Southern School of Natural Therapies (SSNT) is Australia’s longest standing school of natural therapies. Founded in 1961 by Alf Jacka, the school has been in continuous operation since its inception 60 years ago. SSNT was founded with a vision for elevating naturopathic educational standards and it has been a leader in this field over decades. The purpose of this article is to reflect on the contribution of SSNT to naturopathic education and to look towards to the bright future ahead.

Candida albicans (C. albicans) biofilm-related diseases remain a major challenge for clinicians due to the formidable and increasing resistance to commonly used antifungal drugs. This has led to the search for new phytotherapeutic modalities like the use of medicinal plants and their extracted essential oils. We examined the effects of eight plant essential oils on the growth (disc diffusion assay), mitochondrial activity (MTT assay), germ tube and biofilm formation (crystal violet assay) of C. albicans. We found that Urtica dioica (U. dioica) essential oil significantly reduced the growth of C. albicans, and Saussurea costus (S. costus), Boswellia serrata (B. serrata)  and Commiphora myrrha (C. myrrha) significantly reduced mitochondrial dehydrogenase activity (p<0.0001). We report, for the first time, that U. dioica, S. costus and Matricaria chamomilla essential oils also caused potent inhibition of germ tube formation, and C. myrrha and S. costus essential oils exerted strong inhibition of biofilm formation (p<0.0001). Since morphogenesis and biofilm formation are vital for C. albicans to penetrate and invade tissues and to persist as antimicrobial tolerant cells in the biofilms, these essential oils may present an additive, and less toxic, approach to standard antifungal drugs.

Objective In light of the importance of using safe drugs during pregnancy, this study was conducted to compare the effect of aromatherapy with rose and metoclopramide on pregnancy-induced depression.

Methods and materials In this cross-over study, subjects consisted of 40 patients with nausea and vomiting who were assigned to two groups (n=20 in each group). The first group was treated with drops of rose essential oil and placebo for 5 days and the second group received drops of placebo essential oil and metoclopramide. Then the drugs were swapped between the two groups and the treatment continued for another 5 days. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was utilised to measure mood swings.

Results The mean age of patients was 22.07±4.94 years. As for the patients’ mood swings, the mean score of the HADS was not significantly different between the two groups at the baseline (p=0.82). However, by the end of the 5th day, the score dropped significantly in group A (aromatherapy with rose + placebo) compared to group B (metoclopramide + rose) in terms of anxiety (p=0.008) and depression (p=0.009). However, a significant difference was observed between both groups on the 10th day in both anxiety (p=0.19) and depression (p=0.49).

Conclusion As suggested by the results of this study, the positive effects of aromatherapy with rose eclipse those of metoclopramide on mood swings (both anxiety and depression) in patients with pregnancy nausea and vomiting.

Medicinal mushrooms have been used in the traditional medicines of Asia, in particular China and Japan, for centuries. Medicinal mushrooms include some well-known species – Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi), Trametes/Coriolus versicolor (Turkey tail) and Lentinula edodes (Shiitake). There has been a significant increase in medicinal mushroom research in the past few decades, and particularly in relation to cancer. Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosis for women and although treatment outcomes have improved life expectancy, there is a need to improve the quality of life (QoL) impacts of oncology treatment, especially cancer-related fatigue (CRF) and immunosuppression. In preparation for this review, a search was conducted of PubMed, Google Scholar and the Cochrane library for original research on medicinal mushrooms (and G. lucidum in particular) in relation to breast cancer. This paper overviews the in vivo, in vitro and limited clinical research that has been conducted on breast cancer and G. lucidum (Reishi mushroom). The in vivo and in vitro research has demonstrated reductions in breast cancer cell growth and metastasis, which is encouraging. Systematic reviews of G. lucidum and cancer have also proved promising. Considering these results and given the popularity of complementary medicine (CM) as an adjunct breast cancer treatment, future high quality clinical trials that investigate the efficacy of G. lucidum in supporting the QoL in women confronted with a breast cancer diagnosis are warranted.

These abstracts are brief summaries of articles which have appeared in recent issues of herbal medicine journals, some of which may be held in the NHAA library.

These abstracts are brief summaries of articles in recent issues of medical journals. Articles selected are of a general nature for the information of practitioners of naturopathy and herbal medicine. A dominant theme is often present throughout the journals which will be reflected in the reviews.

The AJHNM-based CPD questionnaire system is a voluntary system designed to assist members in the accumulation of NHAA CPD hours. Each question refers to an article in this issue of the Australian Journal of Herbal and Naturopathic Medicine. Hours accumulated through completion of these questions should be recorded in the NHAA CPD diary. The completion of answering each issue’s questions qualifies for 4 hours within the Formal Learning category. Your completed CPD diary should be returned with your membership renewal at the end of the financial year. For further information, please see the NHAA CPD Guide on the NHAA website www.nhaa.org.au.