Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy is a form of alternative medicine that uses volatile plant materials, known as essential oils, and similar aromatic compounds from plants, for the purpose of improving a person's mood, cognitive function or health. Preliminary scientific evidence is growing in all these areas. A person conducting aromatherapy is known as an aromatherapist.
Aromatherapy is a generic term and is used by manufacturers of personal care, wellness and hygiene products, as well as practitioners, including massage therapists, chiropractors, nurses and doctors. Over-the-counter products that make use of aromatherapy oils (or their constituents, such as menthol and methyl salicylate) include mouthwashes, liniments and "rubbing ointments", such as Listerine, Mentholatum Deep Heat and Vicks VapoRub. However, aromatherapy purists insist that neither essential oil constituents as such, nor synthetic fragrant chemicals, should ever be used.
Because many aromatherapy oils are potent anti-microbials, they can be useful in the treatment of infectious disease. They are used as medicines, often in combination with other herbal preparations, by a small group of doctors in France. In nursing, aromatherapy oils are increasingly used in pain management, anxiety/depression, and Alzheimer's disease. Aromatherapy may be used in combination with other forms of alternative medicine. Terms such as 'essential oil therapy' 'clinical aromatherapy' and 'medical aromatherapy' have been used by some journals, educational institutions and practitioners, in order to distance themselves from association with the commercial aspects.
History of Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy has origins in antiquity with the use of infused aromatic oils, made by macerating dried plant material in fatty oil, heating and then filtering. Many such oils, and their healing properties, are described by Dioscorides in his De Materia Medica, written in the first century. Distilled aromatherapy oils have been employed as medicines since the invention of distillation in the eleventh century, when Avicenna isolated essential oils using steam distillation.
The concept of aromatherapy was first mooted by a small number of European scientists and doctors, in about 1907. In 1937, the word first appeared in print in a French book on the subject: Aromathérapie: Les Huiles Essentielles, Hormones Végétales by René-Maurice Gattefossé, a chemist. An English version was published in 1993. In 1910, Gattefossé burned a hand very badly in a laboratory explosion. The hand developed gas gangrene, which he successfully, and intentionally, treated with lavender oil. This helped greatly to fire an already existing interest in aromatherapy, though it was not the "lucky accident" that is sometimes recounted by others.
A French surgeon, Jean Valnet, pioneered the medicinal uses of essential oils, which he used as antiseptics in the treatment of wounded soldiers during World War II.
Modes of application of aromatherapy
The modes of application of aromatherapy include:
- Aerial diffusion: for environmental fragrancing or aerial disinfection
- Direct inhalation: for respiratory disinfection, decongestion, expectoration as well as psychological effects
- Topical applications: for general massage, baths, compresses, therapeutic skin care
Materials used in Aromatherapy
Some of the materials employed include:
- Essential oils: Fragrant oils extracted from plants chiefly through steam distillation (e.g. eucalyptus oil) or expression (grapefruit oil). However, the term is also occasionally used to describe fragrant oils extracted from plant material by any solvent extraction.
- Absolutes: Fragrant oils extracted primarily from flowers or delicate plant tissues through solvent or supercritical fluid extraction (e.g. rose absolute). The term is also used to describe oils extracted from fragrant butters, concretes, and enfleurage pommades using ethanol.
- Phytoncides: Various volatile organic compounds from plants that kill microbes. Many terpene-based fragrant oils and sulphuric compounds from plants in the genus "Allium" are phytoncides, though the latter are likely less commonly used in aromatherapy due to their disagreeable odors.
- Herbal distillates or hydrosols: The aqueous by-products of the distillation process (e.g. rosewater). There are many herbs that make herbal distillates and they have culinary uses, medicinal uses and skin care uses. Common herbal distillates are rose, lemon balm and chamomile.
- Infusions: Aqueous extracts of various plant material (e.g. infusion of chamomile)
- Carrier oils: Typically oily plant base triacylglycerides that dilute aromatherapy oils for use on the skin (e.g. sweet almond oil)
Theory of Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy is the treatment or prevention of disease by use of essential oils. Two basic mechanisms are offered by aromatherapists to explain the purported effects. One is the influence of aroma on the brain, especially the limbic system through the olfactory system. The other is the direct pharmacological effect of the essential oils. While aromatherapists often claim precise knowledge of the synergy between the body and aromatic oils, the efficacy of aromatherapy remains to be proven. However, some preliminary clinical studies show positive effects.
In the English-speaking world, practitioners tend to emphasize the use of oils in massage, with aromatherapy tending to be regarded as a complementary modality at best and a pseudoscientific fraud at worst.
