Butch -- Vitex Question and Apology to Chris

[Guest guest]

Hey Sara,

 

> first and foremost -- chris, please accept my apology regarding my typo and

you name. i

> am a terrible typist and even worse early in the morning. i am truely sorry.

>

> butch,

>

> thanks for your response. i regret if i did not make myself clear on one

point. that is,

> regarding the need for certain kinds of " scientific " study. i completely

understand the

> reasons why this is not always possible i also understand the limitations and

bias of much

> of the research that does exist. it has its place; but, it is not the be all

and end all. this is

> an issue i must deal with professionally outside of the realm of essential

oils.

 

Understood .. I was sorta using a shotgun approach to make some points

to the entire group of folks here .. AT is not getting attention as a

viable alternative so we can't have a lot of expectation of finding a

lot of good research on essential oils .. in English .. but there is a

good bit out and about in other languages.

 

> with regards to research, i believe that there more than one way to approach

it. qualitative research is

> as valid and valuable as quantitative.

 

I'll agree .. to a point. Depends on the motivation of those testing ..

but that is also applicable to some of the double-blind tested and peer

reviewed testing out and about .. there is much controversy on that

subject and there is abundant proof that a lot of it is slanted in the

direction from which the dollars are flowing.

 

One of the problems of aromatherapy is that if folks can pass along

misinformation long enough it becomes doctrine .. like safe use of Tea

Tree and Lavender neat .. or Rosemary raises BP and shouldn't be used by

those with epilepsy .. and Pennyroyal can cause abortions .. its total

hawgwash without even the slightest degree of truth .. but even some

teachers teach it in their hawgwash AT courses so it becomes doctrine.

 

And .. that misinformation can be DANGEROUS .. especially if some young

idjit tries to abort an unwanted fetus with Pennyroyal. What will

happen is the mother will poison herself .. and probably die .. but the

odds of the fetus dying are slim if medical attention can be provided.

Pennyroyal is NOT an abortifacient .. it is an emmenogogue .. and we

should not extrapolate the cause and effect from one to the other.

 

> clinical experience and case study is also very important.

 

Totally agree on the clinical experience and agree on the case study if

its repeated with similar results and the study group is large enough

and not prepped for the study. This last point is one of the valid

criticisms of Barbara Luck's study on Vitex .. but there are times when

even medical researchers have to advise folks of what they are doing due

to the ethics involved. And even following Barbara's work .. and given

the " possibility " that some of the results reported could maybe be due

to a placebo effect .. we then fall back on the empirical evidence

gained from folks like those on this list when they try a product. Is

the possibility of the placebo effect still there? Damn betcha it is

but does it matter? I think not.

 

> this is one reason why i appreciate chuck woodfield's (am i remembering his

> name correctly?)

 

You got it right.

 

> willingness to share his clinical experience and expertise. i hope that

> others are willing to do the same without fear of reprisal.

 

Totally agree again .. and Chuck will be back real soon .. he's sorta

tied up with some heavy stuff now .. but he'll be back real soon.

 

> thanks.

> sarah

 

Thank you ma'am. And y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch