The Blood Brain Barrier
By David Stewart, Ph.D.,R.A.
It was thought for years that the interstitial tissues of the Brain served as
a barrier to keep damaging substances from reaching the neurons of the brain and
the cerebrospinal fluid. Instead of a barrier, it would be more accurate to
consider it as a sieve or filter through which only molecules of a certain size
or smaller can pass.
Most of the molecules of the substances used in chemotherapy are too large to
pass through the blood-brain filter, which is why doctors say that chemotherapy
doesn't work on brain Cancer. Some of the smaller molecules get through, but not
the whole suite of drugs intended.
Doctors don't know for sure, but it seems that in order to cross the
blood-brain barrier, only molecules less than 800-1000 atomic mass units (amu)
in molecular weight can get through. Lipid solubility seems to be another factor
which facilitates passing through the blood-brain barrier. Water soluble
molecules don't usually penetrate into brain tissue, even when very small. The
molecules of essential oils are all not only small, but lipid soluble as well.
In fact, when it comes to essential oils, small molecules (less than 500 amu)
are what they are made of. That is why they are aromatic. The only way for
something to be aromatic is for the molecules to be so small that they readily
leap into the air so they can enter our noses and be detected as odor and smell.
That is why oils for cooking or massage, such as corn, peanut, sesame seed,
safflower, walnut, almond, canola, olive and other oils pressed from seeds are
not aromatic. Sure, they have a smell, but you can't smell them across the room
in minutes as one can when you open a bottle of peppermint, hyssop, or cinnamon
oil.
Essential oils of every species cross the blood-brain barrier. This makes
them uniquely able to address disease, not only from a physical level, but from
a more basic and fundamental level-that of the emotions which are often the root
cause of physical illness.
A QUICK COURSE IN CHEMISTRY
Because of the tiny molecular structure of the components of an essential
oil, they are extremely concentrated. One drop contains approximately 40
million-trillion molecules. Numerically that is a 4 with 19 zeros after it:
40,000,000,000,000,000,000. We have 100 trillion cells in our bodies, and that's
a lot. But one drop of essential oil contains enough molecules to cover every
cell in our bodies with 40,000 molecules. Considering that it only takes one
molecule of the right kind to open a receptor site and communicate with the DNA
to alter cellular function, you can see why even inhaling a small amount of oil
vapor can have profound effects on the body, brain, and emotions. Sometimes too
many oil molecules overload the receptor sites, and they freeze up without
responding at all, when a smaller amount would have been just right. This is why
we say that when using oils, "sometimes less is better." Sometimes more is
better, too. Knowing the difference is the art of aromatherapy.
Essential oils are mixtures of dozens, even hundreds, of constituents, all of
which are composed of carbon and hydrogen and sometimes oxygen. All essential
oils are principally composed of a class of organic compounds built of "isoprene
units." An isoprene unit is a set of five connected carbon atoms with eight
hydrogens attached. Their molecular weight is only 68 amu, which is very small,
indeed. Molecules built of isoprene units are all classified as "terpenes."
Terpenes are what make essential oils unique in the world of natural substances.
PHENYLPROPANOIDS
Phenylpropanoids are compounds of carbon-ring molecules incorporating one
isoprene unit. They are also called hemiterpenes. There are dozens of varieties
of phenylpropanoids.
They are found in Clove (90%), Cassia (80%), Basil (75%), Cinnamon (73%),
Oregano (60%), Anise (50%), Peppermint (25%). While they can create conditions
where unfriendly viruses and bacteria cannot live, the most important function
performed by phenylpropanoids is that they clean the receptor sites on the
cells. Without clean receptor sites, cells cannot communicate, and the body
malfunctions, resulting in sickness.
MONOTERPENES
Monoterpenes are compounds of two isoprene units, which is ten carbon atoms
and sixteen hydrogen atoms per molecule- molecular weight 136 amu. There are an
estimated 2,000 varieties of monoterpenes.
