Search
Related Links

 

 

Informative Articles

All Natural Pain Relief
Vioxx was a very popular prescription pain medication taken by an estimated 20 million people. In September 2004 however, it was pulled from the market because a study found that its use increased the risk of heart attack and stroke. On Friday...

Asthma Treatment and Medication
Asthma is a chronic lung disease that effects over 30 million Americans alone and researchers estimate that 10 - 15% of the world population suffers from asthma. People with asthma have extra sensitive or hyper-responsive airways. The airways become...

Breast Cancer Education Gets Visual
(NC)-If a picture is worth a thousand words, how do you use pictures to help people understand and learn about a sensitive subject like breast cancer? Researchers from the division of biomedical communications in the department of surgery...

Health Medicine and Glyconutrition: The Future Isn't What it Used to Be
This is what they call "Hope"? We've all gotten used to the idea that certain maladies will be around for a while...like until the Second Coming. Maladies such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis...and many more are expected to...

The Cure For Toenail Fungus May Be In Your Medicine Cabinet
First reported by Dr. T H Oliver in 1920, ozone and oxidative therapies have been used extensively by doctors to treat a wide range of health problems, such as vascular disease, cancer, viral diseases, ulcers, inflammatory bowel diseases and...

 
Aromatherapy: Mind & Emotions

Aromatherapy makes use of Essential oils. This the second part of this 3-Part article will discuss the way essential oils effect the mind and emotions.

b) The Way Essential Oils Effect the Mind and Emotions
The Mind and Emotions, or rather the way we think and feel, are effected by essential oils via our sense of smell, as are all the odors we consciously and UNCONSCIOUSLY detect.

The Sense of Smell forms the greater part of our Sense of Taste (note how your sense of taste and smell is affected when you have a head cold or blocked up nose. The sense of smell is also affected by pollution, smoking, trauma to the nose itself and a mucous forming diet).

The sense of smell of our ancient ancestors was far superior to ours. They identified one another by smell as well as sight, and could even detect the usefulness of a plant by its smell. They also tracked animals by smell.
The sense of smell helps us to distinguish between 'good' and 'bad' odors, which tell us if food is fit to be eaten or if there is disease or hygiene present.

ODOURS & DISEASE
A couple of hundred years ago, physicians would use the sense of smell as a diagnostic aid. Arthritis and rheumatism have an acid smell, a good midwife could tell a post-partum haemorrhage by the smell of blood passed, diabetes gives an acetone smell to the breathe and the urine, perspiration can give us clues as to the health of the kidneys and lymphatic system, the smell of faeces also can tell us the type of disease in the digestive tract. Natural medicine still uses this method of diagnosis.

The human nose has the ability to distinguish many thousands of different odors, and the memory of these odors is stored deep in our sub-conscious minds. (See R. Tisserand 'The Art of Aromatherapy" pages 60-73).

When we inhale air molecules which, are carrying the ‘odoriferous’ molecules of an essential oil, these molecules adhere to our Olfactory nerve endings in the back of the nose, producing stimulation of these nerve endings.

Sensory stimulation of the Olfactory centre is by a relay of nerve impulses from the sensory nerve endings in the nose to the brain.

This is a very rapid and direct pathway to the part of the Brain which directs, controls, interprets and responds to sensory input.

This pathway is very different to sensory stimulation of the sensory nerves in the skin which is more complex, being transmitted from a sensory nerve ending to the spinal cord, to the brain, back down the spinal cord, down a motor nerve ending and then to the appropriate organ. For example when we touch a hot object, the heat affects the sensory nerve ending in say the finger. This nerve relays a message along the sensory nerve fiber to its root in the spinal cord. The impulse is carried to the brain. The brain says “ouch !!! that’s hot, take the finger off now”.

This message is relayed down the spinal cord to the motor nerve root, and then to the appropriate muscle(s) organ(s) etc. to remove the finger from the hot object. As you will know from your own experience of touching something hot, there is often a time lag between touching the hot object and recognition of pain.

With the Olfactory Nerve there is no relay station - stimuli goes straight


to the part of Central Nervous System called the LIMBIC SYSTEM, and the response is instant. Furthermore, the message cannot be blocked by the conscious mind.

The interesting and exciting aspect of this use of Essential Oil Therapy is that different essential oils produce different responses. Some affect the higher thought processes in the Cerebral Cortex by altering the electrical activity of different Cortical areas, and some affect the Hormone Producing cells in the Limbic System. These ‘Brain Hormones’ will then either effect the mental and emotional responses of the Brain itself, or will be released into the blood stream from where they may be carried to distant organs to produce the desired effect on the body chemistry.

AROMATHERAPY & THE MIND

ANXIETY:
Benzoin, Chamomile, Cypress, Geranium, Jasmine, Lavender, Marjoram, Melissa, Neroli, rose, sandalwood, ylang-ylang.

DEPRESSION:
Basil, Bergamot, Chamomile, Frankincense, Geranium, Jasmine, Lavender, Neroli, Patchouli, peppermint, Rose, Sandalwood, Ylang-Ylang.

ANGER:
Chamomile, Melissa, Rose, Ylang-Ylang.

APATHY:
Jasmine, Juniper, Patchouli, Rosemary.

CONFUSION:
Basil, Cypress, Frankincense, Peppermint, Patchouli.

DWELLING ON THE PAST:
Benzoin, Frankincense.

