I was only thinking the other morning (mid-August) how autumnal it seemed, with fallen leaves already bespoiling the green sward and rain thrashing at the windows.

However Newnes New Elizabethan Reference Dictionary, published less than 50 years ago, defines autumn as the season of the year between summer and winter, comprising the months of August, September and October. Today many would consider this unbelievable, because August is now incontrovertibly regarded a summer month: warm, sunny and dry.

Nevertheless I seem to recollect from my youth that several summer holidays taken in August were ruined by indifferent weather, but is my memory playing tricks on me?  Apparently not.

The Central England Temperature series, compiled by Professor Gordon Manley, shows changes in our climate against a background of temperature fluctuations extending back to 1659. From the 1840s to the 1960s, August was a consistently wet month: the Fifties comprised the wettest decade with an average of 3.92in.  Augusts have been mainly warm, except in the Sixties: a decade characterised by marked coolness.  The warming trend since then has been quite marked, accelerating noticeably in the past decade: the Nineties were more than half a degree warmer than any other decade in the 340-year long series. It seems that my youth coincided with a particularly inclement patch!
Writer’s Block.
It is obviously that time of year, and I have been penning this Newsletter for far too long, because I am totally devoid of anything about which to write.  With many on holiday, or minding the children, my mailbag is eerily empty.  I shall just have to ‘rabbit’ for a while until inspiration comes.

Is there more to life than work?
An interesting question. In his new film, Sweet November, Keanu Reeves plays a successful businessman so caught up in the rat race that stress has dulled his enthusiasm for everything but work.  Eventually he is reminded how one-dimensional his life has become.

I remember the feeling well, and down-shifted more than twenty years ago.  Recruitment agencies such as Reed and Office Angels report that career downshifting is becoming increasingly common. Around here, where even the small ads include one for The Smallholder [the national magazine for practical small farming, with regular features on pigs, goats, sheep, cattle, poultry, bees, organics, grassland, gardening, waterfowl, conservation, and much more], I am constantly bumping into former City high-flyers who have abandoned all to become potters, stonewallers, basket-makers, practical small farmers, or Village Hall custodians. Mind you if the standard of their work is not up to snuff, they may well find that their alternative lifestyle is as stressful as the City.  One poor chap I know was turning out the most magnificent terracotta pots but, come the winter, they cracked in half due to frost. Local gardeners went ballistic.  I believe that he has now downshifted from potting to gardening.  Smart fellow!

More seriously though, although making the change may be hard it is certainly good for your health. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reckons that 60% of all absenteeism is stress-related, and although some pressure in your life is healthy, people have different capacities for coping with it before they crack.

According to Cary Cooper [I guess that his parents must have been film buffs!], professor of organisational psychology at UMIST, stress is not a direct cause of any illness but.....stress suppresses the immune response. Chronic fatigue syndrome and ME are more prevalent among professional women, who often feel they have to hold down both a career and a home. Complete burnout could be just around the corner. [Conquer Your Stress by Professor Cary Cooper (£5.95). Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Tel: 020 8971 9000].

With the UK home to one of the hardest-working and unhappiest workforces in Europe, the trend for downshifting is on the increase. However taking the first steps to downshifting could require help. Andrew Ferguson, who runs the Breakthrough Network, an organisation that assists people in taking great lifestyle leaps, feels it normal to create barriers in your mind when you are contemplating changing jobs.  The recruitment agency Blue Arrow urges people to calculate the real financial consequences before making any changes: The reality usually hits them about three months after the move, and then it can be an unwelcome shock. Don’t tell me! [The Breakthrough Network.  Tel: 020 7473 5544].

I must be phoned times a year by people wishing to swap their executive lives for a life on the land, raising and distilling aromatic plants for their oils.  As Andrew Ferguson explains: In their thirties, people use financial ties, mortgages and children as excuses. In their forties, they are reluctant to forego their success, and in their fifties, they think they have left it too late, or are concerned about their pension.  But it  is never too late to go for your dream.

True, but first consider the real cost.  It is often more than you imagine.  Before you know it, you will probably be working as hard as ever, for far less, and be closer to the real world than ever before. It’s great fun, and I love it, but it does take some adjustment! 