On the continent, especially in France, where it originated, aromatherapy is incorporated into mainstream medicine. There, the use of the antiseptic, antiviral, antifungal, and antibacterial properties of oils in the control of infections is emphasized over the approaches familiar to North Americans. In France some aromatherapy oils are regulated as prescription drugs, and thus administered by a physician. French doctors use a technique called the aromatogram to guide their decision on which aromatherapy oil to use. First the doctor cultures a sample of infected tissue or secretion from the patient. Next the growing culture is divided among petri dishes supplied with agar. Each petri dish is inoculated with a different aromatherapy oil to determine which have the most activity against the target strain of micro organism. The antiseptic activity manifests as a pattern of inhibited growth.
In many countries, aromatherapy oils are included in the national pharmacopoeia, but aromatherapy as science has never been recognized as a valid branch of medicine in the United States, Russia, Germany, or Japan.
Essential oils, phytoncides, and other natural VOCs work in different ways. At the scent level they activate the limbic system and emotional centres of the brain. When applied to the skin (commonly in form of "massage oils," i.e., 1%–10% solutions of aromatherapy oils in carrier oil) they activate thermal receptors and kill microbes and fungi. Internal application of aromatherapy oil preparations (mainly in pharmacological drugs; generally not recommended for home use apart from dilution—1%–5% in fats or mineral oils, or hydrosols) may stimulate the immune system.
Choice and purchase in Aromatherapy
Oils with standardized content of components (marked FCC, for Food Chemical Codex) have to contain a specified amount of certain aroma chemicals that normally occur in the oil. But there is no law that the chemicals cannot be added in synthetic form in order to meet the criteria established by the FCC for that oil. For instance, lemongrass essential oil has to contain 75% aldehyde to meet the FCC profile for that oil, but that aldehyde can come from a chemical refinery instead of from lemongrass. To say that FCC oils are "food grade" then makes them seem natural when in fact they are not necessarily so.
Undiluted essential oils suitable for aromatherapy are termed therapeutic grade, but in countries where the industry is not regulated, therapeutic grade is based on industry consensus and is not a regulatory category. Some aromatherapists take advantage of this situation to make misleading claims about the origin and even content of the aromatherapy oils they use. Likewise, claims that an oil's purity is vetted by mass spectrometry or gas chromatography have limited value, since all such testing can do is show that various chemicals occur in the oil. Many of the chemicals that occur naturally in aromatherapy oils are manufactured by the perfume industry and adulterate aromatherapy oils because they are cheaper. There is no way to distinguish between these synthetic additives and the naturally occurring chemicals.
The best instrument for determining whether an aromatherapy oil is adulterated is an educated nose. Many people can distinguish between natural and synthetic scents, but it takes experience.
Price of Aromatherapy
aromatherapy oils vary in price based on the amount of the harvest, the country of origin, the type of extraction used (steam distillation, CO 2 extract, enfleurage), and how desirable the oil is. Indian Sandalwood (Santalum album) is considered more desirable than Australian Sandalwood (Santalum spicatum), based upon the aroma, and is twice as costly, mainly because the tree that yields Indian Sandalwood essential oils is endangered, and because S. Spicatum essential oil contains only about 17% α-santalol and 7% β-santalol - much less than S. Album oil. Organic and wild harvested essential oils also tend to be more expensive.
Price is also determined by whether the aromatherapy oil is 'cut' or not. There are few companies and individuals that produce then resell 'pure', unadulterated aromatherapy oils. Many times oils are extracted, by whatever form, then repressed or thinned with a carrier of alcohol or some such substance. This lowers the quality of the healing properties of the oils. It can also lower the price necessary for a profit to be made, especially with higher priced oils such as rose or frankincense.
Pharmacological effects attributed to aromatherapy oils
- Antibacterial: In vitro testing has confirmed antibacterial effects in certain oils including rosemary, clove, lime, cinnamon, and tea tree oil.
- Antiviral: Supported for tea tree oil, lemongrass, sandalwood, peppermint, ginger, thyme, and hyssop in in vitro testing against Herpes
- Antifungal: Supported by in vitro testing for lavender, thyme, clove, juniper, and tea tree oil
- Anti-inflammatory: Reported in in-vitro assays of clove, cinnamon, sage, eucalyptus, black cumin and bay leaf
- Anxiolytic: Reported in animal models using oils of lavender, rose and angelica
- Antispasmotic (spasmolytic): Spasmolytic properties for catnip, lavender and New Zealand tea tree oils have been reported in animal studies.
- Invigorating:
- Antioxidant:
Popular uses of Aromatherapy
- Basil is used in perfumery for its clear, sweet and mildly spicy aroma. In aromatherapy, it is used for sharpening sexual concentration, for its uplifting effect on depression, and to relieve headaches and migraines. Basil oil has many chemotypes and some are known to be emmenagogues and should be avoided during pregnancy.
- Bergamot is one of the most popular oils in perfumery. It is an excellent insect repellent and may be helpful for both the urinary tract and for the digestive tract. It is useful for skin conditions linked to stress, such as cold sores and chicken pox, especially when combined with eucalyptus oil. Bergamot is a flavouring agent in Earl Grey tea. Cold-pressed Bergamot oil contains bergaptene, a strong photosensitizer when applied to the skin, so only distilled or 'bergaptene-free' types can be topically used.
