* Traumeel, a homoeopathic combination product, available as oral drops, tablets and gel (see http://www.heel.com/products)

* Oils. Aromatherapy preparations such as lavender, chamomile and peppermint have analgesic properties (Complement Nurs Ther, 1997; 3: 16-20). Peppermint oil applied to the forehead and temples can work as well as paracetamol for pain relief (Cephalalgia, 1997; 17: 446). Other menthol oils can also increase blood flow, which may reduce inflammation (Am J Phys Med Rehabil, 1991; 70: 29-33; Nippon Yakurigaku Zasshi, 1984; 83: 219-26)

* Tiger Balm (SSL International, tel: 08701 222 689), the Chinese version of Deep Heat. In one study, Tiger Balm worked as well as paracetamol for severe tension headache, but has to be reapplied after three hours (Aust Fam Physician, 1996; 25: 216-20).

* Herbs. Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) and Ginkgo biloba have some evidence of easing migraines.

* Fish oils. Anti-inflammatory fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) have an effect on prostaglandins, the hormone-like substances involved in pain and inflammation. Take 1 g/4.5 kg (10 lb) of body weight (Am J Clin Nutr, 1985; 41: 874; Am J Clin Nutr, 1986; 43: 710).

* Avoid food allergies, which have been implicated in headaches. This includes amines, found in fermented, pickled or marinated foods as well as in avocados, bananas, caffeinated drinks, chicken liver, monosodium glutamate (MSG), chocolate, citrus fruits, nuts, processed meats, raisins, red wine, ripened cheese, onions and lentils (Lancet, 1983; ii: 865-9; Ann Allergy, 1985; 55: 28-32).

* Avoid excitotoxins such as aspartame and MSG, which can trigger headaches (Headache, 1988; 28: 10-3; N Engl J Med, 1988; 318: 1200-1).

Readers: What else has helped your headaches? Write in to WDDTY at info@wddty.co.uk.

She’d always been a strong-willed, distractible, little powerhouse of a child but, with the right diet and cranial osteopathy, we thought those days were behind us. Although hardly at the top of the class, she was coping well and keeping up. However, these last two terms, her teacher reported that her attention had taken a nosedive, and her slow but steady progress had ground to a halt. We were called in and handed lists of educational psychologists, who might enlighten all of us about how to educate this child.

At the same time, Anya’s behaviour at home was also deteriorating. She’d stopped listening and was consistently unreasonable – impossible to get to school or even to bed.

We were at our wits’ end, attempting to work out what had gone wrong, when I suddenly realised that her behaviour was only bad between Monday and Friday. The penny had finally dropped. Something at school was causing her problem.

I investigated and, sure enough, my otherwise enlightened school was giving her milk (and sometimes Nesquik) and chocolate biscuits at 11 am, and wheat and milk products at lunch. Anya had been a highly allergic child and, although we’d specified at nursery age that she shouldn’t have either milk or wheat (and not much chocolate), this current teacher hadn’t taken this on board. So every day, Anya had been drip-fed what amounts to a poison to her brain.

In Anya’s case, it’s likely that her problems stem from biochemical sensitivity. We adopted her from Russia when she was four months old. By then, the well-meaning Russian doctors in charge of her care had given her a tuberculosis vaccine at birth, powerful drugs like phenobarbital and bottles of full cow’s milk (the hospital couldn’t afford formula). There is no doubt in my mind that her gut was damaged by these early and inappropriate interventions, and a wheat-free and dairy-free diet is vital to her ability to learn.

Over the summer, Anya was put on a strict wheat-free diet and worked individually with one of her teachers. Soon, the doorway to her brain reopened, and she began to make steady strides.

Although biochemistry should be the first port of call for any child who finds it difficult to learn, it is equally important to remember that children learn at different speeds. At seven, our first daughter Caitlin was also labelled a problem learner – a candidate for dyslexia. Not only was her creative output too meagre, but the words themselves were weirdly positioned. Perhaps she had a problem with hand-eye coordination, the teachers said. Perhaps we should see a specialist.

When we questioned Caitlin, she told us that, every Monday, the teacher asked her to write what she did over the weekend – but there just wasn’t much of anything new to say. When she’d been chastised for writing too little, she’d spaced out her words to make her story appear longer so that her teacher would stop telling her off.