FEAR:
Basil, Clary, Jasmine, Juniper.

GRIEF:
Hyssop, Marjoram, Rose.

HYPERSENSITIVE:
Chamomile, Jasmine, Melissa,

IMPATIENCE/IRRITABILITY:
Chamomile, Camphor, Marjoram, Frankincense.

JEALOUSY :
Rose, Ylang Ylang.

PANIC:
Chamomile, Clary, Jasmine, Lavender, Marjoram, Melissa, Neroli, ylang-ylang.

SHOCK:
Camphor, Melissa, Neroli.

SUSPICION:
Lavender, Rose

EUPHORICS
These oils stimulate the secretion of ENKEPHALINS from the THALAMUS to produce a euphoric effect and to lift or enhance the mood.Clary Sage, Grapefruit, Jasmine, Rose Otto.

APHRODISIACS
These oils stimulate the secretion of ENDORPHINS from the PITUITARY GLAND to produce emotional warmth, and sex hormone activity.
Clary Sage, Jasmine, Patchouli, Ylang-Ylang.

REGULATORS
These oils stimulate the secretion of VARIOUS HORMONAL SUBSTANCES from the HYPOTHALAMUS to regulate 'moods' and hormonal secretions.
Bergamot, Frankincense, Geranium, Rosewood.

MEMORY/MENTAL STIMULANTS
These oils stimulate the AMYGDALA AND HIPPOCAMPUS in the brain which are associated with 'higher' brain functions, of thought and memory.
Black Pepper, Lemon, Peppermint, Rosemary.

SEDATIVES
These oils aid sleep, relax and lower hyperfunction in the body by stimulating the secretion of SERATONIN from the RAPHE NUCLEUS in the brain.
Chamomile, Lavender, Marjoram, Orange Blossom.

INVIGORATORS
These oils increase energy and body functions by stimulating the secretion of NORADRENALINE from the LOCUS CERULEUS of the brain Cardamom, Juniper, Lemongrass, Rosemary.

About the Author

Danny Siegenthaler is a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine and together with his wife Susan, a medical herbalist and aromatherapist, they have created Natural Skin Care Products by Wildcrafted Herbal Products to share their 40 years of combined expertise with you.

 

National Library of Medicine - National Institutes of Health
Part of the National Institutes of Health, the National Library of Medicine offers access to health information for consumer, patient, and physicians ...
www.nlm.nih.gov
 
Health and Medical Information produced by doctors - MedicineNet.com
Doctor-produced health and medical information written for you to make informed decisions about your health concerns.
www.medicinenet.com
 
Medicine in the Yahoo! Directory
Collection of sites for health professionals, with sections on specific disciplines, organizations, continuing education, conferences, publications, ...
dir.yahoo.com
 
MedlinePlus Health Information from the National Library of Medicine
Health information from the National Library of Medicine. Easy access to Medline and Health topics, medical dictionaries, directories and publications.
medlineplus.gov
 
Medicine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Medicine is a branch of health science and the sector of public life ... The practice of medicine combines both science as the evidence base and art in the ...
en.wikipedia.org
 
Journal Home - Nature Medicine
Nature Medicine has a vacancy for a Locum Assistant Editor for six months. The position involves working in all aspects of the editorial process, ...
www.nature.com
 
The New England Journal of Medicine: Research & Review Articles on ...
The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) is a weekly general medical journal that publishes new medical research findings, review articles, and editorial ...
content.nejm.org
 
eMedicine Clinical Knowledge Base
eMedicine features up-to-date, searchable, peer-reviewed medical journals, online physician reference textbooks, and a full-text article database in 62 ...
www.emedicine.com
 
Open Directory - Health: Medicine
the entire directory, only in Health/Medicine. Top: Health: Medicine (11429). Description · Medical Specialties (4888); Surgery (2265) ...
dmoz.org
 
the www virtual library biosciences medicine
www.ohsu.edu/cliniweb/wwwvl/ - Similar pages
 
Medicine - home
Bimonthly journal covering the latest results in clinical investigation relevant to hospital and office practice.
www.md-journal.com
 
Institute of Medicine
The Institute of Medicine serves as adviser to the nation to improve health.
www.iom.edu
 
ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News
Medical Research News. Health news on everything from cancer to nutrition. Full-text, images, updated daily.
www.sciencedaily.com
 
Google Directory - Health > Medicine
Search only in Medicine Search the Web. Medicine. Health > Medicine, Go to Directory Home. Categories. Alternative Medicine (6308) Basic Sciences (66) ...
www.google.com
 
the world wide web virtual library biosciences medicine
www.mcb.harvard.edu/biopages/medicine.html - Similar pages
 
PLoS Medicine - A Peer-Reviewed Open-Access Journal
PLoS Medicine is a peer-reviewed, international, open-access journal published ... Every issue of PLoS Medicine contains a selection of readers' responses. ...
medicine.plosjournals.org
 
Medicine On-Line - Medicine Online -The International Medical Journal
Medicine Online - independent and peer reviewed journal published by Priory Medical Journals - priory.com.
www.priory.com
 
Entrez PubMed
PubMed is a service of the US National Library of Medicine that includes over 16 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
 
Stanford University School of Medicine
Home Page of the Stanford University School of Medicine.
med.stanford.edu
 
Medicine OnLine
Meds.com offers medical information and education on cancer (lung cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, leukemia) and HIV / AIDS for patients, ...
www.meds.com