Meanwhile back in the real world......
The Natural Oils Research Association (NORA) reminds me that....the safety aspect [of essential oils] is going to continue and expand for some time. Bernie Hephrun, their indefatigable researcher, also mentions that most therapists do not request Health and Safety Data Sheets and Technical Data Sheets.  Why?  He seems to infer that either this information has not been readily available, which, in some cases, is probably correct, or that aromatherapists are unaware of the need for such information, which is more worrying.  In any event, he makes a good point.
Strictly interpreted, I have always believed that the therapist is ultimately responsible for the risk assessment of all oils used in treatment. As a supplier, I can only advise upon the chemical composition of an oil, based upon GC/MS analysis, and comment upon its health and safety data, as compiled by Martin Watt, but I cannot comment authoratively upon its efficacy, or safety, for a particular application.  I can guess, but that is not good enough.

Whilst I share Bernie’s enthusiasm for the establishment of a data base on essential oils and therapeutics [NORA News, August 15th 2001], I am not so ecstatic about his comments on so-called ‘untested oils’. He mentions that over the years many new or novel oils have appeared on the market (e.g., Manuka, Kanuka, Ravensara, ‘Chamomile Maroc’, Spikenard, Yarrow, Eucalyptus radiata, etc., etc.) and many have been included in company lists.  Guilty m’lud! Dr. Lis-Balchin wrote about these ‘novel’ oils some two years ago and signalled dangers that could arise.  Most people disregarded this when it appeared in the Royal Society of Health Journal but the point has been made for companies who sell these oils. I remember the article well, and mentioned it in my Newsletter.  Several companies are now deleting them from their lists. Many of these novel oils may have a perfectly good history of therapeutic use but if they have not been ‘through the system’ [tested by the International Fragrance Association or the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials] they are regarded as untested.  This will also apply to many oils which are regarded as ‘chemotypes’ in aromatherapy.  Personally I am not at all happy with this dictum but, if needs must, I shall comply, but first I shall investigate further. By the way, what are the IFRA and RIFM test procedures Bernie?  

Quid pro quo.
Meanwhile I have been reviewing a more recent piece of research by Dr. Maria Lis-Balchin and colleagues [Pharmacological and antimicrobial studies on different tea-tree oils (Melaleuca alternifolia [Tea Tree], Leptospermum scoparium [Manuka] and Kunzea ericoides [Kanuka]) originating in Australia and New Zealand. Phytotherapy Research (2000), 14 (8), 623-629]. All three essential oils are used by aromatherapists but, according to the report, only Tea Tree has been tested for toxicity, and its antimicrobial effects studied.

The pharmacology and antimicrobial activity of the three ‘tea-tree’ oils were determined against guineapig ileum, skeletal muscle (chick biventer muscle and the rat phrenic nerve diaphragm), and rat uterus in vitro, and a battery of microorganisms.  Jumping Jehoshaphat!

Years ago, when I first started writing the Newsletter, I used to mention similar research reports, outlining the methodology used. There was an absolute outcry, if I ever mentioned animals, or parts of animals, and I have endeavoured since to desist from doing so.

OK, I appreciate that Maria and her colleagues are not using live animals, but surely there must be another way. The European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods’ (ECVAM) main goal, as defined in 1993 by its Scientific Advisory Committee, is to promote the scientific and regulatory acceptance of alternative methods which are of importance to the biosciences and which reduce, refine or replace the use of laboratory animals [which to my mind, by inference, must include parts of animals]. One of the first priorities set by ECVAM was the implementation of procedures which would enable it to become better informed about the state-of-the-art of non-animal test development and validation, and the potential for the possible incorporation of alternative tests into regulatory procedures. What has happened?

May I suggest that Maria and her colleagues first let me know what progress has been made in this connection before I contemplate further delisting so-called ‘novel’ and ‘untested’ oils!

In the interim I shall be looking a little further forward and addressing my attention to understanding the principles of evidence-based medicine and healthcare [House of Lords, 6th Report from the Select Committee on Science and Technology, Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 6.49].

A better understanding.
To kick me off, Inta Ozols, the effervescent publishing manager of the Department of Health Professions, Harcourt Health Sciences, suggested that I take a look at Understanding the Placebo Effect in Complementary Medicine: Theory, Practice and Research.  Edited by David Peters, Clinical Director, The Centre for Community Care and Primary Health, University of Westminster, this collection of contributions from leading figures in healthcare is a thoroughly good, and stimulating, read.

