Vents MagaZine Music and Entertainment Magazine
Related Articles
Have you ever had a recommendation of essential oils either to be inhaled or massaged onto your skin as a therapy for depression, anxiety or long-term lack of sleep resulting from stress or other medical conditions? These treatment options are referred to as aromatherapy.
Now the real question here is, how effective are these remedies? Are they even scientifically supported or mere hocus-pocus? Many have questioned the benefits and potency of these treatments, calling them sham or pseudoscience, but is there true scientific backing to it or are the naysayers actually right?
From the times of ancient civilizations in China, Greece and Egypt, the use of plant based oils for medical purposes has been well documented. Today, the oils extracted from certain types of plants with their unique scent or “essence” are widely used as solutions to various medical problems.
These oils are referred to as “essential” oils. They come from plants like chamomile, lavender, bergamot and many others. They are either inhaled or sometimes applied to the skin in massage therapy, and it is believed that the medicinal properties are then absorbed into the body where the therapeutic effect takes hold. But how exactly does aromatherapy work?
The Fiction
The general consensus within the medical community is that aromatherapy is largely, if not entirely, placebo. The placebo effect is a medical term which explains how a non-potent substance can bring about healing or cure or perhaps the illusion of it.
Many studies have been carried out to obtain scientific evidence to support aromatherapy but mostly it has been described as pseudoscience. It is indeed a catch-22 situation for if we say that the therapy is ineffective simply because it lacks reproducible evidence, and yet its placebo nature does offer some positive results, then isn’t it in essence effective to some point?
The placebo effects of aromatherapy are indeed recorded — this much is true. But for this alternative treatment method to transcend the realms of speculation into actual science, it would have to do more than just placebo.
Regardless of how far manufacturing companies have gone with their emphatic inscriptions on these products, science says aromatherapy may offer little benefit, or none whatsoever. On the other hand, some explanation has been offered in support of the use of aromatherapy.
The Facts
It is known that sleep patterns and emotions are largely controlled by the brain. Therefore, if a chemical substance can trigger the right centers in the brain to perform certain functions, then the desired effects can be achieved.
Although there is still much to be proven, some experts have suggested that essential oils trigger the limbic system of the brain which is in charge of emotions, and more specifically the hypothalamus which regulates emotions and sleep. It is through this mechanism that depression, anxiety and insomnia could possibly be improved or treated with the help of some aromatic essential oils.
But then there is also a strong indication that the popularity of essential oils, as well as the claims about their health benefits are mainly a result of the hype created by the manufacturing companies and their boundless drive for profit and nothing more.
Aromatherapy still remains on the fringe of acceptance into science-backed medicine. There are promising results according to Ying Zhang, a researcher at the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins University. In his study, essential oils sourced from cumin, garlic and thyme were shown to have bactericidal effect on the bacteria which causes Lyme disease. However, this research is still at its early stages, and so far, not much evidence seems to support the claim that aromatherapy or essential oils in general work. Hopefully, in the future there will be.
