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Herbs for Health and Healing: Aromatic Research

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Aromatic Research

Aromatherapy can help a person to cope with psychological issues, from depression and anxiety to poor memory. That something as noninvasive as natural fragrances can affect our thoughts is quite exciting. Medical researchers hope someday to treat a number of conditions, including Alzheimer's disease and memory disorders, with fragrance. This idea is not as far out as it may seem. When we smell, the information that we receive is sent to specific areas of the brain that influence memory, learning, basic emotions, hormonal balances and even our basic survival mechanisms, such as the "fight or flight" response. Researchers have found that fragrance can even improve interaction and communication among people: Pleasant smells can put people in better moods and even make them more willing to negotiate, cooperate and compromise. Put these same people in an unscented room, and avoidance, competition and conflict are more likely.

Scientific evidence supporting aromatherapy is just beginning to surface. In a 1992 issue of the British Journal of Occupational Therapy, aromatherapy is described as a treatment to "promote health and well-being" through massage, inhalation, baths and the application of compresses, creams and lotions. The author of this article suggests that fragrance can reduce stress and depression, sedate or invigorate, stimulate sensory awareness and provide pain relief. Working with International Fragrance and Flavor (IFF), a New Yorkbased fragrance company that has made a multimillion-dollar commitment to research, Gary Schwartz, M.D., a professor of psychology at the University of Arizona, studied how fragrances can be used to alleviate fatigue, migraine headaches, food cravings, depression, schizophrenia, anxiety and irregular heartbeat. Another scientist funded by IFF, Craig Warren, Ph.D., tested more than 2,000 subjects in order to better understand how some fragrances can relieve pain, call up deep-seated memories and generally affect personality and behavior. He is particularly interested in discovering which scents prevent insomnia.

17085PG284 IFF officials believe that companies will eventually market stress-relieving perfumes and that it will someday be commonplace for people to choose everyday items such as shampoo according to their emotional needs as well as their cosmetic requirements. In fact, the mainstreaming of aromatherapy has already begun. The cosmetic firm Redken markets Shinsen shampoo, which features rose, honeysuckle, tuberose and musk scents to "relieve stress and promote peace of mind." (The shampoo's package also provides directions for giving yourself a shiatsu head massage to promote further relaxation.) The Japanese fragrance company Takasago created Avon's popular Tranquil Moments bath line and is investigating aromas that might be used to treat dizziness and nausea. Following Avon's lead, the Estée Lauder cosmetics company formed Origins, an aromatherapy line sold in department stores such as Nordstrom's and New York's Bergdorf Goodman, as well as at a small number of Origins stores across the United States. Their Green Principles body-care products emphasize botanicals and carry names such as Sleep Time, Stress Buffer, Muscle Easing, Energy Boost and Peace of Mind.

To experience the Esthera aromatherapy and acupressure facial designed by Shiseido, Japan's largest cosmetics company, you would need to visit an exclusive $7,000-a-year health club. But if you do, the effects will certainly be more than skin-deep. Shiseido researchers measuring the brain waves of women while they received the facial found that the waves duplicated those achieved during meditation or deep relaxation! As an added benefit, the facial lowered blood pressure.

Aromatherapy has captured the imagination not only of medical researchers, but also of marketers, who find that fragrance sells. Alan R. Hirsch, M.D., the director of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago and a psychiatrist and neurologist at the University of Illinois, is studying how different odors change a consumer's reactions. For instance, he analyzes people's responses to television commercials as they smell various odors. According to Dr. Hirsch, "Odors will be the marketing tool of the 1990s." He projects that in less than five years, stores around the world will be counting on fragrances to influence shoppers.

You may not realize it, but you have probably already experienced aromatherapy—maybe when you bought a car or a house, or even laundry detergent. Most of the products we purchase are scented to make them more appealing. Real estate agents know that the smell of freshly baked brownies makes a house more appealing to a buyer. Similarly, used-car salespeople spray a fragrance into cars because customers are more likely to think that the vehicle is in good shape if it smells new. Most detergents are lemon-scented because we tend to associate the smell of citrus with cleanliness.

However, not all aromatherapy-based marketing is successful. Consider the laundry detergent company in England that decided to outsmart competitors by choosing a scent for the product other than the typical lemon. Extensive testing on housewives showed that vanilla was by far the favorite, with musk in close pursuit. Then the company de cided to find out why these particular scents rated so high. Imagine the researchers' surprise when they learned that the oils were having an aphrodisiac effect on the women! The company immediately decided to stick with the lemon scent. (I heard that they changed the color of the box instead.)

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