General Findings
Traditional medicine has long employed herbal preparations to reduce inflammation of wounds or achy muscles and joints. In fact, our single most popular inflammation-reducing drug came originally from the bark of the white willow tree: aspirin. Today, many home users as well as licenced practitioners make use of essential oils for inflammation reduction, which in turn reduces pain, which actually reduces further inflammation. Massage therapists have long known that certain essential oils can help speed the healing of their clients, and home users have found the same result with arthritic and rheumatic conditions
A quick look at the current research available on pubmed.gov give an extensive list of scientific publications confirming the anti-inflammatory action of essential oils. Several plants have a long history and strong reputation for their anti-inflammatory activity. Ginger, for example, has an interesting dual-action of being both warming to an area, and have potent anti-inflammatory activity at the same time. Ginger oleoresin (an oil and resin compound) has been sucessfully studied for its anti-inflammatory activity. Supercritical carbon dioxide extracts of Ginger root, also with strong anti-inflammatory activity, are easily obtained by licenced practioners and home users to indclude in their joint and muscle ache recipes.
Futher validiating the inflammation reducing power of essential oils, Japanese researchers have released a study in the January 10th Journal of Lipid Research confirming this effect in MANY medicinal essential oils.This confirms the therapeutic selections of several — not just any single — essential oil for reducing inflammation. The range of oils found to have anti-inflammatory activity was very broad, from thyme and clove, to rose, eucalyptus and even bergamot; many of these oils the traditional therapist would not expect to display a significant effect. Also of interest was the notable absence in the research of what are considered some of the strongest anti-inflammation essential oils, namely Lavender, Helichrysum, German Chamomile and Ginger. This of course does not deny in any way the inflammation-reducing action of these oils; instead in bolsters their potential use by noting that even oils NOT considered the formost inflammation reducers can have dramatic effects.
The strongest inflammation-reducing activity was produced by the essential oil of Thyme, a pungent herb long used as a savory flavoring. Thyme essential oil is highly regarded for its immune system boosting and anti-viral / anti-bacterial actions. Interestingly, the study noted that all essential oils tested reduced inflammation in a manner similar to resveratrol, the long-life-enhancing component of red wine. Inflammation itself is oftentimes a symtom of a strained or challenged immune system, as well as a marker of aging. One’s ability to naturally keep inflammation under contol is likely to result in fewer illnesses and a slower aging process. Along these lines, it was the single natural component Carvacrol, also found in high concentrations in Oregano essential oil, that had the strongest anti-inflammatory activity of any of the single isolated compounds from any essential oil used in the study. While carvacrol by itself is actually a dangerous chemical in that it can burn our tissues, it seems to have a multitude of beneficial actions including reducing inflammation, being a strong anti-microbial agent, and boosting immune system function.
Tags: alternative medicine, aromatherapy, essential oils, Health, wellness
Posted in Healthy Living · January 18th, 2010 · Comments (0)
Linalool has been the focus of many studies investigating its anxiolytic (anti-stress) effects. Inhalation of Linalool, extracted from natural essential oils, leads to lessened aggressive activities, lessens stress reaction, and improves sleep.
Now, in a study just published in the Journal of Chemico-biological Interactions, researchers at the American University of Beirut studied a single component found in a great many aromatherapy oils: Linalool. This naturally made plant chemical adds the sweet smell to therapeutc grade oils; French Lavender essential oil contains the most linalool of any essential oil type, and it is found in varying amounts in a wide variety of plants. There are also linalool types of oils, where the particular cultivar of a plant produces more than others.Linalool Appears to Kill Cancer Cells at a Very Low Concentration
In this study, linalool extracted from steam distilled Coriander oil was found to lessen the viability of the HepG2 cell line, a particular liver cancer cell type broadly used in research. Coriander was chosen as the spice is considered to have important medicinal qualities. Linalool inhibited these liver cancer cells from replicating. A concentration of 0.4 micromole inhibited 50% of the cells from replicating, a concentration of 2 micromol inhibited 100% of the cells from replicating, thereby destroying the cancer.
Now we don’t claim to be high-tech researchers The Ananda Apothecary but we did take a bit of chemistry in college. It appears this is an very, very small amount of linalool — 1 mole of Linalool is 154 grams. This appears to be .000308 grams of linalool per liter of solution the cell line was bathed in.
When one considers that many Lavender essential oils contain between 25 percent and forty percent linalool, this is pretty amazing. 25 drops of Lavender essential oil delivers in somewhere around .3 grams of linalool. The oil is quickly absorbed through the skin, and safe to injest in small amounts.
“A 50% and 100% decrease in the viability of HepG2 was obtained at 0.4muM and 2muM linalool (note: these are very small amounts of linalool in the solution), respectively…In addition, a time-dependent decrease in glutathione (GSH) level and in the reduction of nitroblue tetrazolium was obtained, indicating increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. In addition linalool increased ROS generation and decreased GSH level…Pretreatment with the antioxidants: N-acetyl cysteine (2mM), Trolox (100muM) and different flavonoids (50muM) was partially protective against the linalool-induced cell death…We hereby report a decrease in cell viability of HepG2 cells by linalool and identify the mitochondria as one possible target for its site of action, inhibiting complexes I and II and decreasing ATP.”
Tags: aromatherapy, cancer, essential oils, therapeutic essential oils
Posted in Diseases · December 23rd, 2009 · Comments (0)