CAM modality, product or service, either from
Research Paper: Select a CAM modality, product or service, either from the class presentations or another source (instructor approval), and develop a research paper that makes an in depth review of this. Summarize your findings (7-9 pages in length),
double space, 12 pt font, properly cited APA style references
- Overview/explanation of the modality
- General pattern of use in the US or internationally
- Benefits or claims of this product or therapy
- Possible or proven risks, or possible harm
- Comparison of the conventional medicine to the CAM modality
- Any research contributing to the CAM modality
- Conclusions/recommendations for consumers (including yourself)
Aromatherapy
One of the widely used alternative and complementary forms of medicine today in the U.S and internationally is the aromatherapy. According to Buckle (2014) aromatherapy usually make use of plant materials as well as aromatic oil from plants, such as essential oils and other known aroma compounds for purposes of improving the physical or psychological well-being of an individual. Newcomer (2014) notes that aromatherapy applies essential oil that is concentrated and extracted from the leaves, roots, blossoms and seeds of plants for purposes of promoting healing. The oil during aromatherapy can either be messaged into an individual’s skin, inhaled or take through the mouth (Newcomer, 2014). In addition, the oil can be issued through immersing it into water in order to stimulate the intended response from an individual. The essential oils during aromatherapy are used for different purposes, whereby, some are used for treatment of infections or inflammation and others help in promoting relaxation in a patient.
Aromatherapy at times is offered as a form of complementary theory and in some cases as an alternative medicine (Price and Price, 2007). In situations where it is used as complementary theory is usually offered together with standard treatment, but in the case of alternative medicine a patient is offered it instead of getting conventional medicine, which are evidence-based in nature (Buckle, 2014).
So far no tangible evidence exists indicating that aromatherapy can be effective in curing and preventing any form of diseases (Newcomer, 2014). Nonetheless, it can be useful in improving the general well-being of an individual. The utilization of essential oils for spiritual, hygienic, ritualistic and therapeutic purposes can be traced back in numerous civilizations, such as the Indians, Egyptians, Chinese, Romans and Greeks who used to utilize them in perfumes, drugs and cosmetics. The aromatherapy concept was initiated in the field of medicine in 1907 by a small group of European doctors and scientists. The use of aromatherapy was pioneered during WWII by Jean Valnet a surgeon who used to treat French soldiers using essential oils in providing antiseptics treatment to the wounded soldiers.
There are different types of materials that are used in aromatherapy. Absolutes are widely used materials and tend to be fragrant oils which are extracted basically from delicate plant or flowers tissues through supercritical or solvent extraction approach (Buckle, 2014). Aroma lamps are aloes used and are usually electric devices which ensures essential oils is volatilized, when mixed using water (Price and Price, 2007). Carrier oils are used in aromatherapy and are basically oily plant based triacylglycerides, which help in dilution of essential oils for application on a skin. Other types of materials include infusions, herbal hydrosols or herbal distillates, essentials oils, vaporizers and phytoncides (Buckle 2014). Therefore, the use of aromatherapy as form of alternative as well as complementary medicine is still under development, especially whereby, more studies are being carried out to determine its effectiveness in healing of various forms of illnesses.
In the U.S, the U.S of aromatherapy as an alternative as well as complementary medicine is gaining popularity. According to the U.S laws, any drug related product should be regulated by FDA (U.S Food and Drug Administration). FDA does not regulate the use of most of the essential oils that are used in aromatherapy, as they are not form of medicine used in fully healing of certain illnesses, but rather help in improvement of the well-being of the users (Price and Price, 2007). Nonetheless, use of essential oils, which has the healing power of certain diseases are regulated by FDA to ensure that they do not cause harm to the users. The FDA has to approve their use before they can be sold to the public through various channels. Therefore, currently, in the U.S most of the essential oil products applied in aromatherapy is noted regulated by FDA.
The U.S center for diseases has been carrying out studies with an objective of enhancing the use of aromatherapy as an alternative or complementary treatment. The studies have focused on how to deal with risks associated with the use of essential oils in aromatherapy and enhance their effectiveness in treatment of patients. The move has played a central role in ensuring that there is wide spread adoption of aromatherapy in the U.S. Most of the people in the U.S, do not make use of aromatherapy products for healing purposes, but rather they are currently widely using them for purposes of preventing diseases. Aromatherapy is widely used in helping people to relax, especially in message sessions (Buckle, 2014).
A big number of the U.S population has come to accept aromatherapy as a good for complementary medicine that is essential in improving physical and psychological well-being of an individual. As a result, the rate at which aromatherapy products are being used for the last one decade has increased at high rate, an indication that people have come to accept that aromatherapy is critical in improving their health and preventing various forms of illnesses.
However, Price and Price (2007) notes that aromatherapy products as forms of alternative medicine have not yet gained a lot of popularity among the healthcare professionals. Instead of using aromatherapy in treatment of patients in the U.S, most of the healthcare professionals prefer making use of evidenced-based treatment approaches. This shows that the use of aromatherapy as an alternative medicine has not yet managed to gain the required popularity among the healthcare professionals. Thus, a lot of research studies need to be carried out with an objective of providing more evidence to show the healing capability of various aromatherapy products so that it can be widely accepted as form of alternative medicine in the future by most of the healthcare professionals (Buckle, 2014).
