Aromatherapy Treatments Can Be Studied Clinically & Effectively

Have you considered how little credit is given to aromatherapy and its effectiveness, yet the perfume industry spends billions of dollars on research, in creating the latest, greatest perfume?

Why the disparity?
Because small differences in aromas can make a big difference in our lives. This is true on and off the aromatherapy treatment table!

See the Quick and Easy Experiment below. Found at: 

http://www.internethealthlibrary.com/Therapies/Aromatherapy.htm


The quality of essential oils
Not all essential oils are the same. A randomised, double-blind trial of essential oils from two different species of lavender, topically applied on post-cardiotomy patients revealed that the quality of the oil is an important factor in determining the efficiacy of its use.

28 patients were randomly selected to receive aromatherapy massage with one of the two essential oils on two consecutive days, and their emotional and behavioural stress levels were evaluated both before and after the treatment.

The results revealed that the therapeutic effects of the two lavenders were clearly different; one was almost twice as effective as the other, thereby disproving the hypothesis that aromatherapy, using topical application of essential oils, is effective purely because of touch, massage or placebo.

Buckle J. Nurs Times (ENGLAND) May 19-25 1993, 89 (20) p32-5

Botanical Gardens - An Aromatherapist's Hideaway

Places of Interest for Aromatherapists:

Hendrie Park Garden at The Royal Botanical Gardens, Burlington ON

by Patty Meffe, Certified Aromatherapist

The Royal Botanical Gardens[i] located in Burlington Ontario provides an abundance of things to do and see that can easily fill a whole day.  The RBG consists of 5 separate Gardens, as well as many Sanctuaries and Trails.  It offers a feast for the eyes, information, places to dine or picnic, an active day of walking or hiking, a relaxing day in nature and an infinite well of pleasures for the spirit.

One of RBGs must see gardens for Aromatherapists is the Hendrie Park Garden[ii].  There are four plant collections in the Hendrie Park Garden that are of special interest to Aromatherapists.  These include; The Scented Garden, The Medicinal Garden, The Rose Garden (view video here) and The World of Botany Garden.

The Scented Garden[iii] exhibits both fragrant flowers and plants reminiscent of medieval gardens.  You are encouraged to “SCRATCH AND SNIFF”.  To smell the leaves of plants, they suggest you brush them gently and then sniff your hand.  They provide many interesting facts about scent including this tidbit:

“Why do some plants smell?

Plants produce scent for two reasons.  Flower scent attracts animal pollinators, while aromatic foliage, bark and roots repel hungry predators.

Why don’t all plants smell?

Fragrance is unnecessary for flowers pollinated by birds (who have no sense of smell) or by the wind.  Some plants also produce scent only when a pollination payoff is likely: moth-pollinated flowers save their strongest scent for evening hours.”

The Medicinal Garden[iv] is divided into 8 plant beds.  Each plant bed corresponds to a different part of the body and contains plants recommended to treat a particular physical system.  The 8 beds illustrate medicines for cardiovascular, eye, urinary immune, reproductive, respiratory, cancer-fighting and gastrointestinal systems.  Each bed provides information on the plants that are helpful for the specified physical system.  The RBG also has a virtual museum on their web page called The Healing Power of Plants[v].  This site has a lot of information as well as fun interactive quizzes that you can test your knowledge with.

The Rose Garden[vi] exhibits a huge variety of roses.  Be sure to stop by the “Discovery Cart[vii]” located right in front of the rose collection.  It displays many uses of roses, including edible recipes and how rose water is distilled. 

The World of Botany Garden[viii] has arranged its plant beds according to botanical families.  Throughout the whole RBG, plants are labelled with their common name, botanical name and botanical family.  It’s a great way to test and expand your knowledge of plants and their botanical families.

---

[i] www.rbg.ca

[ii] http://www.rbg.ca/pdf/map_hendrieflat.PDF

[iii] http://www.rbg.ca/pages_hort/hort_rose_gdrn.html#scented

[iv] http://www.rbg.ca/pages_hort/hort_rose_gdrn.html#medicinal

[v] http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Healingplants/  

[vi]http://www.rbg.ca/pages_hort/hort_rose_gdrn.html#rose

[vii] http://www.rbg.ca/pages/visit_guidedtours.html

[viii] http://www.rbg.ca/pages_hort/hort_rose_gdrn.html#botany

Free e-books: Natural Health Care Products & Complementary Medicine Policies

While researching an article I am writing about Canadian regulations of the use of the word “aromatherapy” on product labels, I found some e-books that may be of interest to our membership.

From the Health Canada website - Abbreviated Health Claims for Natural Health Products – Discussion Paper

I haven’t read this one in its entirety, but did notice that discussion regarding the use of the term “used in Aromatherapy…” begins on page 18 of the booklet, if you want to skip ahead.