- Black pepper has a sharp and spicy aroma. Common aromatherapy uses include stimulating the circulation and for muscular aches and pains. Skin application is useful for bruises, since it stimulates the circulation.
- Citronella oil, obtained from a relative of lemongrass, is used as an insect repellent and in perfumery.
- Clove oil is a topical analgesic, especially useful in dentistry. It is also used an antiseptic, antispasmodic, carminative, and antiemetic.
- Eucalyptus oil is often used in combination with peppermint to provide relief for the airways in case of cold or flu.
- Geranium oil is used as an astringent, antiseptic and diuretic.
- Jasmine is used as an aphrodisiac.
- Lavender oil is used as an antiseptic, to soothe minor cuts and burns, to calm and relax, for insomnia and to soothe headaches and migraines.
- Lemon oil is uplifting and anti-stress/anti-depressant. In a Japanese study, lemon essential oil in vapour form has been found to reduce stress in mice.
- Lemon oil - Researchers at Ohio State University reveals that Lemon oil aroma may enhance one's mood, and help with relaxation.
- Rose is used as an aphrodisiac.
- Sandalwood oil is used as an aphrodisiac.
- Tea tree oil and many other aromatherapy oils have topical (external) antimicrobial (i.e. antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, or antiparasitic) activity and are used as antiseptics, disinfectants, and in mouth rinses.
- Thyme oil
- Yarrow oil is used to reduce joint inflammation and relieve cold and influenza symptoms.
- Ylang-ylang oil is used as an aphrodisiac.
Efficacy of Aromatherapy
Some benefits that have been linked to aromatherapy, such as relaxation and clarity of mind, may arise from the placebo effect rather than from the inherent properties of the scents themselves. The consensus among most medical professionals is that while some aromas have demonstrated effects on mood and relaxation and may have related benefits for patients, there is currently insufficient scientific proof of many of the claims made for aromatherapy. Scientific research on the cause and effect of aromatherapy is limited, although in vitro testing has revealed some antibacterial and antiviral effects and a few double blind studies have been published. aromatherapy oils have a demonstrated efficacy in dental mouthwash products.
Like many alternative therapies, few controlled, double-blind studies have been carried out—a common explanation is that there is little incentive to do so if the results of the studies are not patentable. Researchers at Sloan-Kettering have found that aromatherapy significantly reduces claustrophobia attacks for patients undergoing MRI scans; however, studies of similar rigor are far from numerous.
Sceptical literature suggests that aromatherapy is based on the anecdotal evidence of its benefits rather than proof that aromatherapy can cure diseases. Scientists and medical professionals acknowledge that aromatherapy has limited scientific support, but critics argue that the claims of most aromatherapists go beyond the data, and/or that the studies are neither adequately controlled nor peer reviewed.
Some proponents of aromatherapy believe that the claimed effect of each type of aromatherapy oil is not caused by the chemicals in the oil interacting with the senses, but because the oil contains a distillation of the "life force" of the plant from which it is derived that will "balance the energies" of the body and promote healing or well-being by purging negative vibrations from the body's energy field. Arguing that there is no scientific evidence that healing can be achieved, and that the claimed "energies" even exist, many sceptics reject this form of aromatherapy as pseudoscience or even quackery.
Safety concerns in Aromatherapy
Because aromatherapy oils are highly concentrated they can irritate the skin when used neat, i.e. undiluted. Therefore, they are normally diluted with carrier oil for topical application. Phototoxic reactions may occur with citrus peel oils such as lemon or lime. Also, many aromatherapy oils have chemical components that are sensitisers (meaning that they will after a number of uses cause reactions on the skin, and more so in the rest of the body). Some of the chemical allergies could even be caused by pesticides, if the original plants are cultivated. Some aromatherapy oils can be toxic to some domestic animals, with cats being particularly prone.
In aromatherapy, as with any bioactive substance, an aromatherapy oil that may be safe for the general public could still pose hazards for pregnant and lactating women.
While some advocate the ingestion of aromatherapy oils for therapeutic purposes, licensed aromatherapists do not recommend self-prescription due the highly toxic nature of some aromatherapy oil. Some very common oils like Eucalyptus are extremely toxic when taken internally. Doses as low as one teaspoon has been reported to cause clinically significant symptoms and severe poisoning can occur after ingestion of 4 to 5 ml. A few reported cases of toxic reactions like liver damage and seizures have occurred after ingestion of sage, hyssop, thuja, and cedar. Accidental ingestion may happen when oils are not kept out of reach of children.
aromatherapy oils, both ingested and applied to the skin, can potentially have negative interaction with conventional medicine. For example, the topical use of methyl salicylate or heavy oils like Sweet Birch and Wintergreen may cause haemorrhaging in users taking the anticoagulant Warfarin.
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