Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy, commonly associated with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), is the use of volatile liquid plant materials, known as essential oils (EOs), and other aromatic compounds from plants for the purpose of affecting a person's mood or health. Aromatherapy is a generic term that refers to any of the various traditions that make use of essential oils sometimes in combination with other alternative medical practices and spiritual beliefs. It has a particularly Western currency and persuasion. Medical treatment involving aromatic scents may exist outside of the West, but may or may not be intended by the term 'aromatherapy'.

History

The word was first used in the 1920s by French chemist René Maurice Gattefossé, who devoted his life to researching the healing properties of essential oils after a lucky accident in his perfume laboratory. In the accident, he lit his arm on fire and thrust it into the nearest cold liquid, which happened to be a vat of lavender oil. Immediately he noticed surprising pain relief, and instead of requiring the extended healing process he had experienced during recovery from previous burns--which caused redness, heat, inflammation, blisters, and scarring--this burn healed remarka20:37, 22 January 2007 (UTC)218.111.159.200bly quickly, with minimal discomfort and no scarring.

Main branches

The main branches of aromatherapy include:

• Home aromatherapy (self treatment, perfume & cosmetic use)
• Clinical aromatherapy (as part of pharmacology and pharmacotherapy)
• Aromachology (the psychology of odors and their effects on the mind)

Materials

Some of the materials employed include:

• Essential oils: Fragrant oils extracted from plants chiefly through 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 sulfuric compounds from plants in the genus "Allium" are Phytoncides, though the latter are likely less commonly used in aromatherapy due to their disagreeable smells.
• Herbal distillates or hydrosols: The aqueous by-products of the distillation process (e.g. rosewater). There are many herbs that are used to 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 are used to dilute essential oils for use on the skin (e.g. sweet almond oil)

Theory

When aromatherapy is used for the treatment or prevention of disease, a precise knowledge of the bioactivity and synergy of the essential oils used, knowledge of the dosage and duration of application, as well as, naturally, a medical diagnosis, are required.

In the English-speaking world, among alternative practitioners such as herbalists or naturopaths, aromatherapy is regarded as a complementary modality by some and a pseudoscientific belief by most others.

On the continent, especially in France, where it originated, aromatherapy is incorporated into mainstream medicine. There, the use of the anti-septic properties of oils in the control of infections is emphasized over the more "touchy feely" approaches familiar to English speakers. In France some essential 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 essential 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 essential oil to determine which have the most activity against the target strain of microorganism. The antiseptic activity manifests as a pattern of inhibited growth.

In many countries essential oils are included in the national pharmacopeia, but up to the present moment 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 centers of the brain. When applied to the skin (commonly in form of "massage oils" i.e. 1-10% solutions of EO in carrier oil) they activate thermal receptors, and kill microbes and fungi. Internal application of essential oil preparations (mainly in pharmacological drugs; generally not recommended for home use apart from dilution - 1-5% in fats or mineral oils, or hydrosoles) may stimulate the immune system.

Choice and purchase

Oils with standarized content of components (marked FCC, for Food Chemical Codex) have to contain X 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 oils they use. Likewise, claims that an oil's purity is vetted by mass spectrometer 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 essential oils are manufactured by the perfume industry and are used to adulterate essential 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 essential oil is adulterated is an educated nose. Many people can distinguish between natural and synthetic scents, but it takes experience.

Price

Oils vary in price based on the amount of the harvest, the country of origin, the type of extraction used (steam distillation, CO2 extract, enfleurage), and how desirable the oil is. Indian Sandalwood is considered more desirable than Australian Sandalwood, based upon the aroma, and is twice as costly, mainly because the species that yields Indian Sandalwood essential oils is endangered. Organic and wild harvested essential oils also tend to be more expensive.

Popular uses

• Basil is used in perfumery for its clear, sweet and mildly spicy aroma. In aromatherapy, it is used for sharpening 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 flavoring agent in Earl Grey tea. But 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 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 repellant and in perfumery.
• Tea Tree Oil (Melaleuca Oil) and many other essential oils have topical (external) antimicrobial (i.e. antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, or antiparasitic) activity and are used as antiseptics and disinfectants.
• eucalyptus oil
• sandalwood oil
• thyme oil
• Clove oil is a topical analgesic, especially useful in dentistry. It is also used an antiseptic, antispasmodic, carminative, and antiemetic.
• Lavender oil is used as an antiseptic, to soothe minor cuts and burns, to calm and relax, and to soothe headaches and migraines.
• Yarrow oil is used to reduce joint inflammation and relieve cold and influenza symptoms.
• Jasmine, Rose, Sandalwood and Ylang Ylang oil are used as aphrodisiacs.

Criticism

The consensus position of medical professionals in the U.S.A. and England is that while pleasant scents can be relaxing, lowering stress and offering related effects, there is insufficient scientific proof of the effectiveness of aromatherapy. Scientific research on the cause and effect of aromatherapy is limited, although in-vitro testing has revealed some antibacterial and antiviral effects. Some benefits that have been linked to aromatherapy, such as relaxation and clarity of mind, are quite subjective and may arise from the placebo effect. 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. Customers should be aware that aromatherapy may be unregulated, depending on the country. There are some treatments generally accepted in Western medicine to give a form of relief for the airways in case of cold or flu, such as mint and eucalyptus essential oils.

Skeptical 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 argue that its claims go beyond the data or that the studies are neither adequately controlled nor peer reviewed. If there can be positive effects, there can also be negative ones if used incorrectly or in bad combinations, especially with traditional pharmacology. Most medical professionals are concerned that people with maladies curable by contemporary medicine will revert to certain holistic medicines, such as aromatherapy, homeopathy and Ayurvedic medicine, and receive no benefit while their health could have been maintained with scientifically proven medicine.

The term "aromatherapy" has been applied to such a wide range of products that almost anything which contains essential oils is likely to be called an "aromatherapy product", rendering the term somewhat meaningless in that context.

Some proponents of aromatherapy believe that the claimed effect of each type of oil is not caused by the chemicals in the oil interacting with the senses, but that 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 skeptics reject this form of aromatherapy as pseudoscience or even quackery. In addition, there are potential safety concerns.

Since essential oils are so potent, many can irritate the skin and can cause toxic reactions like liver damage and seizures unless diluted with a carrier oil such as sweet almond oil, olive oil, hazelnut oil, and rosehip seed oil. Phototoxic reactions may occur with certain citrus oils such as lemon or lime.