Kew Gardens

If you enjoy working with children, or like working in the fields of education and play, this could be the volunteering opportunity for you. Share your passion and help Kew inspire young people with the power of plants.
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Joseph Banks

Kew is a reminder of the time when the UK led the world in the analysis and utilisation of essential oils from the higher plants.  In the last ten years much research has been put out in Asia.  An example of the analysis of an essential oil.

Revise - Acupuncture the science

Acupuncture is available on the NHS for lower back pain.  In the hands of a competant practitioner Acupuncture has been found to be highly effective not only in reducing the amount of pain by anticipation of treatment but in reducing those areas of the brain (Dr Theysohn) which deal with pain indicating a chemical messenger may be at work. 

A biological molecule that may help explain the effects of acupuncture has been identified by scientists.
The chemical, adenosine, is a natural compound known for pain-killing and anti-inflammatory properties.
It also influences the heart and plays a role in regulating sleep.
Researchers found that adenosine is very active in tissues affected by acupuncture, the ancient Chinese treatment that involves inserting needles into sensitive points of the body.

The scientists performed acupuncture on mice suffering chronic inflammatory pain in one paw. Each animal received a 30-minute treatment with fine needles inserted into a known acupuncture point near the knee.
Acupuncture reduced discomfort by two-thirds in mice with normal levels of adenosine.
However, it had no effect on "knock out" mice genetically prevented from responding to adenosine, the researchers found.  During and immediately after acupuncture treatment, adenosine levels in the tissues near the needles were boosted 24-fold.
Maiken Nedergaard, from the University of Rochester Medical Centre in New York state, said: "Acupuncture has been a mainstay of medical treatment in certain parts of the world for 4,000 years, but because it has not been understood completely, many people have remained sceptical.
"In this work, we provide information about one physical mechanism through which acupuncture reduces pain in the body."

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Fully accredited acupuncture course
Haseley Manor, Hatton, Warwick, CV35 7LU T: 01926 484 158

A grand day out - Baddesley Clinton

Just a few miles from Birmingham is Baddesley Clinton.

I was lucky to be brought up and live in Shakespeares Country, Warwickshire, England which has many hidden treasures like this in the ancient Forest of Arden.  It amazes me that yesterday I and my family were the only ones watching this scene today peaceably sitting by the moatside.

As you can see this year with a lot of spring sunshine the wysteria and clematis are in fine form and well worth the trip to see.

Theres an excellent wooded lake as well which is an easy and enjoyable walk around particularly for kids.

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There are many famous Shakespeare quotations.  Shakespeare's plays are always on my table.

One of the important strengths of Warwickshire is the quality of the education. I attended school in Leamington Spa before winning a place at the famous Rugby School. Today Leamington is an important retail centre and you can find Shirley Price Aromatherapy oils at t3 which is situated opposite Neals Yard Remedies shop.  t3 is home to 14 practising complementary therapists.
Essentia

'Aromahology' - the impact of plant alcohols

Many students taking up a study of aromatherapy experience at least six months enthusiasm.  Its best to get the reading and rereading done in this period and the student will become the master.  Some aromaholics remain hopelessly hooked until retirement as professional aromatherapists, complimentary therapists or educators.

Besides their use in the flavourings and perfumes industry plant alcohols distilled into their essential oils have preservative, antifungal, anti viral and antibacterial effects.  This is a favourite topic for university study.

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The doctrine of vital force

For many years the doctrine of 'vital force' held sway among chemists.  There appeared a clear distinction given the science of the times between inorganic and organic and this doctrine served as a boundary to enquiry.  Then it became clear it was a precis.  In 1828 Frederich Wohler heated an aqueous solution of two inorganic compounds amonium chloride and silver cyanate and obtained urea.  As urea could be obtained from both inorganic and living things the doctine of vital force could not hold  and Frederich Kekule coined the modern definition of organic chemistry as compounds containing carbon. 

With suddenly a new avenue to explore the floodgates opened and research effort poured into organic chemistry just as in modern times research effort has poured into carbon's cousin - silicon to give us the silicon chip.  There was an awakening which led to the development aromatherapy in the sense of the use of essential oils for therapeutic purposes in primary, secondary and tertiary medicine to obtain clinical results.  Alchemists had always held that essential oils obtained from plant matter contained the higher more volatile 'soul' of the plant as compared to the base matter in which it was fixed and used this knowledge to create medicines for prevention, cure and recovery.

The object of all this research and analysis of essential oils and herbal products was and remains synthesis.  The identification and then mass production of the active ingredient for example regenerative allantoin in comfrey. 

Science has gone one step further.  The better understanding allows for the production of entirely synthetic chemicals or drugs which are not found in living things at all but which have an impact on living cells.  Depending on the dose for example some drugs can obtain clinical results but also trigger cancer as these synthetic chemicals are not adapted to the body and have unexpected side effects such as thalidomide.

There therefore remains a place for essential oils and their controlled use by properly trained and motivated professional aromatherapists in particular for the treatment of stress and sleeplessness, many common ailments which are not as such medical conditions and afflictive emotions. 

Essential oils did not yield all their secrets.  We know that synthetic essential oils do not have the therapeutic effects of 'whole' freshly distilled oils.  This is because those effects may depend on constituents which present in tiny quantities and also the interaction of two or many more constituents rather than being a simple function of the oils headline ingredients (Valnet).  Essential oils continue to inspire.  This idea of the 'cocktail' of active ingredients which is used by plants apparently to maintain life has inspired research breakthroughs for example in AIDS treatment.

Returning to Carbon, as Battaglia writes (CGA 2004 p72) "With 107 elements other than carbon to choose from you would expect there to be many more inorganic than organic compounds but in fact the opposite is the case.....  The key to the chemical characteristics of carbon is in its configuration of electrons.  Carbon's electronic configuration makes it unique in the ability of its atoms to catenate (that is to bond and link up) with one another and other atoms particularly hydrogen and oxygen  in seemingly endless arrangements."
The arrangement of the atoms is used amongst other things by living things to store information which can be replicated for example in DNA.

Most of the communication systems in the body are chemical in nature. Cells (such as nerve cells, gland cells or blood cells), communicate with each other mainly by chemical substances produced and released by one particular type of cell and to which others are highly and specifically sensitive. Every cell in the body is continually responding to chemical messengers. This intricate communication system is vital and most drug action either mimic, augment or disrupt this communication system.

Alchemical doctrines such as mixtures of higher and lower still inform much of our interpretation and thinking about our world, those in it and our own selves. 'Vital force' is alive and well and still helping people interpret the world, communicate and live today.  At least until science throws further light on how things work.

Aromatherapy notes and Diploma essays

There are a number of topics suitable for essays and for ease of reference I have listed them in alphabetical order

Aged care
Aromatherapy
Blending
Business
Candida
Communication and consultation
Dermatitis
Distillation
Essential oils
Expression
Fatty acids
Gattefosse Rene
Herbalism
History of Aromatherapy
Immune system
Inhalation
Internal ingestion
Isoprene
Lavender
Lymphatic system
Massage
Mask treatments
Maury Marguerite
Monoterpenes
Neroli & Jasmin
Rose Otto
Rosemary
Odours
Olfaction
Pharmacokinetics
Placebo
Pregnancy
Research
Sesquiterpenes
Skin structure
Skin conditions
Skin types
Solvent extraction
Topical applications
Valnet Jean
Vegetable oils
Vibrational medicine
Wounds

Aged care

Aromatherapy

Blending

Business

Candida

Communication and consultation

Dermatitis

Distillation

Essential oils

Expression

Fatty acids

Gattefosse Rene

Herbalism

History of Aromatherapy