Blue Collar Scientist

A study done at Ohio State reveals that aromatherapy might be fun, but it won’t make you well. Researchers there subjected volunteers to two scents - lemon and lavender - or to distilled water over three half-day sessions. They were monitored for heart rate and blood pressure, a skin healing test was conducted, pain reaction was assessed, and psychological tests for mood and stress were conducted, and blood samples were taken.

The blood samples were later analyzed for changes in several distinct biochemical markers that would signal affects on both the immune and endocrine system. Levels of both Interleukin-6 and Interleukin-10 – two cytokines – were checked, as were stress hormones such as cortisol, norepinephrine and other catacholomines.

The results: Neither of the scents had a positive effect on the biochemical markers for stress, pain control, or wound healing; nobody benefitted in terms of heart rate or blood pressure; nobody benefitted from faster skin healing; nobody benefitted from lowered stress; nobody had a boosted immune system; nobody managed pain better.

But a few of the volunteers were in a better mood after being exposed to lemon.

This pretty much lines up with what I’ve thought about aromatherapy for a long time: It isn’t therapeutic. It is just an outgrowth of the potpourri movement, which came from the incense movement that preceded it. Some people find it fun, and if people find aromatherapy scents fun to play around with, that’s good enough for me. But some people think doing something merely because it is fun isn’t good enough, so they had to turn it into a Serious Medical Thing, and/or into a cash cow. Simple as that.

I’m looking forward to Orac’s treatment of the subject - I betcha he can get the paper without forking over $35 to Elsevier for the privilege of reading it.