Can aromatherapy help people combat depression?

Nearly 20% of people in the UK experience symptoms of anxiey or depression in 2014 according the Mental Health Foundation.

A systemic review of five medical databases has found evidence to support the effictiveness of aromatherapy for alleviating depressive symptoms.  A team of scientists at the Hong Kong Polytechnic Univeristy found 12 randomiased controlled trials involving a total of 1,226 participants – 984 were female and 224 male, with an average age of 47.  Two of the five inhalation studies and five of the eight massage trails reported improvements in subjects conditions, with the aromatherapy massage found to be more effective.

So if you feel depressed why not try and aromatherapy massage.

Note: Vitality Therapy do not offer aromatherapy massage.

References

Mental Health Foundation. (2016) Fundamental Facts About Mental Health 2016. London: Mental Health Foundation.
Sánchez-Vidaña DI, Ngai SP, He W, Chow JK, Lau BW, Tsang HW. (2017) The effectiveness of aromatherapy for depressive symptoms: a systematic review. Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Related Posts

  • What is a muscle cramp?

    What is a muscle cramp? Normal movement of our bodies involves muscles alternating between contract and relaxation. A muscle that contracts involuntarily and is unable to relax is a spasm; and a forceful and prolonged spasm becomes a cramp. A muscle cramp can last anywhere from a few seconds to up to 15 minutes or occasionally longer. Any muscle can develop a cramp, but the most common site for muscle cramps are the legs, particularly the front of the thighs (quadriceps), back of the thighs (hamstrings) and calf muscles (gastrocnemius & soleus). Unfortunately almost everyone, one estimate is 95% of the population will experience a muscle cramp at some time in their life. Muscle cramps are one of those things that also increases as we get older. Those of you that have already had a muscle cramp will undoubtedly remember the unrelenting pain! Tip: Most muscle cramps can be stopped if the muscle can be stretched. Muscle spasms & cramps are one of the most common complaints that massage therapists deal with.

  • Tips for a healthy large intestine

    Following on from my bowel health checklist.  I want to focus on the large intestine whose job is to take all the remaining water and nutrients our any any food that comes its way and turn whats left into compact stools.  When things start going wrong with your large intestine, you usually get inflamation and this can lead to a range of symptoms including:

    • Stomach pain
    • Cramps
    • Bloating
    • Flatulence
    • frequent diarrhoea or constipation
    So here are my tips to improve your large intestine: Drink more water and eat more fibre Increasing the amount of water your drink and upping your fibre intake with foods like well cooked brown rice, oatmeal, prunes, kiwi fruit or flaxseeds.  This should produce at least one bowel movment a day and will avoid undigested waste sitting around in your gut. Get Moving A sedetary lifestyle can slow down your bowels. Take slippery elm capsules. A natural way to ease constipation. Minimise stress levels Stress upsets your digestion and reduced your bacteriodetes levels. Eat more vegetables Bacteriodetes love fruits, beans, pulses and fibre so east lots of them.  Where as firmicutes thrive on fat and sugar so eat less sugar! Up your selenium High levels of selenium are linked to low colon cancer risk.  So increase your intake of brazil nuts, slamon, onions, oats and brown rice as they are high in selenium. Eat a wide variety of foods Diversity of foods equals a diversity of gut bacteria. References https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4421088/  

  • How to increase the chances of a natural birth…

    Interventions during labour and childbirth are on the rise but a large proportion of pregnant women would like a natural birth but are concerned about pain relief.  Against this back drop, a recent randomised control trial looked at the effectiveness of a two day birth preparation course  in supporting natural birth. The birth preparation course attended by both the pregnant women and their birthing partners, covered the standard medical advice and self-administered complementary therapies including

    • visualisation, breathing, massage and yoga to enhance relaxation
    • yoga and acupressure to facilitate labour progression
    • breathing, yoga and acupressure to aid pain relief
    Those in the control group received the standard medical care advice.  In total 176 women took part in the trail. The results showed a reduction in the use of epidurals and caesarean section in the intervention group when compared to the control group. This trail shows clear evidence of the benefits of complementary therapies to support natural childbirth. Reference Levett KM, Smith CA, Bensoussan A, et al (2016). Complementary Therapies for Labour and birth study: a randomised control trial of antenatale integrative medicine for pain management in labour, BMJ Open 2016