ACCENTUATING THE NEGATIVE...

Further Evidence of Positive Health Benefits from Negative Ions
 

By Diana Johnston

My article on ionisers in Issue 32 of this magazine certainly generated (no pun intended) interest among Golden Age readers. Briefly, it described how I'd borrowed an Elanra Therapeutic Ioniser from a friend in a desperate effort to overcome a particularly nasty dose of influenza. At the time I admit I didn't expect any startling results, but work was piling up and I had to do something. My speedy recovery was frankly surprising, and I knew it was more than a coincidence. In fact, so reluctant was I to return the machine that my colleague had to ask for it back! This experience prompted me to research the history of ionisers - their effects, their applications, their successes and failures - and led me to Joshua Shaw, the Australian inventor of the Elanra, who supplied me with the fascinating results of his own 29 years of research. Since the article appeared, Joshua has been inundated with enquiries from Golden Age readers eager to discover for themselves whether his machine would live up to its promises. 

To recap the story for those who missed it - the Elanra, an Australian invention - is the world's only genuine therapeutic ioniser. It is also the only ioniser registered by the Commonwealth Health Department as a therapeutic device, and the only one whose cost (or part thereof) is recoverable from several major health funds. The Elanra is also sold in the USA, where it is currently undergoing trials for FDA approval. This information is of vital importance to anyone considering the purchase of an ioniser. When a government body approves the Elanra as a medical device, the average person can be confident there will be beneficial effects, and that the unit is totally safe to use.

Although ionisers - machines which generate negative ions - have been around for decades, during the last 20 years or so they fell out of favour, as the health benefits that had been previously observed failed to materialise. This situation came about because the original machines, which used a radioactive isotope to replicate the ions produced in nature, were superseded by safer, electronic models which failed in one vital respect. Although they certainly produced negative ions, it wasn't realised until recently that the size of ions is crucial in affecting living organisms, including humans. It's now recognised that only small negative ions can be breathed in, enter the bloodstream through the lungs, and work their "magic" on health and well-being. 

Large ions will sweep up pollutants from the air, but cannot be ingested. So cheap, inferior ion generators will act as air cleaners but cannot produce any biological effect. Small negative ions of oxygen are not easy to produce by mechanical means, and Joshua Shaw funded over ten years of scientific research at Universities including La Trobe, Melbourne, and the ANU in Canberra - first to prove that these specific ions could be of benefit, and secondly to pave the way for the development of a truly effective ioniser.

Throughout Europe, Asia and the Soviet Union, intensive research earlier this century had shown that negative ions - similar to those found in clean country air, by waterfalls and the ocean - could exert an amazing effect on the body by lowering infection rates, speeding up healing, improving breathing and lung capacity, producing relaxing sleep and promoting a sense of general well-being. 

Joshua Shaw's Australian research clearly demonstrated that small negative ions of oxygen, when inhaled, increase the body's production of Immunoglobulin A, an important immune factor. It's also known that elevated levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin can cause a range of unpleasant effects from allergies to depression, and that exposure to small negative ions will bring serotonin back into balance, relieving symptoms. 

This can be observed by anyone during and after a thunderstorm. Most people find that, as a storm builds up, they feel restless and agitated or suffer from headaches and respiratory problems. This is now recognised as being due to an overload of positive ions in the atmosphere, the result of abrasive winds and lightning activity. Once the storm has passed and the air has been cleansed by rain, these unpleasant symptoms usually disappear - the result of the natural production of negative ions by the movement of rain through the air. But because negative ions cannot be seen, felt, tasted or smelled, these effects are seen by some as 'mysterious' or by the more cynical as pure imagination.

To put this to the test, I asked Joshua Shaw if I could contact some people who owned and used an Elanra ioniser and he supplied me with about a dozen names at random, all of whom had recently purchased a unit from him. I telephoned these people with no warning and, of those I was able to contact, simply asked if they had noticed any change in their symptoms. Without exception, all were full of praise for the machine's benefits.

For example, Violet Kennedy of Nowra is in her late sixties and has suffered from asthma and sinus problems for many years. She had been using her ioniser for less than a month when I spoke to her, and described the changes in her condition as "a miracle." She no longer uses her nebuliser or asthma drugs and said, "I feel a renewed sense of energy. I wake up feeling great. I'd been coughing non-stop for six weeks, and the first night I put the ioniser beside my bed I slept right through till morning. I didn't expect that." She added that she had been well since, and is considering buying a second machine for her daughter who has sinus problems and also suffers from siliac disease (gluten and wheat allergy).

