Nature's Rx

Hot topics: superbugs and essential oils, alternatives to Oxy, study slipups By Jonathan Evans Herbal Information Specialist /Business Representative for the Herbarium Special to PRIME Lots of topics to discuss this month! Combatting MRSA Recently my wife, Kathy Duffy, spent our entire radio program covering the topic of MRSA(methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). Many of you have heard of MRSA, and have heard you must wash your hands or use anti bacterial hand cleaners frequently to combat this infection. The problem arises when people overuse the hand cleaners and the germs continue to become more resistant. Fortunately, several studies are showing Tea Tree oil (Melaleuca alternafolia) in strong (5 percent or more) concentrations are destroying MRSA colonies. During the show Kathy explained how mixing several essential oils in combination is effective in controlling MRSA. The oils discussed include the following: Tea tree, True Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), Oregano(Origanum vulgaris), Eucalyptus( Eucalyptus globulus), Ravensara (Ravensara aromatica), Palmarosa (Cymbopogon motia), and Bergamot (Citrus bergamia). Kathy gave recipes and concentrations during the program. I am a bit reluctant to go into detail in the column, for fear people will go to bath shops or perfume counters and buy cheap and mislabeled fragrances. For those who are interested in this discussion of combatting MRSA, the show is available on cassette or CD for a nominal fee. The show notes are also available at HERBARIUM free of charge. Kathy stressed repeatedly you must use pure therapeutic grade oils and change the ratios frequently. Treating chronic pain without Oxy I recently read an article in the local daily paper that stated there is a shortage of Oxycodone and Oxycontin in Western Mass, and indeed in the whole country. However, the pharmaceutical companies say they wil have enough to go around by May. Why am I mentioning this story? The story stated people are using Oxycontin and its generic form for bursitis, and arthritis and lower back pain. Wow! The article also stated abuse of this drug can lead to addiction. Folks, I know people who used this stuff for a few days and got hooked! Oxy is a great drug for severe pain, but for heavens sake try something safe and effective and non-addicting for arthritis bursitis and lower back pain. How about a chiropractor? Massage? How about Tumeric, California poppy, Jamaican Dogwood, Scullcap, Mineral tea (HERBARIUM blend) mineral supplements such as magnesium? It seems to me people are using a cannon to kill a fruit fly here. On fish oil and Vitamin E Two more questionable articles appeared in the loccal paper recently. One reported fish oil did not offer much help for heart attack patients. Of course when the test subjects are all using blood thinners, a cholesterol medication and aspirin, the addition of one fish oil capsule probably would not help. How could you tell? Wouldn't a study that had a control group using only the fish oil have been a better test? How about using a therapeutic dose of fish oil in the test? One tablespoon of fish oil is usually recommended, (for those of you in Rio Linda, that would be about nine capsules). The other story was in a recent column from Jane Brody of the New York Times. Ironically enough, the story appeared on April Fools Day. Brody stated that vitamin E was bad for you. Unfortunately, Ms. Brody did not check her facts. There was no such study performend, it was in fact a meta- analysis which is very different. I was interviewed by TV22 the day this story first appeared and read the American Heart Association press release. It was four paragraphs long, three of which talked about the safety and efficacy of Vitamin E for a variety of problems, at the normal dose of 400iu's. The Heart Association said doses of 1200-2000 iu's of vitamin E should not be taken without a doctors supervision. This was a non-story, and still is. This woman had the gall to pull up a story that was five years old and had been discredited by several publications and organizations since then. Why? Journalistic integrity indeed. Check those facts online! If you want real information about a vitamin or alternative medicine subject, and need to check facts, try Web sites such as Medline plus, Pub Med, National Institute of Health or the National Library of Medicine just to name a few. Please send your questions on botanical remedies to Natures Rx : Jonathan Evans via e-mail at info@theherbarium.com, or by regular mail at The Herbarium, 264 Exchange Street, Chicopee, MA 01013