Effect of Aromatherapy with Lavender 10% Essential Oil on Motor Function, Speech and Delirium in Patients with Acute Thrombotic Cerebral Ischemia

Background: Stroke is one of the most disabling diseases worldwide. Herbal medicines, especially lavender, have been used to treat ischemic diseases today.  Objectives: The aim of our study was to investigate the effect of aromatherapy with lavender 10% essential oil on motor function, speech and delirium in acute thrombotic cerebral ischemia patients.  Materials & Methods: In this double blind clinical trial, 70 patients with acute thrombotic cerebral ischemia were enrolled. Patients were randomly assigned into two equal groups; the first group received lavender essential oil (10%) as aromatherapy, and the second group received placebo. Motor function, speech and delirium scores were calculated using standard questionnaire before and one week after treatment. The level of antioxidants and melancholically was also measured in post-treatment patients .Data were analyzed in SPSS V. 18 using descriptive statistics and paired t-test and independent t-test with a significance level of P<0.05 Results: There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of demographic information, motor function, speech and delirium scores (P>0.05). After treatment, the mean scores of motor function, speech and delirium were changed significantly in both groups, and the mean of these scores in the intervention group was significantly less than placebo, and in the intervention group the level of antioxidants was significantly higher and level of malondialdehyde was significantly less than placebo group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Using lavender 10% essential oil in our study improved the symptoms of patients such as motor function, speech and delirium after ischemic thrombolytic stroke. This is associated with decrease in malondialdehyde level and an increase in the level of antioxidants.