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<\/h3>\nCompilation of significant articles about “Aromatherapy”<\/p>\n
<\/h3>\nWithin the context of these following articles, you will find some of the data that we used to develop our Aromatherapy Web FAQ in June and July, 2003. We were primarily interested in presenting aroma used as an inhalant<\/span>, and not topically applied as massage oil. Any information contained herein is for educational or research purposes only.(see “Notes”<\/a> at end)<\/p>\n An abundance of aromatherapy information is available. Having read from many sources, we selected the most pertinent articles in relation to our unique diffusion system, the “aromaComposer\u2122”. To save time and add clarity I have marked up areas with various notes and colors, etc. as follow:<\/p>\n http:\/\/askwaltstollmd.com\/archives\/aroma.html<\/p>\n Posts to Ask Dr Stoll BB regarding Aromatherapy<\/p>\n There have been a few posts to the Ask Bulletin Board (BB) regarding Aromatherapy.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Introductory summary of aromatherapy:<\/p>\n It is now known that ANY stimulus introduced into the hypothalamus Every few months a new highway into the hypothalamus is discovered. The more direct the highway, the quicker and more profound will It just so happens that the MOST direct highway is through the In the late ’90s, Harvard Medical School It seems that Aromatherapy is now officially There are many excellent books on Aromatherapy and it can be Walt Stoll, MD<\/p>\n Originally from: http:\/\/www.drweil.com\/app\/cda\/drw_cda.html-command=TodayQA-questionId=3403-pt=Question What’s the ‘Scents’ of Aromatherapy?<\/span><\/p>\n ” Do you have an opinion on the effectiveness — S. Forry<\/span><\/p>\n Dr. Weil’s Answer (by Andrew Weil, the (Published 11\/11\/1998)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n I’m very interested in medical aromatherapy, What we do have from American research None of these findings is particularly Strong smells — researchers measure April 14, 2000<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Web posted at: 3:10 p.m. EDT (1910 GMT)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n From staff reports<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n ATLANTA (CNN) — Americans spend millions Does it work?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n According to Dr. Alan R. Hirsch of the Hirsch and his colleagues have studied “We found that mixed floral smells effect As further evidence of the aroma-mood Research findings at the Monell center Research has also shown odors help people Although some aromas are so subtle they Paul Johnson, a writer and skeptic of paranormal claims, has CNN Correspondent Holly Firfer contributed to this report.<\/strong><\/p>\n NEUROSCIENCE AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY<\/p>\n Perception of tastes, odors and chemical irritants begins with The nose contains millions of receptor cells, which mediate the From Monell Chemical Sense Center site:<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.monell.org\/researchoverview.htm<\/p>\n The Five Senses and Beyond<\/p>\n http:\/\/ourworld.compuserve.com\/homepages\/richard_brice\/chap01.htm<\/p>\n Chapter 1- Introduction to Multimedia and Virtual Reality<\/p>\n We are taught at school that we have five senses; sight, hearing, Smell has a more direct route to the Aromatherapy<\/p>\n From the book Aromatherapy: Scent & Psyche<\/p>\n By Peter & Kate Damian<\/p>\n Healing Arts Press 1995<\/p>\n Introduction to Aromatherapy<\/strong><\/p>\n Psychology<\/strong><\/p>\n Everyone seems to agree that scents have a remarkable influence Note: This next paragraph is interesting, The intriguing experimental olfaction research that has taken The profound and complete therapeutic Serious olfaction research and experimentation involving essential Thousands of scientists and researchers, FIELDS OF APPLICATION<\/strong><\/p>\n Human development and the advances of the past century have coupledHow information is presented here<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nCompilation of significant articles about “Aromatherapy”<\/h3>\n
\n
\nDr Stoll<\/span><\/p>\n
\nwill have an effect on hypothalamic function.<\/p>\n
\nSince that is where our entire bodymind seems to be centered,
\nthat is the switchboard to the rest of each person.<\/p>\n
\nbe the influence on hypothalamic function.<\/p>\n
\nnose and sense of smell. This was the first sense developed in
\nliving things (chemotaxis) and the bare nerve ends in our noses
\nare directly ‘hard- wired’ into the hypothalamus.<\/p>\n
\nstarted reporting on their research in this area and said that
\nhealth and mood were directly influenced by aromas and that each
\naroma has a distinctly different effect. They area already being
\nintroduced into industrial environments and business offices to
\npromote health and productivity. You can expect to see more of
\nthis in the near future<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
\naccepted as powerful “medicine”. It may take a while for the conventional
\nmedical monopoly to accept it since others besides licensed physicians
\ncan do it. This competition has never been welcomed by the ‘system’.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
\napplied to anyone’s health with just a little knowledge.<\/p>\n
\n
\n– (No longer a valid link)<\/p>\n
\nof aromatherapy for healing? I know it’s comforting, but does
\nit have any healing capacity? “<\/span><\/p>\n
\nwell known doctor and author<\/strong>)<\/span><\/p>\n
\nbut it’s hard to get trustworthy information on it in this country,
\nas aromatherapy here is so tied to the beauty and spa industries.
