Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 8, 1995 TAG: 9509080093
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LONDON LENGTH: Short
The sweet smell of lavender oil helped four elderly insomniacs fall asleep quicker and sleep longer, a researcher says.
``On this limited, preliminary study, we got evidence to say there might be an effect,'' said Dr. David Stretch, a researcher at the University of Leicester. He said a large trial would be necessary to verify the findings. His report is published in a letter in this week's edition of The Lancet, a British medical journal.
``The results are very intriguing and very consistent with what we and others have found,'' said Dr. Alan Hirsch, director of the Smell and Taste Research Center in Chicago. Hirsch suspects lavender may have an even more powerful effect on young insomniacs because people tend to lose their sense of smell with age.
The new study involved four nursing home residents, all over the age of 65. Three had trouble sleeping without any treatment. But the aroma of lavender, experts found, worked just as well as sleeping pills. The other subject, who was not taking sedatives, slept much better with lavender.
Hirsch said the olfactory bulb, the nose's nerve center, lies close to the brain's reticular activating system, which controls the sleep-wake cycle. He speculated that lavender chemicals flowed through the nose into the brain, somehow altering the biology of the sleep center.
by CNB