From the Fraser Institute Studies in Health Care Policy: Unnatural Regulation: Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy in Canada

Again, have not yet read this one completely (it’s 87 pages long), but a simple search for the term “aromatherapy” finds the CFA is mentioned on page 36.

If anyone has information about use of the word “aromatherapy” on labels, I’d love for you to share it with me. You can e-mail me or add a comment to this post.  From what I gather, there are no regulations in place.  Anyone can label a product “aromatherapy”, whether it contains real essential oils or not. Strawberry bubblegum aromatherapy candle, anyone?

TECHNO TIP: If you wish to print these e-books, you can save paper by setting the printer to print 2 pages per sheet.  You may need a magnifying glass to read it, however!

From the “Print” menu in Adobe Reader (the program we use to read PDF files), in the “Page Handling” section (outlined in purple, above), choose the settings shown.

Page Scaling: multiple pages per sheet
Pages per sheet: 2
Page order: horizontal
Check “print page border” if you want a distinctive box around each page (I find this makes it easier to separate the text).
Check “auto-rotate pages” so the pages fit on the sheet of paper properly.

About the CFA-News Blog

Why do we need a blog?

This blog was created for several reasons:

• To quickly share information amongst members of the Canadian Federation of Aromatherapists.
• To reach out to students of CFA-approved schools and potential new members.
• As an educational tool for the general public.

The blog is not intended to replace the Official Website or the Newsletter, but to act as an additional source of information.

What is a ‘blog’?

The term “blog” is short for “web log”.  According to Wikipedia, a blog is “… usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order.”

Generally, a blog is like a dynamic, electronic newspaper.  There are some sections that always remain the same – like the row of links across the top, and the content in the sidebars.  The main section will change as often as we add new content.

Older content can always be accessed by using the “Blog Archive” box.  Right now this is found at the bottom of the left-hand sidebar.

Who writes this blog?

This blog was created by Heather Thomas, a CFA member from Windsor, Ontario, and owner of Heather Scent Aromatherapy.  Monika Meulman, President of the CFA and owner of Six Senses of Tranquillity, also contributes articles and has administrator privileges.

If you are web-savvy and would like to be added as a blog author (you need a Google account), please contact Heather.

Even if you lack the technical skills to use the Blogger website to write posts, everyone is encouraged to contribute to the blog.  If you have anything you want to share with the members – an article about essential oils, an upcoming event, a product you love, etc… – please e-mail either Heather or Monika.

Be sure to make use of the “comments” section under each blog post.  Feedback is immediate, and everyone can see it! You are not required to sign up for anything in order to leave comments.

Isn’t this blog just one more thing I have to check?

That is the beauty of a blog – you can subscribe to it and have the articles delivered right to your (electronic) mailbox, just like you would with a conventional newspaper! Simply type your e-mail address in the subscription box to the left and click “subscribe”.

You will receive a verification e-mail with further instructions.  After that, the blog updates will come directly to your inbox.  If you’d like to see how the article looks on the site, or leave a comment, you can click through the e-mail to open the post in your Web browser.

If you find you are not receiving updates, please check your Junk or Spam folder.

Free Access - Research Papers

You wanted to know:

Where do we access free research papers for essential oils studies?

is a good place to start.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4091/is_200609/ai_n17197145/

President’s Update – June 2010

Thank you all for an information packed, active, and progressive AGM everyone. The CFA may not be large in membership, but we are definitely growing. We
are growing in awareness, in professional standards, in reputation, and in technology.

With all this new growth, there are growing pains. Just because it is challenging to  change and grow, does not mean we will stop. We are in very exciting times of complementary medicine. Stay tuned. Stay tuned in. Check out the events page. Check out & sign up for our Facebook GROUP. Sign up for our Twitter Feed.

We are also live on Blogger! Join now by entering your email address in the box on the left. The updates will come to you – no need to check the site every day!

Where am I ? I have a private practice in Etobicoke, Ontario. I also work directly with retirement residences all over the GTA as well as the Toronto Public School Board.

Monika
hm@healingmuse.com

My summer to do list:

• keep regular communication up with you, the membership, and the board
• keep up with regular meetings with my selected committees and the board
• support Tricia Eagle, our secretary, in the week by week administration & events planning

Your (member) summer to do list:

• sign up for the Montreal Belle Origine August Event! with Jennifer Jefferies, Mindy
Green, & Beryl Crane
http://www.belleorigine.ca/
• sign up for a committee, if you have not already done so
• sign up for the fall aromafest in October, details to come
• keep the CFA posted on any events, talks, and workshops you have coming up! 

email the CFA: cfamanager@cfacanada.com