\nI can tell you that there’s no scientific proof to support extravagant
\nclaims that aromatherapy can successfully treat such a wide variety
\nof disorders, ranging from arthritis to cellulite to impotence.
\nHowever, there is an interesting tradition of medical aromatherapy
\nin France, where essential oils are used to treat such serious
\nillnesses as diabetes and epilepsy.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
\nare intriguing examples supportive of aromatherapy’s healing potential.
\nIn one report, investigators found that the scent of nutmeg can
\nlower blood pressure in people in stressful situations (but not
\nin the absence of stress). In another example, doctors at New
\nYork’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center found that the vanilla-like
\naroma of heliotropin significantly reduced anxiety in patients
\nundergoing MRI scans. A third find was a study among menopausal
\nwomen that showed that moods improved in response to fragrance,
\neven among those who didn’t particularly like the scent. On the
\nother hand, some fragrances can trigger migraines in some people,
\nand there have been (rare) reports of allergic contact dermatitis
\n— rashes — resulting from the use of aromatherapy oils. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nsurprising when you consider that smell was the first of our senses
\nto evolve and is the first to kick in after birth. Did you know
\nthat nursing newborns can distinguish their mothers from other
\nlactating women solely by smell? Given the accelerating pace
\nof research I suspect that aromatherapy will come into its own
\nin the next century both as a form of alternative medicine and
\nan aid to conventional treatment.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
\n
\nimpact of aromatherapy<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
\nof dollars each year on candles, incense and oils in search of
\npleasing aromas to improve mood or to enhance physical and emotional
\nwell-being.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
\nSmell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation, Chicago,
\n“The quickest way to change a mood state — quicker than with
\nany other sensual modality — is with smell.”<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
\naromatherapy for 15 years. They have concluded that specific odors
\ncan change your mood and behavior. This process depends on conveying
\nodoriferous particles through air or in water, then a complex
\nmental reaction.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
\nthe speed of learning,” said Hirsch. “Green apples tend to reduce
\nmigraine headaches. Lavender tends to induce relaxation — as
\ndoes vanilla.”<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
\nconnection, Dr. Charles J. Wysocki of the Monell Chemical Senses
\nCenter, Philadelphia, said, “There are other sorts of physiological
\nchanges one can measure — blood pressure, for example, heart
\nrate, body temperature. These things are all correlates of changes
\nin mood and emotion.”<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
\nshow that “odors are often thought to provide the best memory
\ncues because some of our oldest and most emotionally laden memories
\nare associated with odors. … Accuracy of a memory is not affected
\nby the type of sensory cue, for example, whether it is olfactory
\nor auditory. Instead, a memory that is triggered by an odor is
\nexperienced as being more emotionally intense and evocative than
\na memory triggered by any other type of sensory cue.”<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
\nremember. “Memory is enhanced when learning takes place in the
\npresence of a novel odor, and is further facilitated if learning
\noccurs during a heightened emotional state,” according to the
\nMonell center.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
\ndo not register consciously, the nose and brain can detect 10,000
\nor more different odors. A question still under study is whether
\nsmelling particular odors to enhance emotional or physical healing
\ndepends on the person\u2019s belief that aromatherapy “works.”<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
\nnoted that aromatherapy is “a belief that the essential oils of
\nvarious flowers have therapeutic effects. These effects are psychological
\nrather than physical, and so it\u2019s a bit difficult to define what
\nwe mean by a statement that it works. After all, if people do
\nit and feel better, then that is a real effect, whether it occurred
\nbecause of suggestion or because the flowers contain a powerful
\npsychoactive drug.”<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n
\nthe interaction of a chemical stimulus with specialized sensory
\nreceptor cells in the mouth, nose and skin. A cascade of molecular
\nand cellular events transduces information about the stimulus
\ninto electrical signals recognized by the nervous system. A combination
\nof approaches\u2014 biochemical, biophysical, neurophysiological, molecular
\nbiological, and genetic\u2014 is being used to characterize how chemical
\nstimuli are recognized, transduced into electrical signals in
\nreceptor cells, and processed in the brain. Recent advances in
\nmolecular genetics are helping researchers to describe how genes
\ninfluence the chemical senses, from olfactory receptor function
\nto sensitivity to different tastes.<\/p>\n