The preface sets the tone: Complementary practitioners promote the idea that their methods somehow ‘switch on’ self-organising processes.....But to what extent is our therapeutic effectiveness determined by our humanity and presence rather than technical knowledge and our skill as a therapist?.....How much of a treatment’s effect is due to the patient’s own response and resilience?

The human self-healing response is a realm where the boundaries between subjective mind and objective body blur and fade. How might we, as practitioners and scientists, reflect on this elusive capacity for self-healing and your role in it as a therapist?  Two very different approaches to research are discussed in this book: one experimental and searching for objectivity, the other qualitative and searching for a rigorous subjectivity.  No doubt both these approaches and more too, will be needed as a new science of health unfolds.

As Dr. Peters points out: Lydia Temoshok [1986. Review of Placebo - theory, research and mechanisms. Advances in Mind-Body Medicine 3 (1); 71-73] compared the term ‘placebo’ to a theory used by 18th century chemists, who, before oxidation was understood, postulated that a burning substance loses ‘phlogiston’ [a substance formerly supposed to exist in all combustible bodies, and to be released in combustion].  Because the notion appeared to fit some of the facts, it delayed the discovery of oxygen and the acceptance of the true explanation - oxidation.

Similarly, the placebo concept hides our ignorance and perpetuates partial truths about clinical work and outcomes while at the same time obscuring a better understanding.  Is the placebo effect our phlogiston? Will it disappear from our language once we have a real grasp of the therapeutic relationship and mind-body interactions?

A ‘mosaic’ of evidence.
Some may recollect that Dr. Peters, an osteopath, was amongst those who reported to Their Lordships, when they visited the Marylebone Health Centre (MHC) in April last year.  He discussed the question of how to decide when GPs should consider a CAM referral.

At MHC it was decided to do this only for conditions where some evidence for efficacy of a particular CAM existed.  It was also decided that referrals would only take place if GPs wanted to refer, and complementary practitioners thought they could help and had an interest in helping. They have now developed a list of conditions that they commonly consider for CAM referrals.  This is interesting.  These included complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome; stress-related conditions; asthma; IBS; eczema and allergies; migraine. GPs consider a referral if there is a new diagnosis of one of these conditions and one of the following criteria applies: (a) orthodox medicine has failed; (b) the patient is suffering side-effects from the orthodox medicine; (c) the patient requests CAM for one of these conditions; or (d) if the GP feels it is a complex case where CAM may help (and having asked the CAM therapist they, too, feel they may be able to help).  This seems an eminently sensible approach.

Dr. Peters also described how research has the capacity to serve both practitioners’ and patients’needs.  For example, audit ensures quality assurance, research through qualitative methods increases understanding of the patient’s experience, action research promotes service and professional development and case studies illustrate best practice. In this way practice-based research promotes quality and understanding.  Thus Dr. Peters feels that it is possible to create rigorous data within a patient-based practice with vague entry criteria.

Petitgrain perceived.
The most generally accepted designation for Bitter Orange Leaf Oil is petitgrain oil but, as with so many terms used in the essential oil trade, it is in fact incorrect. The French word means ‘little seed’referring to the small unripe fruits from which the oil was originally obtained, but the name was retained when leaves and twiglets became the main source.

Although petitgrain oil bigarade is produced from the leaves and twigs of Citrus aurantium L. [more often referred to as Citrus aurantium ssp. amara L.], the bitter orange tree of French origin, petitgrain oils are also available in large quantities from Paraguay and to a lesser extent from Spain and Italy.  The term “bigarade” is an anglicized version of “Le bigaradier” which is the French term for bitter orange tree.

Some would maintain, and with justification, that only oils produced in Southern France, Italy, Spain, and Africa fit the definition of true petitgrain bigarade oils, because in those regions the leaf material used for the distillation of this oil is derived primarily from the true bitter orange tree.

The Paraguayan oil, which constitutes the bulk of petitgrain oil production, cannot be properly called a bigarade oil because the leaf material distilled in that country originates mainly from the local bitter-sweet variety, known as “apepu jhai”.

