One month later, and I am in much better heart and far fitter. Despite my disbelief, everything has slotted neatly into place. Countless visits to the local tip have diminished greatly the pile of bric-a-brac within the garage, and provided hours of pleasant sifting for those looking for a discarded bargain. However, what I might consider quite useful, for example a vast wardrobe, is consigned unhesitatingly to the skip, whereas a long-abandoned childhood trinket is seized upon with cackling glee by eagle-eyed surveyors. Jan and Justin suggest that I should watch more television to understand this phenomenon. All the same, what a social place the tip can be. Aches and ailments are openly discussed, gardening hints generously exchanged, and all future holiday plans considered in some detail. After all, where else would you expect to find out what the weather in Costa Rica is likely to be in February? Absolutely edifying!

Undoubtedly the unseasonable weather has done much to enhance my mood. Lured out by cloudless skies, I have eschewed my raucous rally special as a daily driver and am enjoying the quietude of one of my older motors, which has restored relations with ‘next-door’ without having to resort to inviting Jeremy Clarkson around to ‘give them a blast’, as some suggested. In truth, fellow alumnus Clarkson, who lives just down the road, is far too sensible, when not acting on Top Gear, to disturb the peace. Is he not being proposed by some (48,000 people to date) to be Prime Minister?

Although located only a few feet higher above sea level than before, looking out over the open patchwork countryside to the far horizon, chill-fresh air coarsing through my lungs, I feel as though I’m in the Alps. In fact, I am writing this beneath a vine-clad arbour in rural Oxfordshire, bathed in early morning sun, as in the sky above weary travellers from around the world, wispy vapour trails signalling their arrival, start their final descent into London Heathrow. To add to my pleasure, the birds here are amazingly tame. Sparrows are chirping merrily in the creepers above my head whilst a pair of wrens make countless darting visits to a bush less than a foot away, and a robin has just joined me at the table. Magic!
Jogging the memory.
I was truly delighted that several chose to join me on my trip down memory lane. Ulla-Maija Grace e-mailed from Finland. Doubtless, some will recollect that aromatherapist and author Ulla-Maija developed, together with and tested by fibromyalgia sufferers from the Rheumatic Association of Turku in Finland, a product to relieve the many discomforts that this form of rheumatic disorder brings with it.

Fibromix is a balanced blend of ylang-ylang, Roman chamomile, petitgrain, mandarin red, lavender, melissa, black pepper, ravensara, sandalwood, and ginger in sunflower, grapeseed and jojoba. The chamomile and lavender are used to ease pain and to help with sleeping problems; the ginger and black pepper to improve circulation; ravensara and petitgrain for muscular fatigue; and ylang-ylang and sandalwood to improve mood and lift depression.

Aimed at soothing pain, reducing inflammation, improving the venous and lymphatic circulation, and to calm and help gain restful sleep, Fibromix can be used also to support other forms of treatment. Several tests and experiences by users confirm that it relieves pain, calms and assists in falling asleep. They also find that it comforts and relaxes, and improves metabolism. However, Ulla-Maija did not e-mail to tell me this.

In the last Newsletter [191] you wrote about Hippophae rhamnoides [Sea Buckthorn]. I am surprised that it is not more commonly used in skincare in England. Perhaps the reason is that it is a very powerful, deep browny-orange colour (almost like jasmine or St. John’s wort) that will stain anything it touches. [Don’t tell me! This ‘Siberian gooseberry’ has landed me in several “I don’t dispute it works, but who’s going to pay the laundry bill?” discussions. I recollect with most horror, however, an incident involving a champion white poodle which I turned a tasteful shade of apricot!]

Here in Finland, Sea Buckthorn is used both internally and externally for skincare and general well-being due to its omega fatty acid contents and the huge vitamin C content. I shall send you a sample of our AromaTymi [Aroma Sea Buckthorn] cream for you and Jan to try. Here both men and women are using it to improve their skin condition and return its glow. [I don’t know about that as, with the frost on the paving stones beneath my feet barely melted, I already have quite a glow!]