\nolfactory system\u2019s high sensitivity to an extraordinary range
\nof odors. Olfactory receptors cells are nerve cells which communicate
\ndirectly with the brain. Inside the nose, odorant molecules interact
\nwith receptor proteins located in cilia extending from exposed
\nends of the receptor cells. This activates the formation of so-
\ncalled “second messengers,” that modulate passage of ions through
\nchannels in the cell membrane, in turn generating nerve impulses
\nthat are transmitted directly to the olfactory bulbs.<\/p>\n
\n
\nsmell, taste and touch. But actually we have many more and they
\naren’t the mysterious senses of ESP either. We feel our bodies
\nin motion or stationary and we have an impression of our body
\n(albeit a distorted one) and its component positions which is
\nindependent of the tactual sense. Similarly we “feel” hunger,
\nfear, agitation and other un-designated internal states. Fortunately
\nfor the multimedia and virtual reality engineer, the two most
\nimportant senses are sight and hearing. Most of the information
\nabout the world outside of ourselves is gained via these and the
\nconsideration of these dominates the following. However, the study
\nand knowledge of haptic, kinaesthetic and equilibratory senses
\nare sometimes necessary in the design of VR applications so, for
\ncompleteness, these are considered in the last chapter. Until
\nthen, sight and hearing dominate the engineering agenda. But what
\nof the other senses – smell and taste, will these ever have a
\nrole to play in VR applications?<\/p>\n
\nbrain than any other sense. The smell receptors high in the nose
\nsynapse directly to the olfactory bulbs of the brain which lie
\ndirectly below the frontal lobes. Viewed from an evolutionary
\nperspective, smell is the most primitive of the senses. It plays
\na very important role in lower species, the olfactory cortex of
\nfish occupies the entire cerebral hemispheres. Perhaps its ancient
\nnature accounts for the emotionally charged, evocative nature
\nof smell. Given its power to stir memory, it is surprising that
\nthis sense has played so very minor a role in VR development.<\/span>
\n(Note: VR, Virtual Reality, is one use for
\nthe aromaComposer system)<\/span> <\/strong>Although, the idea of phials
\nof different odours being dispensed at appropriate times during
\na VR presentation is comical! Even more bizarre is the consideration
\nof taste. Any attempt to administer a taste sensation is inevitably
\ninvasive and unlikely to be accepted; demonstrating just how far
\nare we from a true alternative reality system and just how intimate
\nsuch a system would need to be. I said at the beginning of the
\nchapter that more has changed in the last twenty years than in
\nthe last thousand. That pace is not slowing down. If the remaining
\nsenses eventually join the VR fold, I wonder what a VR system
\nwill look like twenty years from now!<\/p>\n
\n
\nupon the human organism. Although the mechanisms and processes
\nof olfaction remain largely mysterious, science’s progressive
\nknowledge and understanding of our sense of smell opens exciting
\nnew vistas and possibilities for aromatherapy research. Although
\nmore limited in range than sight or hearing (you can see or hear
\nsomething at a longer distance than you can smell it) our sense
\nof smell is estimated to be 10,000 times more acute than our other
\nsenses and sensitive to some 10,000 chemical compounds. Once registered,
\nscent stimuli travel more quickly to the brain than do either
\nsight or sound; how this happens is still a matter for some speculation.
\nOlfactory responses to odors induce the
\nbrain, or at least parts of it, to stimulate the release of hormones
\nand neurochemicals that alter body physiology and therefore human
\nbehavior.<\/span> Odors are processed directly
\nfrom the olfactory through the limbic system, a primitive part
\nof the brain involved with the hypothalamus and having to do with
\nemotions, memory, sexual behavior, and certain visceral activities.
\nTherein lies the pleasure center,” the stimulation of which relates
\nto primal behavior and the reinforcement of learning.<\/span><\/strong>
\nRecent scientific evidence supports the observation that odors
\ncan help evoke memories, especially those with emotional overtones.
\nOther senses also reach the limbic system but only after traveling
\nto other regions of the brain.<\/p>\n
\nbut was written several years ago\u20261995.)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
\nplace internationally over the past decade, most particularly
\nin the United States, has coincidentally paralleled the growth
\nand rising interest in aromatherapy during the 1980s. Olfactory
\nscience has so far hearkened to the claims made for the psychological
\nbenefits of essential oils used in aromatherapy. A University
\nof Cincinnati study showed that fragrances of peppermint and lily
\nof the valley increased subjects’ performance accuracy by 15 to
\n25 percent. A replication study at Catholic University using only
\npeppermint achieved the same findings. It’s becoming progressively
\nclear that science and industry are convinced of the power of
\nscent. But are they persuaded by aromatherapy? After-Flight Regulator
\nessential oil blends, developed by aromatherapist Daniele Ryman
\nto treat jet lag, are now offered at some London hotels and at
\nthe duty-free shop in Heathrow Airport’s international terminal.
