I HAVE just learned, in the course of a normal day's work, that I have no excess free radical activity. And not a lot of people know that.

The reason that not a lot of people are aware of such facts -- even about themselves, let alone me -- is because very few people have had their life blood magnified to such proportions that it looks like a view through the screen of the Starship Enterprise.

In a clinic in Bolton, an astonishingly powerful microscope is not only turning human blood into an art form, it is helping to pinpoint exactly what might be making a person chronically ill.

The vastly expensive Bradford Variable Projection Microscopy System was developed in America and is now widely used over there.

But the equipment in Bolton, at the private Complete Hormone Therapy Clinic and Chronobiology Centre in Chorley New Road, Bolton, is the first in Britain outside the South East.

As more and more "conventional" doctors become convinced of the benefits of the holistic approach to medicine, the microscope system allows massively enlarged examination of blood structure. The blood used is a mere droplet from a single pin prick in the little finger.

Holistic means "whole body" medicine in which the doctor treats the entire body, taking into account dietary, mental and environmental influences, instead of just the symptoms of a disease.

With the Bradford microscope, the absolute skill still rests on the doctor accurately interpreting what he sees through the twin eyepieces, on the screen or in a full colour printout.

But Dr Andrew Wright, the man who is using it in Bolton, is already hailing it as one of the most useful "tools" -- his word -- any doctor could have to help in a diagnosis.

Normal hospital microscopes enlarge up to 1,000 times. The Bradford system enlarges a living droplet of blood up to 15,000 times, then enhances the image further through a sophisticated video system.

But Dr Wright emphasised: "I don't want this to be seen as replacing normal tests and I insist that people are referred to me by their GP, or at least they tell him. This is an additional tool and will be used alongside normal tests where that is appropriate.

"It allows me to assess nutritional status, oxidative stress and the presence of free radicals and to gauge the health of the immune system. I can study the size of cells and the shape of micro-organisms."

Dr Wright's and the microscope company's literature sometimes needs to be translated into layman's language. Basically, the idea is this.

Just as a mechanic will study engine oil to check for a blown gasket, the blood can provide an accurate picture of what is going wrong in the human body. And close examination can reveal such things as yeast clotting, toxins and free radicals to give early warning of problems ahead or pinpoint what is already causing an illness.

Free radicals sound like an upstart political group. But they are the harmful debris of the vascular system and they have been called the body's "vandals". Medical experts in the conventional and complementary fields are agreed that an excess can lead to conditions such as arthritis, cancer and heart disease. HI-TECH comes hi-price. The diagnostic check under the microscope costs £100 -- before any other treatment starts, if any is needed. Andrew's dual approach to medicine DR Andrew Wright is a man of many parts. He is part-time Principal in General Practice at Ladybridge, Bolton, but he is also Hospital Practitioner in Genito-Urinary Medicine and Dermatology at Wigan's Royal Albert Edward Infirmary.

Until very recently he was a member of the Royal Bolton Hospital team which won the Hospital Doctor 1999 Gastroenterology Team of the Year Award.

He is national medical adviser to the charity Action for ME, one of two large charities supporting people who suffer from the debilitating illness. And he is a member of the Chief Medical Officer's Working Group on Chronic Fatigue Syndromes.

In private practice, Dr Wright is medical director of Chronobiology Ltd which specialises in integrative medicine, combining complementary and conventional approaches. He heads the Complete Hormone Clinic in Chorley New Road and is one of a growing number of doctors incorporating treatments such as nutritional medicine, homeopathy and acupuncture alongside drug and more familiar treatments. And he is one of only a few clinicians in the UK practising chronobiology, which studies the influence of body rhythms on health and disease states.