Abstract
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the physical effects of santalol inhalation on sleep. Salivary amylase activity(sAMY)was used as an index of sympathetic nervous activity. At the same time, results of a subjective evaluation of sleep and sleep duration were used as the indexes of sleep quality. Eighteen Japanese female adults suffering from insomnia were enrolled. The subjects applied 0.5g of santalol cream on their skins each bedtime for 2 weeks. Without cream application was carried out as the control. In the study without cream, the sAMY increased by 37.7% during the day and by 47.5% at night, compared with that in the morning. In the study with cream, the sAMY increased by 35.6% during the day and by 10.0% at night, compared with that in the morning. The diurnal variation of sAMY with the use of santalol cream showed similar to the circadian rhythm of sympathetic nervous activity for normal people. In the subjective evaluation of sleep and sleep duration, there were no significant differences between two studies. However, the subjects who preferred the santalol fragrance slept longer with the use of cream.