For years, writing remained a lesser source of creative expression for Caitlin until one day, at 13, she became master of her own words. Within the following year, she was producing astonishing stories and poems, and now, at nearly 15, she’s at the top of the class. So it also went with her maths.

The key to educating our children may not only be to pay attention to what we are feeding them, but to ultimately trust in the mysterious process of learning. There is a right and highly individual season for everyone.

Lynne McTaggart

Early bottle feeding has been linked to recurrent otitis media, whereas longer breastfeeding (for at least six months) has demonstrated a protective effect (Acta Paed Scanda; 1982: 71: 567-71). An allergy to cow’s milk may cause the infection, whereas breast milk contains copious amounts of two types of gamma linolenic acid, which convert to prostaglandins, offering powerful anti-inflammatory properties (Med Hypoth, 1984; 13: 161). Also, feeding babies on their backs via “bottle propping” produces aspiration via the eustachian tube into the middle ear, and ear infections usually follow.

As for homeopathy, two controlled studies demonstrated good results with Pulsatilla (J Am Inst Homeop, 1986; 79: 3-4; Allgemeine Homoeopathische Zeitung, 1985; 230: 89).

If homeopathy doesn’t work, investigating allergies well might. Secretory ear ache is more than twice as frequent in allergic children than in non-allergic children, according to a study of 540 patients (Laryngoscope, 1967; 77: 636). One study showed that significant pressure changes occur in the middle ear of children when their nasal passages are exposed to allergens (Ann Allergy, December 1984; 53 (6): 468-71); another study shows that in three quarters of cases, repeated antibiotic therapy may eliminate bacteria, but not middle ear fluid (TTK Jung et al, in Recent Advances in Otitis Media with Effusion, D J Lim et al (eds), B C Decker, Philadelphia, 1984).

Cow’s milk, cocoa, cane sugar, cola, grains, citrus, eggs and nuts are the most common culprits, according to one study of 1000 patients (F Speer, Food Allergy, PSG Publishing Co, Littleton, Mass, 1983). If children are allergic to milk they have a one in four chance of being allergic to soy. Besides food, sulphites and monosodium glutamate (MSG), both common food additives, can provoke ear ache. Supplementation molybdenum for sulphites, vitamin B6 for MSG can improve symptoms (J Orthomol Psychiat, 1984: 105-10; Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 1981; 100: 972-77). Airborne allergens, such as house dust components, tobacco smoke, animal dander and fungus spores, have also been linked to ear infections

( J Allergy Clin Immunol, May 1984).

Because a baby’s digestive tract is highly permeable, particularly during the first 15 weeks, it is advisable to exclude wheat, barley, rye, egg, cow’s milk products and poultry from its diet during the first nine months and to have no frequent repetitions of any other food. This will reduce the risk or even prevent the development of food allergies. Supplementing a child’s diet with bioflavonoids, vitamin C, beta carotene, zinc, omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids, and thymus extract also prevents or minimizes allergies (J R Pizzorno and M Murray, Textbook of Natural Medicine, Bastyr University Publications, Seattle, 1992).

Occasionally, recurrent ear ache can be caused by a mechanical problem at the top of the neck (Manuelle Medizin, 1987; 25: 5-10). In this case, the child should be taken to a experienced, registered osteopath or chiropractor.

Harald Gaier is a registered naturopath, homeopath and osteopath.

I’ve repeatedly seen patients with very severe cases of what had previously been diagnosed as ME who have shown a significantly increased bacterial fermentation in the colon. This became evident when the patients were tested for the presence of gut fermentation products in their blood plasma, a test carried out in the UK at Biolab in London. Various toxic propyl and butyl compound alcohols, as well as different short chain fatty acids (acetic, propionic, butyric and succinic), appeared in their bloodstreams an hour after they were orally given a glucose “loading dose”.

At the same time, very little ethanol or methanol was found in their blood plasma. This ruled out candidiasis. Ethanol, the “normal” alcohol drunk socially, appears in such tests when the patient has a yeast overgrowth in his intestines.

