Aromatherapy usually conjures up pleasant smelling day spa treatments, or some frivolous aromatic application. While it's been the case for some time that researchers have been investigating many medical uses of essential oils: anti-viral, anticancer etc, there are very few studies that look at the effects of inhaling essential oils. There's a few showing lowered aggression and stress in mice, and almost nothing with humans. This research was done to actually validate that smelling an essential oil does cause a measurable change in the brain. Makes sense that they do as the olfactory sense is the one most closely connected to the brain. In fact, some scientist consider some the sensors are actually brain cells that extend into the sinus cavity, and the other end of those is completely intimate with our emotional and motivational center. Scientists in Italy have elucidated the way bergamot oil lowers stress-induced anxiety and affects mild depression. They go on to note that there is firing of brain cells in such a way that the essential oil "is able to interfere with normal synaptic plasticity". This process occurs in the area of long-term memory formation. That means that it interferes with the process of making a neural connection stronger when repeatedly expose to stress. If you think about the way stress works, its not a one time thing. It's the same thing happening again and again -- the feeling of stress builds over time because the circuit in your brain is getting stroger.. Inhaling bergamot essential oil interferes this building up process, and has an uplifting affect at the same time -- quite a bonus. In the conclusion, they state now the mechanism is understood, there is a rational basis for the practical use of Bergamot in complementary medicine. Complementary medicine is really alternative medicine that's been accepted as valid by the medical community. Good news for bergamot. So what to do about the rest of aromatherapy? It'd be fantastic to see essential oils at all at your doctor's office, and the doctor would actually have a collection of good medicines on their hands. Our physicians would have so much more to work with if they were able to tap into natural-source medicines as well, and hopefully as the body of research grows, along with it will be actual usage protocols -- instructions if you will, just like the Physician's Desk Reference, but for oils! With all the published research that's available, it's likely we will see more essential oils given the okay for complementary status. A great place to have a look at all the available data is pubmed.gov -- just search for "essential oils" and start scrolling through the pages. You'll see tons of papers regarding the antimicrobial actions of so many oils on so many microbes. There's research that shows immune system function being boosted at the same time. Then there's the very promising anti cancer research that's just getting underway. It may not be long for essential oils to finally be used for the wonderful medicines they are.
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The mechanism in the brain for the stress-reducing effects of Bergamot essential oil has been deduced by Italian researchers.
For more resources on how to use essential oils and aromatherapy, visit the Ananda Apothecary.
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