The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 279 No 7464 p160
11 August 2007

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Rosemary — a useful aromatic spice

Vitamin A a major factor in infant nutrition

Another approach to cigarette addiction

Talking about talking

Rosemary — a useful aromatic spice

Rosemary has come to be a familiar inhabitant of gardens. It has been cultivated for centuries in herb gardens, where it was grown mainly for its medicinal qualities as well as for its fragrance when strewn about the house and in clothes cupboards.

It is a native of the Mediterranean region, where it is a common wild plant colonising rocky hillsides in the neighbourhood of the sea. Indeed, its botanical name derives from its designation as “dew of the sea”.

Like so many of its garden companions, rosemary is assumed to have been introduced into our country by the Romans. Its numerous downy branches when young become woody with a grey brown scaly bark. The narrow leaves resemble those of the pine and, when crushed, give off a strong scent resembling camphor and pine. The pale blue flowers that appear in spring to early summer are restricted to clusters towards the ends of the branches.

In its history of cultivation more importance has been attached to the medicinal than to the culinary uses of the plant. In classical Greece and Rome it was thought that rosemary fortified the memory and the brain. Fresh sprigs were thrown into graves at funerals to help remembrance. There persists an idea of a connection with the head, and rosemary oil is added to shampoos and inhaled after massage for headaches. It was a symbol of fidelity and used in wreaths.

The oil is obtained from the leaves and flowering stems and is widely used in soaps and perfumes and also in aromatherapy. It remains a popular flavouring for food items, especially in Italy and Provence, with roasts or fish stuffings. However, the herb can also be used fresh or dried.

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Vitamin A a major factor in infant nutrition

In the 23 June issue of The Lancet there is a discussion of the nutritional problem posed by deficiency of vitamin A, which threatens the survival and health of millions of children worldwide.

It is claimed that 127 million preschool children and 7.2 million pregnant women are deficient in this vitamin. In regions where the intake is insufficient there is need to receive adequate supplements through breastfeeding, improving diets and, where necessary, food fortification.

The effectiveness of supplementation in reducing mortality in children aged between six months and five years in developing countries is well established after standard World Health Organization doses, but a trial indicates that half the originally recommended dose may offer good or better protection against mortality.

Revised guidelines recommend a high dose regimen involving three doses of 50,000iu for infants younger than six months with intervals of at least one month between each dose. However, there has been controversy because of the possible induction of high intracranial pressure and complications from the combination with vaccines given at the same time, particularly diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus vaccines.

Trials in Gambia have shown that high dose regimens should not be widely used until the risk of 50,000iu of the vitamin given with the present immunisation schedules has been tested. Doubling the dose of the vitamin for mothers and infants is thought unlikely to improve the situation. A further study should be carried out before a definite dosage scheme is adopted.

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Another approach to cigarette addiction

In the July issue of Chemistry World some new light is thrown upon possible methods of conquering the tobacco habit. It is now 30 years since the first nicotine gum was developed in Sweden but still many smokers find themselves unable to abandon a habit that is calculated to kill half a billion people worldwide.

The rate at which smokers quit without special help is pronounced as dismal. According to the US centres for disease control and prevention, less than five per cent of those who attempt it remain smoke-free after 12 months.

A new drug seems to offer new hope. This is varenicline tartrate, approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, taken as a tablet twice daily. It is reported to reduce the pleasure of smoking and reduce also the withdrawal symptoms.

It is a derivative of cytosine, naturally occurring in the laburnum tree, which has been used in Eastern Europe since the 1960s by some smokers wanting to quit. It closely resembles morphine among the alkaloids and could be a replacement for it in inhaled preparations.

In combination with nicotine patches and other forms of nicotine replacement therapy, it promises to help in the rehabilitation of confirmed cigarette smokers.

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Talking about talking

Sex differences in conversational behaviour have for many years involved the interest of the public and scientists alike. Psychologists in several US universities have raised the topic in a brief report in the 6 July issue of Science. Female talkativeness is an idea deeply ingrained in Western folklore, so deeply ingrained indeed that it often passes as a scientific fact.

It has been stated in a textbook that a woman on average uses some 20,000 words per day, whereas a man uses only some 7,000. This cultural myth has been cited in the popular media for the past 15 years.

In point of fact, no scientific study has systematically recorded the natural conversations of large groups of people for extended periods. A rough estimate in 2006 concluded that women speak 8,805 words per day and men 6,073. However, the period during which recordings were made was not on record.

The authors of the latest paper developed over the past eight years an electronic voice recorder, which unobtrusively tracked moment-to-moment interactions in natural language without the subject being able to decide when and for how long the conversation happened. Participants carried the device for several days during waking hours, an automatic record being made every 12.5 minutes for an interval of 30 seconds.

Between 1998 and 2004, 210 women and 186 men, all university students, took part. Over an average period of 17 waking hours, women spoke 16,215 words and men 15,669. No evidence emerged from this study of a significant difference between men and women, both averaging 16,000 words per day. There were, however, large individual differences between persons.