I’ve long had an interest in complementary therapies but, coming as I do from a scientific background, what I wanted was two things: evidence that these products work and some idea of why and how they work. The first evidence that they worked was Maggi’s experience as she describes in “The Social Workers Tale"

Something that I stress to people when I give talks is that complementary healthcare isn't "alternative medicine". It doesn’t replace the very necessary assistance that is available from doctors when our bodies breakdown.

 

However, I emphasise that it is our responsibility to put up our bodies' defences. I picture myself as a city and germs and viruses as marauding Vikings invading my walls. Obviously if they really get in and get a foothold, I have to go and get the doctor to give me something shoot them down, but setting up a good defensive barrier and warding them off so they can’t get through the defending walls of my immune system is a better bet if I can manage it.

I believe that we have a responsibility to know how our body works and to take care of it and to use things that will help our body function better.  As an analogy, we don’t take our car along to the garage every now and again and say “Oh look, it’s broken down,” only to have the garage say, “Well, did you know you should be using petrol in it, not diesel?”  or, “You should be putting oil in the sump sometimes and it’s a jolly good idea to put some rust treatment on.”

We obviously take into account that we go to the garage to have our car serviced, we do routine maintenance like checking the oil and water, and we use the correct oil and petrol with it. And that’s how I regard looking after my body – and whilst I can trade in my car, I can’t trade in my body…

The following are links to a collection of scientific papers

	First to an article I've written myself, giving a - hopefully - easily understandable overview about Antioxidants and Free Radicals.
	Next to a series of responses to enquiries from people who have written to me requesting information about specific conditions.  Additions are made to this each time the website is updated, in response to new enquiries - do write to me if a condition of particular interest to you has not been covered.
	Then to abstracts of other scientists' work on the Medical Research on Antioxidants, including some very interesting work on the efficacy of OPCs in reducing oedema
	I then provide a small sample of the work done on Herbal treatments for stress and depression as we have been extremely impressed by the effectiveness of Kava Kava and St John's Wort in "curing" my wife's severe seasonal affective disorder. (I put the word "cure" in quotation marks because Maggi needs to continue to take the herbal preparation throughout the English winter.)  NOTE: Kava kava is currently unavailable in the United Kingdom and St John's Wort is not available in the Republic of Ireland.  A product we use, containing both, can be imported for personal use only.  Contact me for details of how to obtain it.

I do hope that our website is enjoyable and helpful for you. Amazingly, it has been designed by my wife in the depths of an English winter. As Maggi has suffered appallingly from Seasonal Affective Disorder for as long as I have known her, for her to be alert, creative and energetic in January is a totally new experience for me!