We examined how aromatherapy massage influenced psychologic and immunologic parameters in 12 breast cancer patients in an open semi-comparative trial. We compared the results 1 month before aromatherapy massage as a waiting control period with those during aromatherapy massage treatment and 1 month after the completion of aromatherapy sessions. The patients received a 30 min aromatherapy massag...

BACKGROUND Menopausal symptoms experienced by women vary widely, and while many women transition through menopause with manageable symptoms, others experience severe symptoms, which may impair their quality of life. OBJECTIVES A randomized clinical trial was conducted to determine the effect of aromatherapy massage on psychological symptoms during menopause. METHODS The study population com...

OBJECTIVE Menopause is a significant event in most women's lives because it marks the end of a woman's natural reproductive life. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of aromatherapy massage on menopausal symptoms. METHODS A randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted at a menopausal clinic at a gynecology hospital in Tehran. The study population comprised 90 w...

This preliminary investigation compares peripheral blood cell counts including red blood cells (RBCs), white blood cells (WBCs), neutrophils, peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs), CD4(+), CD8(+) and CD16(+) lymphocytes, CD4(+)/CD8(+) ratio, hematocrit, humoral parameters including serum interferon-gamma and interleukin-6, salivary secretory immunoglobulin A (IgA). Psychological measures includin...

This study investigated the alleviating effects of aromatherapy massage and acetaminophen on menstrual pain in Korean high school girls. Subjects were divided into two groups: the aromatherapy massage (treatment) group (n = 32) and the acetaminophen (control) group (n = 23). Aromatherapy massage was performed on subjects in the treatment group. The abdomen was massaged once using clary sage, ma...

Previous studies have found beneficial effects of aromatherapy massage for agitation in people with dementia, for pain relief and for poor sleep. Children with autism often have sleep difficulties, and it was thought that aromatherapy massage might enable more rapid sleep onset, less sleep disruption and longer sleep duration. Twelve children with autism and learning difficulties (2 girls and 1...

BACKGROUND Aromatherapy massage is a commonly used complementary therapy, and is employed in cancer and palliative care largely to improve quality of life and reduce psychological distress. OBJECTIVES To investigate whether aromatherapy or massage, or both, decreases psychological morbidity, lessens symptom distress and/or improves the quality of life in patients with a diagnosis of cancer. ...

In his editorial accompanying our systematic review of aromatherapy (June Journal),1 Vickers2 concludes that ‘it is not of pressing scientific importance to know whether aromatherapy enhances the effects of massage, since the essential oils used in aromatherapy are not particularly toxic or expensive’. I believe that this statement is misleading, perhaps even unscientific. If massage therapy al...

Increasing depression tendency of the elderly is closely connected with secondary health problems, so psychological and physical changes of aging are needed as intervention for positive effects. After running aromatherapy massage and regular oil massage, we attempt to validate the effects on stress and depression and to contribute to the development of nursing intervention. Subjects are 32 inst...

PURPOSE To test the effectiveness of supplementing usual supportive care with aromatherapy massage in the management of anxiety and depression in cancer patients through a pragmatic two-arm randomized controlled trial in four United Kingdom cancer centers and a hospice. PATIENTS AND METHODS Two hundred eighty-eight cancer patients, referred to complementary therapy services with clinical anxi...