Monoterpenes are found in most essential oils: Galbanum (80%), Angelica
(73%), Hyssop ((70%), Rose of Sharon (54%), Peppermint (45%), Juniper (42%),
Frankincense (40%), Spruce (38%), Pine (30%), Cypress (28%), and Myrtle (25%).
While offering a variety of healing properties, the most important ability of
the monoterpenes is that they can reprogram miswritten information in the
cellular memory. With improper coding in the DNA, cells malfunction and diseases
result, including lethal ones such as cancer.
SESQUITERPENES
Sesquiterpenes are compounds of three isoprene units, which is fifteen
carbons and twenty-four hydrogens per molecule- molecular weight 204 amu. There
are more than 10,000 kinds of sesquiterpenes. Sesquiterpenes are the principal
constituents of Cedarwood (98%), Vetiver (97%), Spikenard (93%), Sandalwood
(Aloes) 90%, Black Pepper (74%), Patchouli (71%), Myrrh (62%), and Ginger (59%).
They are also found in Galbanum, Onycha, and Frankincense (8%).
Sesquiterpene molecules deliver oxygen molecules to cells, like hemoglobin
does in the blood. Sesquiterpenes can also erase or deprogram miswritten codes
in the DNA. Sesquiterpenes are thought to be especially effective in fighting
cancer because the root problem with a cancer cell is that it contains
misinformation, and sesquiterpenes can erase that garbled information. At the
same time the oxygen carried by sesquiterpene molecules creates an environment
where cancer cells can't reproduce. Hence, sesquiterpenes deliver cancer cells a
double punch-one that disables their coded misbehavior and a second that stops
their growth.
The American Medical Association (AMA) has said that if they could find an
agent that would pass the blood-brain barrier, they would be able to find cures
for ailments such as Lou Gehrig's disease, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's
disease, and Parkinson's disease. Such agents already exist and have been
available since Biblical times. The agents, of course, are essential
oils-particularly those containing the brain oxygenating molecules of
sesquiterpenes.
THE TRIPLE WHAMMY
The big triple punch combination of "PMS" (Phenylpropanoids, Monoterpenes,
and Sesquiterpenes) found in essential oils is very powerful in addressing many
illnesses, injuries, and disease conditions. That is because this combination
offers the following:
First, you clean the receptor sites allowing the proper transfer of hormones,
peptides, neurotransmitters, steroids, and other intracellular messengers. (The
Phenylpropanoids do that.)
Second, you deprogram or erase the wrong information from cellular memory
stored in the DNA. (The Sesquiterpenes take care of that.)
Third, you reprogram the cells with the correct information so they can
function properly. (The Monoterpenes do this.)
These three classes of chemical components are why essential oils can
sometimes affect a healing that is nearly instant and also permanent. What they
simply do is to restore the body back to its natural state of balance and
health. While a specific oil may have one or two of these three classes of
compounds as its predominant chemistry, all the Biblical oils contain some of
all of them. This is one secret to their amazing healing abilities.
So there you have it in a nutshell: The way the blood-brain barrier works and
the biochemistry of one of the ways essential oils can help achieve a healing.
The information given above is an excerpt from Dr. Stewart's book, HEALING
OILS OF THE BIBLE, published by Essential Science Publishing.
www.essentialscience.net
They also publish a WONDERFUL book called ESSENTIAL OILS INTEGRATIVE MEDICAL
GUIDE by Dr. Gary Young, ND. This book is very comprehensive, giving information
on many essential oils, and their use in treatment of a wide range of physical
illnesses and mental or emotional conditions such as depression and
schizophrenia, and ADD/ADHD. Highly recommended!
Dr. Young is doing wonderful thing at his Young Life Research Clinic -
Institute of Natural Medicine in Utah
www.younglifeclinic.com using essential oils, nutrition, Chiropractic, and
many other wholistic therapies.
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