\nJapanese construction firms are enhancing efficiency and reducing
\nstress among office workers by pumping fragrances through air-conditioning
\nsystems. Junichi Yagi, a subsidiary vice-president for Shimizu,
\nJapan’s third largest construction firm, says that fragrances
\nused by his company were selected by the principles of aromatherapy.
\nIn 1989, Dr. Gary Schwartz, current professor of psychiatry and
\npsychology at the University of Arizona, found that spiced apple
\nhad relaxing effects, as measured in brain waves, within a minute
\nof one subject’s smelling that fragrance. It now is more critical
\nfor early researchers experimenting with many real and artificial
\nscents, fragrances, and aromas to distinguish the mere stimulation
\nof response from genuine therapeutic effects. Olfaction is so
\nsensitive that virtually any odor will elicit brain response registering
\nsome clinically demonstrable physical or behavioral reaction,
\njust as do electric stimuli; some may even prove beneficial. The
\ncrucial consideration is the relative value of those odors. Synthetic
\nscents sometimes temporarily deceive the body, but as we have
\nlearned from the use of other artificial substances in food and
\nmedicine, the results are not genuinely positive and are not without
\nnegative consequences. If we acknowledge the folly of ingesting
\nartificial ingredients and additives in our foods and the chemical
\nsynthetics of modern medicine, we ought to be no more eager to
\ninhale inferior, synthetic, or artificial substances than we are
\nto swallow them.<\/p>\n
\neffects of essential oils derive from more than their pleasant
\nfragrance.<\/strong><\/span> They have vital electromagnetic properties
\nand vibrational energies that invigorate the mind, the soul, the
\nbody’s energy, and thus their functioning. When
\noils known for their sedative or antidepressant capacities are
\nadministered, endorphins and enkephalins {neurochemical analgesics
\nand tranquilizers) are released. This has been demonstrated by
\nhospitals in Oxford, England, where essential oils of lavender,
\nmarjoram, geranium, mandarin, and cardamom have replaced chemical
\nsedatives. These and other oils relax people, lower blood pressure,
\nincrease mental acuity, normalize body functions, reduce stress,
\nand even act as aphrodisiacs.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
\noils will doubtless prove their superior efficacy.
\n(This is going on now)<\/span><\/strong> But if history is our guide,
\naromatherapists have reason to view with circumspection the olfaction
\nresearch sponsored by fragrance companies, science labs, and medical
\ninstitutions. Olfaction research is still in its infancy. We are
\nonly now gaining rudimentary appreciation of how and why essential
\noil fragrances affect human psychology and physiology even as
\nwe slowly trace the mysterious pathways of the brain. In this
\nquest for knowledge, we would do well to search the psychology
\nof scent may regain its vital spiritual and metaphysical heritage.<\/p>\n
\nas well as medical, beauty, and health professionals, working
\nindividually or as part of professional organizations, are already
\nsatisfied by aromatherapy, as are the millions of people, particularly
\nin England, France, Germany, Belgium, and Switzerland, where aromatherapy
\nis widely practiced. The United States, Canada, and Australia
\nare the new frontiers.<\/strong><\/span> Another indication of aromatherapy’s
\nphenomenal rise over the past ten years is that as recently as
\nfifteen years ago there were but one or two English-language aromatherapy
\nbooks and few published articles. Today there are dozens and hundreds,
\nrespectively. All signs point to aromatherapy’s ascendance to
\nits rightful place as the premier health and beauty care system
\nnot just of this decade but of the next century.<\/p>\n
\nwith the rich potential and amazing versatility of aromatherapy
\nand pure essential oils to greatly widen their application. These
\nvarious traditional and modern applications are broadly categorized
\nas clinical\/medical, aesthetic\/cosmetic, and holistic\/naturopathic,
\nor sometimes according to the administration method of essential
\noils: internally (ingestion), externally (topical), or aromatically
\n(inhalation). Since essential oils have simultaneous physical
\nand psychological affects, and human response to them will, therefore,
\noccur physically, emotionally, and mentally as well as spiritually,
\nseparate categories cannot always be maintained by sharp lines
\nof theory or hard barriers of practice. Aromatherapy and essential
\noils will invariably give crossover results and reciprocal benefits.<\/p>\n
\n