When Spanish Jesuit priests colonized Paraguay, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, they introduced the sweet orange, Citrus sinensis Osbeck. Besides the sweet orange, they very likely brought the bitter orange from Spain, planting the trees around their missions and settlements.  Both the sweet and sour orange soon escaped cultivation and, with favourable soil and climatic conditions, spread wild and semi-wild over wide areas in the forests and jungles of Paraguay.  There is little doubt that they formed many hybrids and produced mutations which are now difficult to classify morphologically. The Indian term ‘Apepu’ simply indicates that the peel of the fruit is rough, and the term ‘jhai’ that it is bitter.

It grows in Eastern Paraquay in the wild state, semi-wild (where competing trees and shrubs have been removed) and in the cultivated state [D.M. Baker, Distillation of Bitter Orange Leaf Oil - Paraguay Approaches to Improving Production Techniques. PAFAI J., 2(3), 137-141 (1980)]. In ideal situations, the tree is grown as a coppiced shrub so that the leaves can be readily harvested (every nine months), and it is prevented from setting fruit because this deters leaf growth.

In addition to petitgrain oil from the bitter orange tree, lemon petitgrain, citronnier, is produced from the leaves and twigs and occasionally also from undeveloped small fruits of the lemon tree (Citrus limon (L.) Burm. f.). Although it is grown all over the world, the lemon tree is usually cultivated for its fruits only.  However in Italy, Tunisia, and occasionally in Algeria and Morocco, the oil is produced.  Steam distilled leaves and twiglets of smooth lemon produce oil with a citral content to 50%. Nearly 100 compounds have been isolated, and the major components are limonene, sabinene, g-terpinene, b-ocimene and linalool; rough lemon leaves contain a very similar oil.

Bergamot petitgrain oil, bergamier or essence de brouts de taille du bergamottier, is steam distilled from the leaves and twigs of the bergamot tree which is grafted upon the stubs of bitter orange trees (Citrus aurantium subsp. bigaradia).  Distillation takes place in Calabria, Italy, during the “fruitless”season when the trees are pruned. The main constituents of the oil are reported as linalyl acetate, linalool, limonene, a-terpineol, b-pinene, g-terpinene, geranyl acetate and neryl acetate, amongst others.

A very interesting oil, mandarinier, is steam distilled from the leaves, twigs and occasionally from the small, undeveloped fruits of the mandarin tree (Citrus reticulata Blanco). From a commercial standpoint, mandarin leaf oil is of interest because of its unique aroma character, which has been described as an intensely sweet, rich, deep-fruity, grape-like, floral odour in which a distinct mustiness is characteristic, and a plum-grape-like fruity undertone lends a peculiar and very powerful, perfumery sweetness. Wow!

Needless to say, on occasions, other citrus leaf oils find their way to my desk. I hope to have some for you to consider amongst this month’s Special Offers. Patricia Davis, in her A-Z, comments that it is useful sometimes to have alternatives to the Bitter Orange variety.    
      
Of course, for aromatherapy use, Bitter Orange petitgrain oil is by far the most well known, sharing as it does many of the constituents of Neroli, though with a higher proportion of linalool and linalyl acetate.  Most seem to like the aroma and it blends well with a wide range of other oils. Therapeutically, Petitgrain resembles Neroli, though it is slightly less sedative. Even so, according to Patricia, it is valuable for insomnia, more so if the sleeplessness is linked to loneliness and unhappiness, rather than anxiety or an over-active mind.

Decidedly antidepressant, Patricia considers it a good alternative to Bergamot and other antidepressant citrus oils where help is needed over a long period.  She makes the very valid point that, as Petitgrain is not a photosensitizer, it can also be considered when other oils would be a problem in this regard.

However Petitgrain should not be considered only as an alternative to Neroli and other oils, because it is a useful aromatherapy oil in its own right.  It has several applications in skin care as it helps to reduce over-production of sebum and is a gentle but effective antiseptic.  This makes it a good oil for acne, also for oily dandruff.  It is a refreshing bath oil, with deodorant properties, and, as Patricia suggests, it is a comforting oil in convalescence, and can help anyone who is run down, especially when this is accompanied by mild but long-term depression.

Finally.....
Although inspiration has come, it is a beautiful afternoon and I have been writing this since the very early hours.  Also, I am pandering (perhaps only temporarily!) to those who complain that the current font size of the Newsletter is making them myopic. I’m off home! 
 

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