Another writes...You introduced me to sea buckthorn pulp for my lichen planus and vulval intraepithelial neoplasia. I found that to ease the severe itching and reduce lesions the oil had to be applied neat using my finger tips as it didn’t seem to “adhere” to the lesions if a cotton bud was used - even if the bud was soaked in oil. After a while, it didn’t seem to help much and so I stopped using it for a few weeks and then tried it again. It did help, but not as much as at first. I tried sea buckthorn seed but that had no effect whatsoever, in fact it was a little irritant even diluted in a moisturising cream base. By the way, you supply both pulp and seed, how do they differ in their content, properties and uses?

Good heavens, how time flies, I thought that I had endeavoured to answer this question only a couple of months ago but, in fact, it was in April, 2002, 71 newsletters ago!

Produced by supercritical fluid extraction with natural carbon dioxide, thus eliminating solvent residues, inorganic salts, heavy metals, and reproducible microorganisms, the clear orange-yellow seed oil has a high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids which include oleic (15-20%), linoleic (34-39%) and linolenic (24-32%). Unsaponifiable constituents include carotenoids, alkanols, tocopherols, and sterols.

Externally, the oil is used in skin care preparations for the treatment of conditions such as neurodermatitis [Lichen simplex: leathery, thickened patches of skin secondary to pruritis or anything that causes habitual scratching, e.g. insect bites, psoriasis, contact with chemicals. As the skin thickens, irritation increases, scratching causes further thickening and so on and so forth]. It is also used in “regenerating” cosmetics.

Internally, the oil is taken to supplement a deficiency of essential fatty acids and to regulate fat metabolism and prevent arterial affection.

Extracted in exactly the same way the red oil from the fruit pulp [sometimes referred to as juice in the literature] has a very different fatty acid profile, containing mainly palmitic acid (30-35%) and palmitoleic acid (22-33%). Palmitoleic acid is rarely found in plant oils, and is part of human skin fat. Traditionally, the pulp oil has been used in Russia to heal wounds and aid skin regeneration. It is also used in sun creams to alleviate sunburn.

Observations.
One of the most rewarding results of writing the Newsletter is that I have learnt so much from others. I relish particularly the observations of Sue Whyte. According to several, Sue is one of the most inspirational speakers I have ever had at an Open Day. She was first introduced to caring for the terminally ill when only 14. Her mother was a nurse in a nursing home and Sue used to help her at weekends. She showed Sue how to care for someone who is dying. This experience had a profound effect on her life. A registered nurse, former Macmillan Lecturer Practitioner, and an aromatherapist, Sue has been caring for those suffering from a terminal illness for over 40 years, and her comments are always worth noting.

What a good idea to go down memory lane. We have moved on and may look at things differently now; our thinking has probably changed, as our knowledge and understanding has grown and widened (or should have done). It must be difficult for you as an importer of oils, etc., to know just what will “take off” and what won’t, but there could be a number of reasons for this. Take myself as a fairly typical aromatherapist. Before I buy a new product, especially if it is expensive, I need to be sure it will be used, and that will depend very much on my clientele. Yes, I may try some out on myself or interested family members and friends, but again it depends on whether or not it will help any problems they may have.

I couldn’t agree more, but I suspect that many still buy an oil and never use it. Mind you, I have often bought a tie and never worn it!

As you know I used to work in a cancer and palliative care day unit. The majority of patients had incurable cancer and attended the unit for respite or symptom control one day a week. I found green myrtle very helpful for breathless patients who suffered panic attacks because they were frightened of dying, or they might stop breathing if they went to sleep, or just frightened of what might happen - the unknown. I used quite a lot of the green myrtle as the orange and red seemed harsher - the patients did not like the smell.

Interesting, as I prefer the red! North African orange and red myrtle essential oil, which has a reddish colour, contains about 20% myrtenyl acetate and approximately 45% of 1,8-cineole whereas green myrtle, which is produced in Corsica principally for aromatherapy purposes, contains about the same amount of 1,8-cineole but little myrtenyl acetate.

I used to give them about 2-3ml in a bottle and use 1 drop on a tissue to inhale. Most found this helped their panic attacks quite considerably. However, the day unit was closed in 2005 and since then I have been working on the cancer ward, where most patients are being actively treated for cancer or are in the last stage of their illness. I have used the myrtle only once on the ward since 2005. Most of the patients I see now are at a different stage of their cancer journey. I have helped patients with panic attacks since then, but their breathlessness was not due to cancer - myrtle did not help but other oils did, notably vetiver. I have tried myrtle before with patients who are very anxious and breathless from other causes, but the patients invariably dislike it and it either exacerbates the situation or has no effect at all. Why this should be I don’t know, but it is intriguing.

