Lavender Oil Seems To Soothe Away Anxiety

Lavender Oil Seems To Soothe Away Anxiety November 15, 2000 I draw the line at believing that smells can cure disease, but I have no doubt that they influence our moods and emotions. A large part of our old animal-brain is devoted to smell. A study now reports that lavender oil and hiba oil -- from the wood of an Asian tree -- relieved anxiety and depression in patients undergoing hemodialysis. The patients' exposure to normal hospital smells, odorless conditions, and lavender and hiba oil were evaluated based on scales that measure anxiety and depression -- the HAMA and the HAMD. The patients' moods in odorless conditions and when smelling the hospital smells scored about the same. But hiba oil returned "significantly decreased" HAMA and HAMD scores, anxiety and depression; and lavender oil "significantly decreased" their HAMA, anxiety score. My problem with this study is that you can't really do a double-blind study of a smell -- you know when you are smelling something. And in this case, using a hospital smell as a control is questionable. And of course, a pleasant smell is going to relieve more anxiety than the unpleasant smells of a hospital. When I was in medical school, the smell of Bellevue hospital was enough to put me in a horrible mood. It would take a vat of hiba oil to get me back there. But I am willing to believe that smells can make you feel better and elevate your mood.