Positive Health Online

Can you remember those times in your life when you have suffered a severe disappointment – when the penny finally dropped that someone close to you, or whom you trusted, had betrayed you or behaved in a way which caused devastating consequences?

For me, and for the majority of people I reckon, life has been a process of accumulating a plethora of heart-breaking traumatic events, beginning with childhood sibling fights, profound disagreements with the world view of our parents, battles of conscience during our school years and finally the break-up of our most cherished relationships, friendships and business partnerships. Who has not suffered the stab-in-the-back pain of betrayal from a close friend, marital partner or business colleague? These hurts often take a long time to heal; sometimes, tragically, families are torn asunder for many years, perhaps even a lifetime.

Recently, the renowned husband and wife team of Kiecolt-Glaser, pioneers in the fields of psycho-neuro-immunology, have published ground-breaking research (see page 53) detailing how our endocrine and immune systems react to emotional and relationship conflict and marital satisfaction. They researched how hormones including cortisol, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and norepinephrine are modulated during conflict, particularly in females. Men and women who show poorer immunological responses to immune challenges such as Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) displayed more negative behaviour during conflict and characterised their marital disagreements as more negative than individuals who showed better immune responses.

It is possible to address these deep hurts by various therapeutic processes such as described by Christine Westwood (Healing Unresolved Trauma Through Meta-Aromatherapy, page 5) and Dr Andrew Tresidder (Flower Essences in General Practice, page 10).

However, at some stage of life, it is necessary, in order to achieve a certain self-equilibrium, to jettison our self-destructive ponderous baggage and lighten up our outlook, or at least accept the realities of our situations. Along the way, it helps to assume self-responsibility for our health to endeavour to optimise our chances of a relatively healthy elderly life. In this regard, please read and re-read Dr David Smallbone's Metamorphosis Begins in the Womb (page 21).

However, it is not easy to forgive fools, injustices and just plain wrong decisions, especially if the serious consequences of these policies could be prevented safely and without harm to anybody. I am referring of course, to the Vitamin B6 fiasco, whereby, any day, we will probably all wake up to find that freely available dosages of Vitamin B6 have been restricted to the miserly limit of 10 mg! B6 doses between 11-49 mg will be for sale only in pharmacies and above 50 mg by prescription only. Vitamin B6 is vital for the proper function of the immune system, mucous membranes, skin, red blood cells, of critical importance to healthy pregnancy, optimum functioning of brain chemistry and amino acid neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, melatonin, epinephrine and norepinephrine.

An updated critique of the Vitamin B6 situation including a letter written to Prime Minister Tony Blair is published on page 54. Please read this and act within your capacity to make your vociferous opposition known to this risible decision. Write to your Member of Parliament, sign the many petitions going around.

Do we really want to become criminals if we merely wish to consume more than 10 mg of Vitamin B6? I feel utterly betrayed by the scientists, the civil servants and the governments by this move which I sincerely feel will be to the detriment of all people's health.

It is one thing when there is no research validating the therapeutic uses and safety of a nutrient. It is quite another when there are some 10,000 scientific papers in the published research!

On a happier note, I am pleased to report that in a recent report in a Newstrade guide, compiled by WH Smith News, Positive Health came 6th in the category of Health and Fitness, based upon sales revenue in newsagents. It is satisfying to see that providing authoritative and detailed information regarding Complementary Medicine is appreciated by our readers.