Do others have any explanation?

Two carrier oils worth consideration.
Whilst Tamanu (Calophyllum inophyllum L.) and Meadowfoam (Limnanthes alba Hartweg ex Benth.) tend to linger on the shelf, probably because of price, they are worthy of further consideration, particularly by those working in cancer and palliative care.

Sue has tried Tamanu with three patients who have polyneuropathy/polyneuritis as side effects of chemotherapy and has met with varying degrees of success. She has also given it to other patients with nerve pain and both found it very helpful, and continued to use it until they passed away. The first had a stroke as a result of a brain tumour and the sensation of severe pins and needles in his paralysed arm. The other patient had lung cancer and the tumour was invading the brachial plexus causing severe, burning pain in the shoulder and arm. In all cases, the oil was used undiluted and massaged into the affected area 2-3 times a day. Both patients liked the smell of the oil, which is interesting as people who are well tend to find it a little overpowering. She has not yet had enough patients using tamanu to compare it with St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum L.), which has been her oil of choice to date.

Interestingly, although seeds were a rare item in the Aboriginal medicine chest, they used those of ‘beauty leaf’ (Calophyllum inophyllum), as noted by W.E. Roth near Townsville, Queensland, Australia, in 1903: “Nut broken, kernel triturated with red pigment on stone, mixed with water, and then rubbed all over patient’s body, especially where pain is.” The Aboriginals obviously knew a thing or two!

Meadowfoam, on the other hand, she uses a great deal, but generally 50-50 with sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). The combined effects of cancer and its treatment on the body causes the skin to be affected in one or more ways - varying degress of dryness, itchy, papery thin, increased sensitivity, adverse skin reaction to drugs, rashes, discolouration, bruising and other lesions. Meadowfoam seems to help most of these problems in as much as it is a wonderful emollient and so light that patients find it pleasant to use, saying that their skin feels much more comfortable without feeling greasy. Worth a try, perhaps.

Laudable pus.
How many I wonder have been inspired to become vets by the tales of  vet James Herriot? I stumbled across a particularly interesting one of his stories the other day in Honey, Mud, Maggots and other Medical Marvels, Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein’s fascinating and witty exploration of the unexpected origins of contemporary medicine.

For a short time in 1939 Herriot took over a small, very poor animal clinic in Yorkshire. Surprisingly, the lack of equipment and drugs, such as the newly discovered sulphanilamides, was of little consequence for most veterinary problems until, one day, a couple brought in a dog with a leg so damaged - skin and muscle torn away, ligaments severed, bones broken - that Herriot sorely regretted his lack of medical materials. He searched the surgery shelves in vain, finding nothing more useful than a small vial of anaesthetic. Then he came across a box of plaster-of-Paris bandages and “something seemed to click.”

The Spanish Civil War had just ended, and Herriot recalled that “in the chaos of the later stages there had been no proper medicaments to treat the terrible wounds. They had often been encased in plaster and left, in the grim phrase, to ‘stew in their own juice.’... I grabbed the bandages. I knew what I was going to do.”

Having anaesthetized the dog, he set the broken bones, sewed up the torn muscles and ligaments, and covered the leg in plaster bandaging, forming a hard cast. That was all. No modern antiseptics, no special drugs. Just a plaster cast.

A week later he saw the dog again.The once stone-hard cast, now soft and sodden with pus, exuded a sickening smell of putrefaction. Pus, of course, is formed when foreign materials or organisms contaminate a wound. The body’s immune system responds to the contamination with an increase in white blood cells, or leucocytes, which engulf the foreign matter. These cells, along with tissue debris and invading microorganisms, are flushed within a serum that oozes at the site of injury. As these materials are exuded, they putrefy. Thus, Herriot’s first reaction to the pus-filled cast was dismay.

“Gangrene,” he thought, and steeled himself for the black and rotten flesh he expected to find under the plaster bandaging. To his immense surprise, there was no gangrene, there was little infection at all. Most of the dog’s wounds had begun to heal, and to heal well.  

