# 67: Salt of the Earth • New responsibility for sperm donors • Natrum muriaticum

Salt of the Earth

“Pass the salt, dear” is almost a cliché. Salt is on almost every kitchen and dinner table in the land. It’s in most breads we buy, most canned food, most prepared food and certainly most junk food. We have known for some time that salt can raise your blood pressure and have advised people with hypertension to cut down on their salt intake. Now the British Journal of Cancer tells of a study in Japan which seems to show that stomach cancer is more common in people with a higher salt intake. For the record a ‘low salt intake’ is considered 4 to 6 grams a day. The present daily average intake of salt per person in Britain is 9g. The Week says the government is attempting to reduce this but I haven’t seen much about reducing one’s salt intake in the media. One fish and chips with uh, just vinegar please.

New responsibility for sperm donors

Last week I wrote about the serious issue of the falling male sperm count. Spermatazoa were right back in the news this week, but in a completely different way. For many decades the donation of sperm has been a fairly straightforward matter. Healthy males donate or paid for healthy sperm. For best results they need to abstain from any sexual activity for a day or two before donating. Everything was done anonymously and the system worked well and without contraversy. Until now that is… The Times on Saturday had a front page headline about new government plans to change this completely. Apparently the Public Health Minister, Melanie Johnson, will unveil plans to remove the anonymity of sperm donors. This will allow future children of women who have conceived with donated sperm to track down their biological fathers. There are some biological advantages to this. The 1000 babies born in Britain every year by this method will be able to learn more about their genetic predispositions and this can sometimes be very important. However there is a big downside to this new law. The truth of the matter is that Britain is already short of sperm donors; we actually have been importing sperm from Denmark for some time now. This new legislation can hardly encourage new sperm donors, which means we will have to import even more sperm. Okay, so there will be more Danish genes in the British population. Maybe that’s not a bad thing, but children conceived by donated sperm, who insist on knowing exactly where there genes came from, may have to travel to Copenhagen to meet their biological fathers.

Homeopathic Tip of the Week
As salt was in the news this week, I thought I’d tell you about one of the most famous homeopathic remedies, Natrum muriaticum which is actually made from tiny quantities of common salt.

The uses of this remedy are many but it is most famous for people who get stuck in grief, bottle their emotions up, are unable to cry themselves but are always available to help others with difficult emotional problems. It’s also used a lot for cold sores on the lips and is often indicated in people who actually crave common salt or those who put salt on their food without tasting it. If you recognise yourself here, you could consider trying Natrum muriaticum 6c one twice a day for a week to 10 days and see how you feel. Homeopathic medicines are the safest of over-the-counter (OTC) medications, but it is still much better to have them prescribed for you personally by a qualified homeopathic doctor.