Aromatherapy Essay

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The field of aromatherapy has its roots in ancient medicine and uses concentrated aromatic plant extracts (essential oils) to treat various diseases (Cooke and Ernst, 2002). Aromatherapy message reduces anxiety, but no long-term benefits have been reported or studied (Cooke and Ernst, 2002). The popularity of aromatherapy massage has led to increased daily use of essential oils. Diluted topical application of essential oils is recommended to avoid allergic reactions and diffusion, even within a closed room, presents little risk due to the dilution of the oil with the air in the room (Sheppard-Hanger and Hanger, 2015). However, unintentional chemical exposure to essential oils or fragrances through cleaning products may cause adverse health effects. In a U.S. survey of adults, 34.7% reported health problems, such as migraine headaches and respiratory difficulties, when exposed to fragranced products, such as air fresheners (Steinemann, 2016).
Fragrances are often added to cleaning products; 67% of products tested contained d-limonene, and 40% contained linalool (Rastogi SC, 2002). D-limonene is the primary constituent in citrus oils and is responsible for the citrus fragrance …show more content…
D-limonene reacts with the air, producing different oxidative products, some of which are potential irritants and asthma promoters. Pulmonary epithelial cells exposed to the D-limonene oxidative products had in increase in interleukins and tumor necrosis factor-alpha, indicating an inflammatory response was induced. Human bronchial cells exhibited similar increases in inflammatory markers when exposed to oxidative products. Elevated interleukin and tumor necrosis factor-alpha levels are indicated in asthma and COPD (Matera et al., 2010). Asthma and COPD both cause reduced lung capacity due to inflammatory responses in the
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