyperion, New York, p. 299]....

It is said that nature abhors a vacuum.  On the level of psychology this can be translated to mean that the human mind abhors a vacuum of knowledge, and when we are confronted with a striking unknown, like Stonehenge or Callanish, we humans have a profound tendency to rush headlong in with explanations for which there is no significant evidence - even to the point of making up evidence to justify our explanations.

Although it does not always succeed in doing so, true science is all about combating this tendency of ours.  The scientific method is our best strategy against jumping to hasty conclusions. We scientists also love to rush in wherever there is great mystery, but we try to do so with great caution. Do they?! 

 

previous     next