Aromatherapy Nice but Useless

The action-mechanism of homeopathic products is just as unclear as in the time of Hahnemann. Lack of knowledge about these mechanisms does not necessarily mean the absence of an effect Many traditional drags today have verified therapeutic effects, but understanding the mechanism is fragmentary at best. However, there is a serious ethical issue present a product should only be officially declared to be a medicine if there is evidence to support this claim. Otherwise, citizens are misled. 

To screen out the placebo effect as a possible source of error in judging therapeutic efficacy, placebo-controlled clinical studies are necessary. The Cochrane Library registered 150 studies utilizing this methodology, and some of them showed positive conclusions. This is a very small number, especially compared to the huge variety of homeopathic products sold, but in fact still larger than many of the opponents would believe. 

Surprises also await a curious mind in the world of homeopathic remedies that have effects proven by placebo controlled, randomized, clinical double blind studies. Plant-derived products containing a mother tinctme or a solution of D1 poten-tization often feature detectable amounts of active ingredients. Chasteberry (Vitex agnus-castus) is used in both homeopathic and conventional (allopathic) medicines. The two different kinds of products contain just about the same amount of the same active ingredient (called casticin Fig. 3.14 shows analysis results) and their therapeutic recommendation is identical (managing the premenstrual stress syndrome). 

In a nice environment, people feel better. This is hardly a discovery, but some experts have actually proved this coimection using scientific methods. Even the symptoms of sick people feel less severe if the surroundings are pleasant, and the scents 

Aromatherapy is medical treatment with essential oils. Essential oils are volatile liquids obtained mostly by distillation (occasionally by pressing, extraction with a solvent or supercritical extraction) from plants. Some families of plants have a high content of essential oils and have a scent similar to that of the plant. 

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