THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 9, 1994 TAG: 9410110454
SECTION: HAMPTON ROADS WOMAN PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DIANE TENNANT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 148 lines
HOSPITAL PATIENTS sleep better in lavender-scented rooms.
Workers make fewer mistakes in offices spritzed with peppermint.
Cancer patients awaiting tests are less anxious when the aroma of heliotropin (a sweet, vanillalike odor) is in the air.
There's more to this, says Susan Schiffman of Duke University, than meets the eye. Or the nose.
Aromas make scents, in more ways than one. And aromatherapy, the use of scented oils to promote certain feelings and actions, is moving from the fringes of alternative or complementary medicine to acceptance by Western physicians.
Dr. Shawne Bryant, a Virginia Beach gynecologist, will begin offering massages and aromatherapy to patients this month. Schiffman, a professor of medical psychology, has studied the effect of fragrance on the mood swings of menopausal women.
And Janice Cunningham, a Virginia Beach aromatherapist, goes on as she has for years, mixing fragrances into massage oils, assessing her clients for compatibility with certain scents and importing organic plant oils.
``We use it in hospitals in England, you know,'' she said in her Jersey Island accent. ``Many years ago, they started to realize if they used lavender in atomizers, they could cut down the (patients') sleeping tablets by more than one-third. They use essential oils in dentists' offices and it keeps everybody nice and calm.''
Essential oils are the basis of aromatherapy. They are oils distilled from plant materials, sometimes from huge amounts of roots or blossoms to get just a tiny bottle of oil. It takes, for example, 3 1/2 tons of plant material to obtain one pound of balm oil.
In aromatherpay, the oils are used in massage, or instilled into the air.
Aromatherapy has its roots in healing and religious practices from the Far East, the Holy Land, India, Egypt, from as early as 2000 B.C., according to ``The Encyclopaedia of Essential Oils.'' Today, scent is still used in religious rites, but it is becoming more common in massage therapy, the workplace and even, in some cases, medical offices.
Like Shawne Bryant's. Her practice will offer full-body and seated massages, along with aromatherapy, as a means of promoting stress reduction and a healthier lifestyle.
``Why not?'' Bryant said. ``I'm in the business of promoting health and it's another vehicle. I'm a single parent and, being a physician, I know what stress is about. A lot of these things I've found effective for me. I think it can well be the answer for many others.''
As she spoke, a mixture of essential oils called Mountain Rain scented her office. On particularly stressful days, she will choose jasmine. When she wants to be more alert, orange blossom is the choice.
``I really feel like we're on the cutting edge of being able to give our patients some other choices in ways they can improve health,'' Bryant said. ``I think in another three years or so, this will be the norm.''
It has been the norm for years in Europe, Cunningham said. She trained in aromatherapy for a year at a local university, down to the chemical properties of each oil.
Scents affect the brain, specifically the first and fifth cranial nerves. They can trigger the release of chemicals in the brain, she said, such as the body's natural painkillers.
The sense of smell is often overlooked, Schiffman noted, but it is used from the moment of birth. One-week-old human infants can distinguish their mother from other females by smell. Siblings can smell the difference between a strangers' T-shirt and that of a brother or sister.
The Shimizu Corp. of Tokyo diffuses oil from lavender and lemon to reduce stress in its computer operators. Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York found that its patients were calmer when the scent of heliotropin was in the air.
Writing in Cosmetics and Toiletries magazine, Schiffman noted that women more often chose a dentist's chair that had been sprayed with the sex scent of a male boar, while men tended to avoid that chair. Jasmine and other stimulating scents can awaken sleepers, while scents such as heliotropin are relaxants, she wrote.
Schiffman's study of women at midlife found that fragrance affected mood, although it did nothing for physical symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes.
``Fragrance definitely improves mood, it makes women less anxious and less depressed,'' Schiffman said. ``The International Fragrance Foundation has found a spiced apple flavor that quite reliably lowers diastolic blood pressure by two or three points.''
At the moment, Schiffman is working on a project to assess how the distinctly unpleasant odors from North Carolina's burgeoning hog farm industry are affecting nearby residents.
``Guess what?'' Schiffman said. ``They're more stressed, they're more depressed.''
There is more to aromatherapy than simply sniffing something pleasant, Cunningham cautioned. Some essential oils, because they are so concentrated, can be toxic. Others can just be overpowering in large amounts.
``It's not just a case of `this smells nice' and `this works for that,' '' she said. ``These are in their purest form. You have to be very mindful of how you use them.''
In mixing oils for clients, Cunningham said she evaluates each individual for medical conditions and activities. A client with low blood pressure, for example, should not use an oil that would lower it further, she said. Clients who will be working in the full sun should not use oils containing bergamot, which lessens the skin's protection.
``I have been very interested in educating people about their very careful use, and not just to mix them from a book for anybody,'' Cunningham said. ``It's important that people do not go into stores and just take the lids off and start smelling, because it can make them sick.''
Schiffman, who also serves as medical director for the nonprofit Olfactory Research Fund, said odors are strong stimulators of memory. She teaches patients relaxation techniques, then gives them a whiff of apricot. The next time they smell that scent, she said, it will trigger the relaxation response.
But can certain aromas act specifically to induce certain moods?
``That's a little iffy,'' Schiffman said. ``That needs more research.''
Bryant is convinced that more and more medical doctors will follow her lead in seeking ways to reduce stress, which has been proven to affect health.
``Massage is one means of dealing with stress,'' she said. ``Massage therapy and the use of essential oils and aromatherapy is an ancient art.
``I've begun within the practice to address not only the medical concerns of `how do you feel today?' It has to include your lifestyle, it has to include nutrition.
``It's a difference, it's a curve as far as traditional medicine goes.
``I'm convinced that we're headed in the right direction.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos by MOTOYA NAKAMURA
Dr. Shawne Bryant, third from left, is surrounded by her staff:
Barbara Watley, left, Melody Bourbeau and Regina Lawrence.
FAR LEFT: Dr. Shawne Bryant gives Linda Mapp a soothing massage. The
Virginia Beach gynecologist will begin offering massages and
aromatherapy to patients this month.
LEFT: Mapp relaxes in a sauna within Bryant's practice.
Oils distilled fro mplant materials are used in massage or are
instilled into the air.
Graphic
NAME THAT SCENT
Aromatherapists work on the principle that odors have specific
properties. Some examples:
Relaxing: bergamot, rose, mimosa, lavender, sandalwood, rosewood
Increase concentration and cooperation: a mixture of lemongrass,
lime and myrtle
Stimulate, refresh and heighten concentration: lemon verbena,
grapefruit, mint, myrtle
Calm: geranium, cypress, lavender, mimosa
by CNB