Aromatherapy: ancient solutions for recent problems
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abstract
Background: Currently, complementary and alternative medicine emerge as strategy in the
prevention and treatment of various health problems. The present study aims to evaluate the efficacy
of aromatherapy with Lavandula angustifolia Mill and Matricaria recutita L. in reducing stress and
anxiety levels.
Methods: A study was performed with 36 individuals divided in two distinct groups: “aroma group”
and “control group”. Individuals of "aroma group" were treated with a mixture of essential oils of
Lavandula angustifolia Mill and Matricaria recutita L. applied with Effleurage massage while the
individuals of "control group" received only Effleurage massage. Stress and anxiety levels of all
individuals participating in the study were evaluated before and after the treatment. Additionally, the
chemical composition of the essential oils was evaluated by GC and GC-MS.
Results: In the aromatherapy assay, the “aroma group” showed a significant decrease of 12% and
30%, in stress and anxiety levels, respectively while lower decrease was observed in “control group”
(3.3% and 2.6% for stress and anxiety levels, respectively).
Conclusion: In this study, aromatherapy was effective in stress and anxiety levels reduction and
linalool, the major compound of the essential oil mixture, may be positively contributing for these
effects.
The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial
support by national funds FCT/MCTES to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020).
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by Fundação para a Ciência e a
Tecnologia (FCT) under UID/AMB/50017/2013, FEDER PT2020-Compete 2020. Authors are also grateful to Gabinete Terapêutico Telmo Teles, Unipessoal, Lda, Bragança, for the availability to perform the aromatherapy assay.
