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Aroma Medicine Gaining In Popularity, and For Good Reason!

The practice of 'aroma medicine', rather than the somewhat more vague 'aromatherapy', is making very strong gains in the United States. The primary reasons are twofold: Many individuals have become completely disenchanted with our current conventional medical system. We're paying HUGE amounts of money for very questionable therapies -- with many medicines having threatening health warnings (are these making us sicker while making us 'better'?) accompanying their high price tags. At the same time, people are realizing the value of 'traditional' medicines may be far greater than they've been lead to believe. That the healing power available in properly prescribed and employed natural medicines have the potential to not only alleviate the symptoms of an illness, but move the body to an equilibrium of long term health.

Scientific Validation of Essential Oil Therapy

Research into the area of medicinal applications of essential oils has been significant in recent years. Many oils have been proven to have significant antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal action. Now, the body of evidence of essential oils being strongly anti-tumorial, with specific anti-cancer action is growing, too. A search of Pub Med, the National Institute of Health's online research database produces 391 results for the search 'essential oils cancer' and 444 results for 'essential oil tumor'. MANY of the studies show a direct correlation in tumor and cancer cell line eradication with the use of essential oils. A great many have conclusions that indicate the studies results warrant further investigation of essential oils for the development of accepted therapies. Here's a review of some very promising results:

The Exceptional Power of Frankincense

A study in the journal BioMed Central journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, March 2009, titled: "Frankincense oil derived from Boswellia carteri induces tumor cell specific cytotoxicity" concludes with: "Frankincense oil appears to distinguish cancerous from normal bladder cells and suppress cancer cell viability. Microarray and bioinformatics analysis proposed multiple pathways that can be activated by frankincense oil to induce bladder cancer cell death. Frankincense oil might represent an alternative intravesical agent for bladder cancer treatment." ...while a bit technical, this is very, very promising -- essentially saying that this easily obtained, inexpensive, NON-TOXIC natural compound can eradicate cancer cells without harming normal, healthy cells in the same organ. Frankincense has a long, long history of medicinal use, and searching for 'frankincense cancer' produces 30 results just for this material. If choosing an essential oil of Frankincense, the 'carteri' species has been the subject of most research, with cold-process Carbon Dioxide distilled oils considered the most therapeutic (seek CO2 or SCO2 distilled oils or extracts).

Lemongrass Essential Oil Normalizes Apoptotic Process

The oil distilled from the leaves of Lemongrass, an herb with a long medicinal history itself, also shows similar action. In an evaluation of the essential oil from the Lemongrass species Cymbopogon flexuosus, the oil was found cytotoxic to a number of cancer cell types, and was active particularly in affecting that 'hallmark of cancer cells', the 'dysregulation of apoptosis' -- the natural process of cell death. One study concluded "The easy and abundant availability of the oil combined with its suggested mechanism of cytotoxicity make CFO (Lemongrass Oil) highly useful in the development of anti-cancer therapeutics". Inexpensive, easy to make, and effective: virtues of all of Nature's finest medicines!

Liver Protection from Sweet Molecule

Another groundbreaking study revealed the potential efficacy of a component of many essential oils. The study suggests the potential for one very common constituent can destroy liver cancer cells at very low concentrations -- it may be possible then that an essential oil with similar properties found in one's own region of the planet can have these same effects, offering the same healing or protective action without needing 'exotic' medicines to do so. The chemical 'linaolool' lends itself to the sweetness of many aromatics. The higher the linalool concentration in Lavender oil, for example, the sweeter it will be. So this constituent of so many essential oils completely eradicated a liver cancer cell line in a very, very low dilution. The constituent decreased the activity of metabolic pathways producing ATP in the cell, essentially killing the cancer cells by cutting of their energy production. While the study did not conclude anything about further investigation (or not), it was profoundly interesting for those regularly using essential oils in their lives. These folks will naturally absorb the amounts of linalool used in the study in their daily inhalation or topical application of oils, perhaps invoking a protective effect for themselves and their families...this would certainly be an interesting piece of research!

Protection from UV Rays by Essential Oils

Skin cancer is a major concern for many folks, and a series of studies have shown Sandalwood to be effective at preventing tumor development. Alpha-santalol, a component also shown to have anti-anxiety and sleep enhancing action, may be the constituent to which most of these effects may be attributed. This is fortunate, as Sandalwood from India is becoming more rare and expensive, though Sandalwood from Australia and other South Pacific islands is still readily available. A study published in the European Journal of Cancer Prevention, a formula used for containing just 5% Sandalwood essential oil used before exposure to toxins significantly reduced the formation of skin cancer tumors. A study published in January 2008 in the Journal of Anitcancer Research showed a significant reduction in tumor development in skin exposed to UVB radiation -- Sandalwood would make an excellent addition to a pre-sun body or face care formula.

DNA Protective Effects

Components of Thyme and Oregano essential oils have been shown to actually protect human DNA strands from breaking when exposed to extreme oxidative stress. DNA damage is a leading cause of cancer development, as this can lead to an abnormal cell life cycle, essentially turning off the process of natural cell death. Carvacrol and Thymol were singled out in a study by Slovakian researchers in 2007, though they also note that other components of these oils may have chemoprotective effects as well. Other spice essential oils that have demonstrated cancer preventative effects include Ginger, Tumeric, Basil, Garlic and Sage.

Moving Forward with Effective Natural Therapies

Beyond the direct effects on tumor cells, essential oils have been shown to positively effect the immune system on a chemical level. They can enhance the activity of white blood cells, making them more efficient and removing foreign material and microbes from the body. This would likely result in more effective cancer outcomes. Futher, there's the psychological component of any disease, and many essential oils have demonstrated anti-stress activity in scientific investigations. So, like many plant medicines, essential oils work on a number of levels for many diseases, with cancer being one of them. While its important to recognize that essential oil use is in-fact contra-indicated during chemotherapy (as they may reduce the cytotoxic effects of the treatment), they can certainly be an integral part of any cancer preventative protocol. For any application where an individual has already been diagnosed with the illness, it is important to check with their physician to ensure essential oils and aroma-medicine is an appropriate choice. The overall picture is very bright for the use of essential oils in cancer treatment, and further investigation is certainly warranted by the scientific and medical communities for the development of effective medical protocols for this profoundly life-altering condition.
In addition to writing about making your own herbal infusions, the author has made available much information about aromatherapy, such as using chamomile oil and other aromatherapy supplies.
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