There is growing evidence that aromatherapy can improve mood. Since pharmacists may be requested to counsel patients about aromatherapy, this study was designed to evaluate the influence of counseling on the effectiveness of aromatherapy in 14 healthy young women. Participants completed a self-reported questionnaire (motivation, feeling of drowsiness and general fatigue) and multi-dimensional fatigue inventory-20 (MFI-20) in a room filled with the fragrance of bergamot, with or without counseling. Further, as an objective measure of changes in stress, blood flow in the inferior frontal cortex was evaluated by means of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). MFI-20 showed that aromatherapy with counseling significantly improved activity and motivation, as compared to aromatherapy only. The self-reported questionnaire showed no significant difference. Regional blood flow in the inferior frontal cortex was significantly decreased by exposure to aromatherapy with counseling, compared to aromatherapy alone (p<0.01, p<0.05). The value of the laterality index (LI) derived from NIRS measurements, which is considered to be a measure of stress, was decreased by aromatherapy with counseling, indicating that bergamot oil reduces stress. Overall, the results indicated that counseling intervention markedly increased the effectiveness of aromatherapy.

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A multilayered stratum corneum is generated when skin moisture reduces. Several reports revealed on the assessment of the multilayered stratum corneum using different analytical methods. We performed an imaging analysis of the multilayered stratum corneum obtained using a tape-stripping method. An eosin staining method was performed to conduct short-term analysis of the stratum corneum and revealed that an eosin dye solution acidified the tissues for a short period. Moreover, we could achieve an image binarization of only the stratum corneum by extracting the luminosity picture of complementary green color using the dye sample image. Furthermore, extracting only the multilayered stratum corneum increased the luminosity by 1.5 times over the usual threshold. The differences with imaging were examined under these conditions. The results of this imaging analysis revealed a high coincidence rate and suggest that the short-term dyeing method allowed the same imaging quality.

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Itch has been defined as an unpleasant sensation that provokes the desire to scratch itch. The itch in dry skin such as xerosis and atopic dermatitis is antihistamin-resistant itch (intractable itch). The itch in dry skin is induced easily by weak stimuli such as mechanical, chemical or physiological stimuli (alloknesis). Alloknesis may be induced by lowering of itch threshold. One of the cause of this phenomenon is the elongation (invasion) of nerve fibers into the epidermis. In this paper the invasion mechanisms of nerve fiber into the epidermis and the management of itch in dry skin were discussed.

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There are many cases where patients use ointments inappropriately. One of the reasons is that there are only few studies about ointments. Even medical package insert of ointments does not give specific instructions about usage and dosage. For moisturizers, the number of times to apply to the skin is one to a few times, but not clearly specified. There has not been many studies done on the relationship between the number of times applied to the skin and the efficacy of the moisturizers. In the past, ointments were applied after bathing. However, recent studies have shown that there is no significant difference between applying just after bathing and after few hours. There are many cases where ointments are used together with other ointments. In these cases, ointments are often mixed together. However, there are only a few studies done on the permeability of ointments which are mixed. Overglazing is also very popular, but there has been no study done on the order of application and permeability. For these reasons, further study will be needed to properly use ointments.

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