Next I spoke to Kim Verstenden at her home in Geelong, Victoria. She and her husband both suffer from constant sinus problems and their children from eczema. "I suppose I bought the Elanra partly out of curiosity," she told me, "And also because we wanted an alternative to chemicals and drugs." At this stage the Verstendens had only had their ioniser for a few days but were eager to report that their sinus problems were clearing up. 

"I turn the ioniser on a couple of hours before we go to bed," she said, "And when we go into the bedroom the room is much less stuffy than usual. My husband also says he now remembers his dreams - pleasant dreams - where he always used to claim he didn't dream at all. We're impressed, and we're going to buy another unit for the children's' room."

Another couple I contacted didn't want their names used, but reported measurable benefits after only two weeks' use. The wife has Hodgkins disease and was resting when I telephoned. Her husband was happy to tell me he had noticed "a great change" in his wife's condition and that her coughing was definitely reduced. He added that he has been feeling better also, and waking refreshed each morning. 

When I spoke to Dana Liddell I was intrigued to learn that she had purchased her ioniser in an effort to overcome a combination of stress, migraine headaches and unpleasant menopausal symptoms. I had no idea the Elanra could have an effect on the dreaded hot flushes, but Dana assured me that this was so. "I can't use oestrogen replacement therapy, " she told me, "But since receiving the Elanra less than a week ago, the hot flushes have stopped and I'm less stressed. I did have a migraine yesterday," she added, "But it only lasted 24 hours, not three or four days like it usually does. I can't remember the last time that happened." 

Lillian, a Reiki master, is familiar with alternative therapies. She was diagnosed with breast cancer six years ago and was prescribed Tamoxifen, which produced some drastic side effects, so she decided to discontinue the drug. Through alternative therapies, she has overcome most of her problems, including a heart condition and high blood pressure. But she still wanted to feel better and less "restless", so she invested in an Elanra unit. She told me that she has noticed an improvement in her breathing, which is "less shallow" than previously.

Gwendolyn Smith of Mackay in Queensland had developed severe health problems after years of antibiotic use. She blames these drugs for leaving her with a high white blood cell count and ulcers which form after even the slightest scratch. Recently she reluctantly agreed to take another course of penicillin in a last-ditch attempt to overcome her problems, but said the tablets had no effect. After using her new ioniser for only 24 hours, "a wonderful thing happened," she said. Her leg ulcers began to heal, something even the most powerful antibiotics couldn't achieve. 

Georgina from Tasmania is an asthmatic who has been severely affected by recent bad weather and smoke from neighbours' wood fires. She found that the Elanra provided "an immense improvement. There's no more of that suffocating breathlessness during the night," she said, "And I can breathe easily in the morning. My energy level is increasing all the time, so now I'm able to maintain a fairly active day." 

A couple who both suffer from asthma, Louise and Raymond Cameron, are natural health therapists in Mackay. "In just twenty four hours," Louise told me, "We noticed a beneficial response. It's been only three days now, and my breathing's changed and I can feel my lung capacity has increased. Raymond has had three good nights' sleep in a row - unheard of for him!" She added that they intend eventually to place several Elanra units in their clinic to enhance the effects of their therapy on patients, and also expect that this will reduce their own stress levels by the end of each working day. 

There's one interesting side-effect that I haven't yet mentioned. All these people spoke of enjoying deep restful sleep, some even mentioning they now remembered their dreams (invariably pleasant ones) quite clearly in the morning. Having heard this comment so many times, I've decided to purchase my own Elanra unit. I don't suffer from asthma or allergies, and rarely have colds or flu, but I do have trouble getting a good night's sleep. 

As Joshua Shaw explains, the Elanra can be programmed to 72 different configurations to help relieve a wide range of ailments, from headaches and respiratory problems to depression, mood swings and insomnia. There's really no mystery to it. Nature intended us to breathe in small negative ions of oxygen. Without them, living organisms cannot survive at all and unfortunately, the technology-rich environment we've created destroys the ion balance of the air we breathe. We can't turn back the clock, but we can use technology to help restore that balance - and the inner balance of our own complex biology.