Guidelines for Aromatherapy Evidence-Based For The Most Ten Used Essential Oils In Healthcare

By Kevin Loach

Aromatherapy, or essential oil therapy, refers to traditional, alternative, or complementary therapies that use essential oils and other aromatic plant compounds.

Aromatherapy has a long history of use for medicinal purposes.

In recent years, aromatherapy has increased in popularity, yet many healthcare providers are unsure of its efficacy and safety.

• Language: English
• Publisher: vincenzo nappi
• Release date: Aug 21, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201958695

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

Aromatherapy is defined as the therapeutic use of essential oils (also known as volatile oils) from plants (flowers, herbs, or trees) for the improvement of physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. In the literature, the terms aromatherapy and essential oils are commonly used interchangeably and therefore, this is the case in this book as well. The use of essential oils (EO) for therapeutic purposes dates back to use by ancient Chinese, Indian, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman cultures. The popularity of aromatherapy grew in the United States during the 1980s and continues to rise today. There are many health claims related to aromatherapy use, including therapy for health concerns such as constipation, skin issues, insomnia, infections, pain, and anxiety, however, limited evidence exists to support the efficacy of aromatherapy to treat these health concerns.

A call for evidence-based treatments supported by high-quality research has not escaped the realm of aromatherapy. Good high-quality research on aromatherapy is particularly needed because essential oil production and sales are not federally regulated in the United States.

Challenges in Aromatherapy Research

Research involving human uses of aromatherapy is challenging for numerous reasons. There are several theories on why essential oils have not been heavily researched with humans participants, including the high cost of pure essential oils, botanical crop variation, difficulty with blinding, and numerous confounding factors that arise in research related to the multi-effectual nature of essential oils in the body.

Researchers conjecture that clinical testing of essential oils done in the same manner as mainstream pharmaceuticals would cost billions of dollars to test each oil’s therapeutic effect because essential oils are comprised of many components and may have numerous therapeutic effects on the body. Some essential oils have been studied extensively in vitro and animal studies, however, in vitro and animal studies do not always translate into therapeutic effect in humans due to the complex nature of the human response. Despite a general lack of human research, essential oils are widely available for purchase and directions for consumer use are varied and often based on anecdotal experience and not