Extremes of fermentation (or putrefaction) have long been known to cause problems (Bartle, H J: “Protein Intoxication”, Med J Rec. 1928, 12: 28-3). Small quantities of propyl and butyl alcohols will produce generalized muscle tenderness, reduced reflexes, depressed respiration, some other nervous system effects and a state of profound fatigue (Dreisbach, R H: Handbook of Poisoning, Los Altos Ca: Lange Medica Publications, 1983): in other words, the classic ME symptoms.

Bacterial fermentation in the colon is usually associated with a so called “malabsorption syndrome”, which so often is the result of too little gastic acid (hypochlorhydria) or no gastric acid production at all (achlorhydria) and/or a pancreatic exocrine insufficiency (Di Magno, E P et al, “Relation between Pancreatic Enzyme Outputs and Malabsorption in Severe Pancreatic Insufficiency, New England J Med, 1973, 228: 813-51).

Patients with this problem usually have deficiencies accompanying a lack of absorption of nutrients in the intestine (McCarthy, C F, “Nutritional Defects in Patients with Malabsorption:, Proc Nutr Soc. 1976, 35: 37-40). These substantially aggravate ME symptoms.

Supplementation with pancreatin and/or betaine hydrochloride with pepsin, in my experience, has in many cases made a startling difference in a matter of days, and the improvement that sets in has lasted. After suitable testing, this is an avenue which can be considered in appropriate cases.

One other aspect to this treatment protocol is worth mentioning. The naturopathic physician, Frederic M Speer MD, coined the phrase “allergic tension fatigue syndrome” (Speer, F M, “Allergy of the Nervous System”, Springfield: C C Thomas, 1970). He was describing how delayed food allergy can manifest itself.

In cases described above, when I’ve suspected that delayed food allergy may have played a part in ME, the offending food item has been excluded from the patient’s diet and supplements introduced.

Harald Gaier, a registered homoeopath, naturopath and osteopath is author of Thorsons Dictionary of Homoeopathy.

After these dramatic results, Simon Dalby-Ball, headmaster at Nunnykirk School in Northumberland – one of five schools in Britain devoted to dyslexia – decided to try removing wheat from the diet of the entire student body.

After six months, the children’s annual reading and comprehension test results were extraordinary: 17 of the 22 day students made a year’s progress in six months; 11 of the 12 boarders made more than a year’s progress; and two of the boarders zoomed ahead by more than three years. The school’s average attendee is about four years behind ordinary pupils of the same chronological age in reading. In Nathan’s case, his reading ability leapt by nearly four years, making his reading close to his chronological age.

Teachers at the school have also noticed that the children are sunnier, and far more calm and alert. Dyslexic children often become frustrated or withdrawn when they cannot cope with the work. An improved mood and better results will boost self-esteem and further improve results.

In addition to the wheat-free diet, headmaster Dalby-Ball also gives the children fish oils and plays brain games. Nevertheless, the most dramatic response of all occurred simply by ridding the school of wheat.

I have been prescribed prednisolone and mesalazine daily. I am feeling the side effects of these drugs and wish to reduce and withdraw from them as soon as possible.

I would be grateful for any information about the alternative control for colitis and Crohn’s disease and about the known side effects of these particular drugs. J H, Rochester, Kent…..

A:Colitis and Crohn’s disease remain a mystery to most doctors. In fact, in a recent editorial, the British Medical Journal admitted as much (BMJ, 6 August 1994).

One likely cause still unrecognized by most gastroenterologists (and ignored by the above editorial) is the link between non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and the development of these diseases, even though NSAIDs are well known to injure the mucosa of the colon and cause ulcers.

A number of researchers from the Departments of Gastroenterology and Histopathology at the General Hospital in Jersey recently reported that of the 60 new cases of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) seen between March 1991 and June 1994, 23 (or 38 per cent) had developed while the patient was taking an NSAID. None of those 23 patients had a pre existing IBD that could have been exacerbated by taking NSAIDs.

After taking highly detailed histories of drug use among these patients, the researchers found that while a large number of NSAIDs were implicated, diclofenac (Voltarol, Voltaren in the US) and mefanamic acid (Ponstan, Ponstel in the US) were the most frequent culprits, with 12 and five cases, respectively. “The NSAID had usually been taken orally but colitis was seen after rectal and intramuscular administration and could occur within a few days of therapy,” they wrote. Although the symptoms varied, in some instances the drugs caused full blown ulcerative colitis.