In 1987 he wrote, “How lucky I was that in those days the Spanish Civil War was still fresh in my memory. I would never have dared to encase Kim’s leg in plaster if I had not read of  the miraculous recoveries of the soldiers whose terrible wounds had no other means of treatment.....If that dog came into our surgery today, with all our antibiotics and equipment to hand I could not possibly hope that the mangled limb would heal more perfectly. The ancient surgeons used to talk about ‘laudable pus.’ It means something to me now.”

As an aside, the Spanish Civil War, which lasted from July 1936 to April 1939, increased tensions in the lead up to the Second World War and became in some cases a world war by proxy. The advent of the mass media allowed an unprecedented level of attention (Ernest Hemingway, George Orwell and Robert Capa all covered it) and so the war became notable for the passion and political division it inspired, and for atrocities committed on both sides of the conflict. Therefore, is it little wonder that it was fresh in Herriot’s mind.

In its Latin form the phrase “pus bonum et laudabile” dates back to the early 1300s; the English expression, meaning commendable or healthy pus, was first used in 1420. The concept, however, is much older. The observation that pus was a natural part of wound healing had probably been made thousands of years before the Greeks set it down in writing as a therapeutic principle, but the Greeks advocated the careful cleansing of wounds and the use of salves to slough off dying tissue and reduce inflammation as well. They recognized that pus formation could be beneficial, but they did not go out of their way to induce it in uninfected wounds.

By the Middle Ages, however, the idea that pus was necessary to healing had become paramount. Salves were chosen for their irritating, contaminating effects, to make the injury produce as much pus as possible. In following centuries, physicians worked with this principle in mind.

Indeed, the presence of pus in wounds was almost a given until Lister introduced antiseptics to combat bacterial contamination in the mid 19th century. Although Joseph Lister did not discover a new drug, he did make the connection between lack of cleanliness in hospitals and deaths after operations. For this reason, he is known as the ‘Father of Antiseptic Surgery’. When infection was inhibited or overcome by the use of carbolic acid or other chemicals, the body’s immune defence was cut short; there was little or no pus formation. For Lister and his followers in the 20th century, the presence of pus indicated inadequate chemical cleansing of the surgeon’s tools and hands and, ultimately, of the wounded tissues themselves. After Lister, pus was seen as an indicator of infection rather than healing. 

However, as recently as the early 1940s, just before antibiotics became widely available, pus was still considered by some an acceptable consequence of wound treatment - and not just for dogs. Aseptic technique had improved upon traditional methods but required more materials, labour, and time. When resources were strained by war or economic depression, expensive therapies were often put aside in favour of older, more expedient forms of wound care.

Plaster-cast encasement required few supplies and could be quickly performed, sometimes within minutes of injury, on large numbers of people. Moreover, it allowed the immediate evacuation of wounded soldiers and civilians with a minimum of postoperative attention. French doctors complained about the stinking plasters and pus-filled wounds of the Spanish evacuees who flooded France in early 1939, but the truth was that many of the injured had travelled for days and sometimes weeks in those casts to reach safety. Without doubt, closed plaster encasement saved their lives, as it did Kim’s leg. People may dress wounds with more or with less sophistication, but it is nature that heals them.

Poor man’s saffron.
Historically, Calendula (Calendula officinalis L.) was known as “poor man’s saffron” as it was used to colour and flavour foods, specifically butter, cheese, custard, bread, cakes, soups, and rice dishes. The petals are also added to salads and used as a dye for fabric and hair. In the pharmaceutical industry its pigment is used to give a pleasant colour to some medicinal preparations. Notwithstanding, open any book on natural remedies, Calendula also features as one of the most well known and versatile herbs in Western herbal medicine but, I wonder, is this lofty reputation totally justified?

The ligulate florets, commonly (but erroneously) referred to as flower petals, have been used in medicine since the very earliest times. The plant, a member of the Asteraceae, is a common cultivated plant, also referred to as pot marigold or garden marigold. However, it should not be confused with members of the genus Tagetes, also widely grown as garden ornamentals and commonly called marigolds.

