"Orange Aromatherapy for Anxiety"
Aromatherapy is the use of concentrated essential oils
extracted from plants to treat disease.
And it's commonly used to treat anxiety symptoms.
Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent class
of psychiatric disorders in the general population.
However, their treatment is still challenging
as the drugs used for the relief of anxiety symptoms
can have important side-effects.
Thankfully, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials
performed to evaluate the effects of essential oils on anxiety symptoms
are gradually starting to appear in the medical literature.
However, in most of these studies,
exposure to the essential oil odor was accompanied by massage.
This makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions about
the effect of the aroma itself.
Here's a typical example.
A patient's in the intensive care unit the day after open-heart surgery,
getting foot massages with orange-scented oil.
Why not back massages?
Because they just had their chest cracked open
so this huge sternotomy wound...
Maybe a plant-based diet rather than a post-op plant-based massage
might have been a better choice.
But the massages felt great, restful, peaceful, calming.
You know it's a British study because one described the effect as "smashing".
But how do we know the essential oil had anything to do with it?
Maybe it was just the massage that was so "bloody" good.
In which case, great! Let's give people massages.
I'm all for more ICU foot rubs.
There's considerable evidence from randomized trials
that massage alone reduces anxiety.
So if massage is effective then aromatherapy plus massage is also effective.
So aromatherapy may work, even if it doesn't.
In fact, one study where cancer patients got massaged
during chemo and radiation,
even found that the massage without the fragrance may be better.
They thought it might be like a negative Pavlovian response.
You know, people smell the citrus and their body is like,
"Oh no, another cancer treatment".
More recently, the ambient odor of orange was tested
in a dentist's office to see if it reduces anxiety and improves mood.
Ambient odor of orange was diffused into the waiting room.
It appeared to have a relaxant effect, less anxiety, better mood, and calmness
compared to the control group where there was no odor in the air.
No odor, that is, except the nasty dentist office smell.
Maybe the orange scent was just masking the unpleasant odor.
Maybe it had nothing to do with any orange-specific molecules.
More research was necessary.
"The Effect of Sweet Orange Aroma on Experimental Anxiety in Humans"
They exposed some grad students to an anxiety-producing situation,
and tested the scent of orange vs. a non-orange aroma vs. no scent at all.
And the orange did appear to have an anxiety-reducing effect.
Interestingly, the observed anxiety-reducing effects
was not followed by physical or mental sedation.
On the contrary, the highest dose the orange oil
made the volunteers feel more energetic.
So potentially less anxiety without the downer effect
of valium-type drugs.
Does that mean we can get the benefits without the side-effects?
Well, I've talked about the concerns about
using scented consumer products, even ones based on natural fragrances.
There have been reports of adverse effects of aromatherapy.
in fact, some pretty serious reactions.
Alternative medicine isn't necessarily risk-free.
Like there's dozens of reported cases of people
having their hearts ruptured by acupunture.
Ouch!
But the adverse effects of aromatherapy were mostly from skin irritation
with essential oils being applied topically on the skin
or even worse, swallowed.
Certain citrus oils can make our skin sensitive to sunlight.
though less of a problem in France, evidently,
where they're known to stick them where the sun doesn't shine.