With the milder cases, the patient rapidly improved on withdrawal of the drug and the use of suphasalazine or mesalazine. But some of the severe cases required systemic and topical steroids, and one patient needed to have his colon surgically removed after developing toxic megacolon ((life threatening massive widening of the colon) in the wake of intramuscular doses of diclofenac.

“NSAIDS associated colitis seems to be an underrecognized but common form of colonic disease,” concluded the Jersey researchers. “We suggest taking a thorough drug history in every new cases of colitis” (The Lancet, 8 October 1994).

Another vastly underreported cause may be measles vaccination.

Researchers in the inflammatory bowel disease study group at the Royal Free Hospital in London have made links between a rise in Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis and the measles jab. They believe that the measle virus, both in the wild form and used in the vaccine, may damage blood vessels supplying blood to the intestines, casuing inflammation and ulceration of the gastrointestinal tract and severe abdominal pain and diarrhea.

This link was also made by Swedish researchers, who found that people with Crohn’s disease were more likely to be born during measles epidemics, and so exposed to the virus in the womb or shortly afterward (The Lancet, 22 October 1994).

However, it is the vaccine which may be responsible for the massive rise is cases of IBD in children, says Andrew Wakefield, director of the Royal Free study group. Mr Wakefield said studies in Scotland had discovered that over the last 20 years cases in children had risen by more than seven times, from four per million to 29 per million. During that time, although cases of live measles dropped drastically, the measles vaccine was introduced and widely used.

Medicine usually first attempts to treat each illness with mesalazine (mesalamine in the States), an antiinflammatory, or sulphasalazine (sulfasazaline), a drug with two halves containing mesalazine and a sulphur drug chemically akin to aspirin. As the latter is the more dangerous drug, which can lead to acute intolerance syndrome, causing bloody diarrhea, cramping and great pain, some doctors prefer preparations with only the mesalazine portion left in.

As we described in WDDTY vol 5 no 6 (Drug of the Month), mesalazine has a number of its own problems. These include a surprising number of gastrointestinal problems in a drug supposed to be used for that purpose: nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and even causing a worsening of the colitis. It has also been known to cause hepatitis, lowered blood cell count, pancreatitis and kidney failure. This is particularly worrisome for those patients on long term “maintenance” therapy.

For more severe cases, doctors often turn to today’s catch all therapy for all inflammation: steroids. Although prednisone or prednisolone are the usual drugs of choice, medicine has been tinkering with a new type of steroid called budesonide. Although it has potent topical anti inflammatory activity (that is, at the site where the drug actually makes contact with your body), it supposedly doesn’t much effect the rest of your body because it is largely inactivated once it hits your liver. In order to deliver budesonide straight to the intestine, medicine has developed a controlled release preparation, which supposedly doesn’t start working until it reaches your gut.

One study found that patients taking the highest doses of budesonide had higher remission rates than patients taking a placebo over eight weeks. Although budesonide didn’t cause the usual significant side effects associated with steroids moon face, thinning skin, osteoporosis, permanent adrenal disease, eye damage, such as glaucoma it was shown to suppress your body’s own natural supply of steroids in the blood. Furthermore, in another study comparing budesonide against prednisolone, the older drug worked better (66 per cent remission rate against 53 per cent at four weeks), but had worse side effects (N Engl J Med, 29 Sept 1994).

Once again medicine appears to be blind to the suggestion that food allergy or intolerance may cause or exacerbate the condition. According to several Birmingham and Scottish doctors, at least two controlled trials demonstrated that avoiding foods found not to be tolerated significantly prolonged the time before the disease returned. Numerous patients expected to undergo colectomies managed to avoid the operations by having their allergies fully investigated and keeping away from the offending foods. “Patients remained well for years unless they inadvertently ate one of the foods that they could not tolerate,” the group said in a letter to the British Medical Journal (22 October 1994). Besides avoidance, in some cases the patients underwent enzyme potentiated desensitization (EPD), a method of desensitizing patients to the offending allergen by finding a “neutralizing dose”, which switches off symptoms, and giving it to them periodically by injection or under the tongue.