During its long history, calendula has been administered internally for a variety of ailments, including spasms, fevers, suppressed menstruation, and cancer. Its chief use, however, was as a local application to help heal and prevent infection of lacerated wounds. Modern herbalists recommend it in the form of a tincture, infusion, or ointment to heal a variety of  conditions: acne and boils; athlete’s foot; bites and stings; breast tenderness and sore nipples; digestive infections; inflamed skin rashes; nappy rash; nettle rash; varicose veins; wounds and bruises.

Calendula is stated to possess antispasmodic, mild diaphoretic, anti-inflammatory, anti-haemorrhagic, emmenagogue, vulnerary, styptic, and antiseptic properties. Traditionally, it has been used to treat gastric and duodenal ulcers, amenorrhoea, dysmenorrhoea and epistaxis; crural ulcers, varicose veins, haemorrhoids, anal eczema, proctitis, lymphadenoma, inflamed cutaneous lesions (topically), and conjunctivitis (as an eye lotion).

Phytochemical studies heve reported three main groups of constituents for calendula, namely flavonoids, volatile oil and triterpenes. The latter seems to represent the principal group, with many compounds isolated including pentacyclic alcohols, glycosides (saponins), and sterols.

Numerous chemical studies of calendula flowers have been carried out without revealing any principles that are unique, or even outstanding, in their physiological properties. Nevertheless various activities have been shown for the essential oil and extracts of the flowers, including antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, antitumour, cytotoxic, anti-HIV, and wound healing.

While there are not many clinical studies to support the various uses of calendula, a few are worth considering. Loggia et al. established that an ointment made with calendula flowers is indeed effective in relieving the pain associated with cracked or tender nipples [Loggia, D.R., Tubaro, A., Sosa, S. et al. The role of triterpenoids in the topical anti-inflammatory activity of Calendula officinalis flowers. Planta Med. 1994; 60: 516-520] and Duran et al. obtained positive preliminary results for the use of calendula ointment in the treatment of venous leg ulcers [Duran, V., Matic, M., Jovanovc, M. et al. Results of the clinical examination of an ointment with marigold (Calendula officinalis) extract in the treatment of various leg ulcers. Int. J. Tissue React. 2005; 27(3): 101-106]. Another study in 2005 showed the protective effect of a calendula/rosemary cream preparation against irritant contact dermatitis caused by exposure to sodium lauryl sulphate [Fuchs, S.M., Schliemann-Willers, S., Fischer, T.W. and Elsner, P. Protective effects of different marigold (calendula officinalis) and rosemary cream preparations against sodium-lauryl-sulfate-induced contact dermatitis. Skin Pharmacol. Physiol. July-August 2005; 18(4): 195-200].

Of particular note is a study in 1996 on a freeze-dried extract of the flowers that showed that water-soluble flavonoids (or other components) increased the rate of neovascularization and induced deposition of hyaluronan, a major component of extracellular matrix, associated with the formation, alignment, and migration of newly formed capillaries. This research begins to provide some evidence to confirm calendula’s long-standing traditional use in wound healing [Patrick, K.F.M., Kumar, S., Edwardson, P.A.D. and Hutchinson, J.J. Phytomedicine 3(1): 11-18, 1996], but not much more.

What do you think?

Finally.....
As I write, young Mick is lying beneath my feet as scruffy and ordinary as ever. However, according to a recent article in the Sun newspaper, there are only 1,000 Glen of Imaal terriers left - less than the number of giant pandas! Paul Keevil, of the Kennel Club, said: “Within another ten years the breed could be extinct.” Therefore, I was delighted to learn that Edwina, one of only 25 breeding bitches in Britain, has given birth to five cute little scruffians. Bravo!

Not so good, however, is news that nine more shark species face extinction. The loss of “top predators” such as sharks can seriously damage whole marine ecosystems. Research over the past five years at Dalhousie University in Canada shows that all shark species have declined by more than 50% since the early 1970s in the north-west Atlantic. Many large coastal sharks had much greater falls in population: tiger, scalloped hammerhead, bull and dusky sharks are down by more than 95%. Even more alarming is that between 23million and 76million sharks pass through the Hong Kong fin market every year. Each fin fetches between $100 and $300!


charles@essentiallyoils.com

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