Abstract
Aromatherapy is the practice of using aromatic plant-derived essential oils for many applications, including mood enhancement, pain relief, wound healing and improved cognitive function. In general, French type aromatherapy is known as medical aromatherapy contributing to preventive medicine and medical treatment. In contrast, British type aromatherapy is used mainly for the purpose of relaxation driven by aroma. In Japan where the British type is well pervasive, reproducible effects of essential oil-treatment on various disorders have not been fully established. Recently, medical aromatherapy is noted as an attractive option of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in view of medical economy. To recognize medical aromatherapy as a CAM in Japan, the establishment of evidence regarding both treatment methods of essential oils and their effects is required.
To estimate current status of aromatherapy in Japan, I researched essential oil-related articles reported from 2011 to November, 2013, using the software of Japan Medical Abstracts Society as the keywords of essential oils and effects. In this study, the total number of articles tested here was 136. The results showed that basic experimental, clinical case, and reference- and opinion poll-based studies were about 62.5, 30.1 and 6.6%, respectively. In almost studies tested here, effects of essential oils were not examined analytically and mechanistically. This suggests that analytical studies of both essential oils themselves and their effects are required. On the basis of these results above, I discussed the perspective on medical aromatherapy as a promising nursing skill.