According to these researchers, Dr Len McEwen, who introduced EPD to this country, demonstrated that using them even without a exclusion diet worked better than placebo in patients suffering from IBD. (Bear in mind that WDDTY is concerned about the lack of data of the long term effects of EPD.)

Besides food allergy treatment, IBD has been proven to respond well to hypnosis, psychotherapy and biofeedback (see our Alternatives column, WDDTY vol 4 no 9).

There are also many good reports of herbal success. Several herbalists say their patients are cured or controlled with formulas containing liquorice, slippery elm and golden seal root, all herbs long demonstrated to have healing and anti inflammatory properties.

In one case, the child went for his regular appointment with his paediatrician, who commented on how much calmer the lad was and asked what had happened to bring about the change.

On being told about the new diet, the doctor said the child should eat whatever he wanted. Soon afterward, I had a frantic phone call to say the boy was “fitting all over the place”, and “running around on tippy-toes again” – this had also stopped on the new diet. The hospital had wanted to operate and cut the tendons at the back of his heels as he had never walked normally – until the new diet.

The Great Ormond Street hospital studies of the 1980s found that epilepsy could be caused by diet (see the American Journal of Pediatrics, 1989; 114: 51-8). – V.K., Knaresborough

Neutralisation treatment for inhalant sensitivities is well supported by numerous clinical studies. In this technique, the patient receives skin injections of a variety of pollens in successively stronger or weaker doses until no reaction is seen. This ‘neutralising dose’ is then used in a vaccine, comprising all the substances to which the patient is allergic, which the patient self-administers with an extremely fine needle, which is usually not painful. The injections are given on alternate days, and most patients are considerably or totally improved in 7-10 days. The injections need to be given throughout the season that the patient normally has problems.

* Have a sweat test, red-blood-cell test or a thermogram performed to check your magnesium levels (obtainable at the Biolab Medical Unit, London, tel: 020 7636 5959).

* For food allergies, most so-called food-allergy tests are not reliable. The most accurate ‘test’ remains a strict elimination-rotation diet. You follow a 20-food low-risk diet for seven days and, if your symptoms disappear, your problem is related to food.

* For fungal infections, the most satisfactory nasal-and-sinus-irrigation system we’ve seen is the EMCUR Nasal Spray (Notions Medical, P.O. Box 5237, Poole, Dorset BH13 7YZ; http://www.emcur.co.uk/spray.asp). Alternatively, 8 drops of amphotericin suspension to one sachet of saline cleaning solution will kill most fungi.

* Treat Candida systemically.

Higher incontinence rates are also associated with obesity and carbonated drinks, whereas eating bread reduces the risk (BJU Int, 2003; 92: 69-77).

* Take herbs to calm and heal your bladder, which may ease or eliminate symptoms. A homoeopath may recommend remedies such as Causticum or Euryale for bladder control.

* Take magnesium. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 40 women with urge incontinence, 11 of the 20 who were taking magnesium reported an improvement in their urinary symptoms compared with only five of the 20 taking a placebo (Br J Obstet Gynaecol, 1998; 105: 667-9).

* Ditch hormones. HRT (hormone replacement therapy) can make incontinence worse (Obstet Gynecol, 2001; 97: 116-20). Try supplementing with vitamins A, C, D, E and selenium instead.

* Try using the Conveen Continence Guard. This arch-shaped polyurethane-foam device is inserted into the vagina, and its two ‘wings’ are designed to support the bladder neck. Of the 28 women with complicated stress incontinence who used the product, 84.2 per cent were cured or improved (according to objective measures) after three weeks (Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand, 2000; 79: 1052-5). The device can be purchased from selected high-street pharmacies for around £15.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore followed up earlier studies that found that a cereal-free diet helped remission levels among schizophrenic patients.

They tested the theory on a group of 7,997 patients who were admitted to a Danish psychiatric unit for schizophrenia.

Even before beginning their tests, they found that four patients, five mothers of patients and three fathers of patients were already being treated for coeliac disease. They also tested for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, which have been linked to schizophrenia.

They discovered that those suffering from coeliac disease were over three times more likely to suffer schizophrenia than someone who didn’t have the disease, while the risk associated with Crohn’s is lower at 1.4 times, and lower still for ulcerative colitis.

(Source: British Medical Journal, 2004; 328: 438-9).