The use of aromatherapy as form of complementary and alternative medicine is associated with numerous benefits to the users. First, according to Newcomer (2014) aromatherapy is used in reducing pain in a person. For example, during the WWII a French surgeon would make use of aromatherapy products, especially essential oils as form of atheistic to reduce pain in the wounds of the wounded soldiers. This clearly shows that aromatherapy is beneficially when it comes to helping a person who has pain as a result of injury or other body processes to reduce it through using essential oil products.
Additionally, aromatherapy is useful when it comes to reducing anxiety and depression among the users. According to Muzzarelli, Force and Sebold (2006) aromatherapy is useful in reducing pre-procedural anxiety. Aromatherapy message helps in making the brain relax, thereby ensuring that a person overcomes fear that is associated with undergoing a major medical procedure, such as surgery. Therefore, aromatherapy is beneficial in helping patient to overcome anxiety that can make a medical procedure ineffective. This shows that it is used to complement conventional medicine during major procedures by being applied, especially through message to help patients relax before a certain procedures that are life threatening, such as surgeries can be performed on them (Muzzzarelli, Force and Sebold, 2006).
One of the major causes of depression is usually stress. Kuriyama et al (2005) indicates that one of the widely spread application of aromatherapy is in the area of stress relief. Aromatic compounds obtained from various essential oils tend to be referred as relaxants, thereby, aid in soothing one mind, relieving some stress feelings. Thus, the use of aromatherapy is beneficial to the users as it help them to overcome stress in their day to day activities, preventing a situation where long-term stress can lead them to develop depression (Kiruyama et al, 2005).
Furthermore, Price and Price (2007) argue that aromatherapy is beneficial when it comes to improving the immune system of an individual. The essential oils have compounds that boost the ability of the body to protect itself against certain types of illnesses, such as cold and others. For example, olive oil is widely used in the world in helping young child boost their immunity, especially against illnesses, such as cold. This indicates that the use of aromatherapy compounds can be beneficial to the users by ensuring that their immunity systems are strong, thereby ensuring that they can be able to deal with various common illnesses.
On the other hand, Buckle (2014) points out that aromatherapy are useful in helping improve digestion in the individual users. Essential oils have compounds that are good in improving the ability of the body to digest food in the right way. Therefore, those who have digestion problems can make use of aromatherapy as means of enhancing their ability to digest food in the future.
Furthermore, aromatherapy is useful in helping cancer patient. According to Chang and Shen (2013) aromatherapy is useful as form of supportive medicine to patients suffering from cancer. It can be useful in aiding in the process of helping the patient overcome pain, stress and anxiety related with cancer treatment process. Chang and Shen (2013) shows that aromatherapy is useful in making sure that it boost the brain capacity of persons to deal with stress and other psychological problems, and this makes it useful when helping cancer patients.
Finally, aromatherapy is useful in improvement of the emotional as well as spiritual wellbeing of the people. Around the world, especially in India and China, aromatherapy products, such as essential oil compounds are used in spiritual rituals to help an individual mainly reflects on his or her spiritual wellbeing. Also, it is widely used in improving the emotional wellbeing of a person through relaxation and stress relieving, especially when administered in the form of message (Price and Price, 2007).
There are a number of risks and safety concerns that are associated with the use of aromatherapy as an alternative or complementary medicine. First, lack of evidence associated with its therapeutic benefits; usually make the use of aroma compounds in the treatment process questionable (Posadzki, Alotaibi and Ernst, 2012). Therefore, lack of evidence to show how aromatherapy benefits the patients make it use as alternative medicine risky.
Additionally, due to the fact that essential oils have high levels concentration they can cause skin irritation in cases where they are used when undiluted. In addition, a number of essential oils tend to have some chemical elements that are very sensitisers: whereby when used in numerous occasions they react with the skin causing irritation (Posadzki, Alotaibi and Ernst, 2012). Also, the use of aromatherapy, especially the bioactive substances have been proved to cause harm to lactating and pregnant women. This shows that their use is not safe for women who are pregnant as it can be hazardous to them. Another risk that is associated with use of aromatherapy is self-application of the oil among the patients. Some individuals do not have adequate information concerning the level of dosage that is essential in helping to overcome certain problems and they might end up using overdose that might prove to be harmful to their health in the long-term.
Finally, some essential oil compounds when used in the wrong way can be harmful to children as they can even cause death. These toxic elements usually cause liver damage as well as seizures which occur after ingestion of thuja, cedar or sage. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that accidental ingestion of the oil used in aromatherapy does not occur by ensuring that these products are kept out of reach of young children.
When compared to conventional medicine, aromatherapy is not widely used in treatment of patient by healthcare professionals. According to Buckle (2014) aromatherapy usage among healthcare professionals is not widely spread due to the fact that there is lack of evidence concerning its effectiveness and safety when it comes to treatment of various illnesses. This shows that conventional medicine has an upper hand in treatment of various illnesses among the healthcare professionals due to its ability to have available evidence concerning it effectiveness in treatment of different illnesses (Price and Price, 2007). However, in most cases aromatherapy is used as a form of complementary medicine, where it is used together with conventional medicine in treatment of patients. This shows that conventional medicine is effectively used in treatment of patients, especially in curing and prevention of diseases, but aromatherapy is mainly utilized in the area of improving their physical and psychological well being rather than prevention or cure of any diseases (Buckle, 2014).
Several studies have been carried out with an objective of determining the effectiveness of aromatherapy as form of alternative medicine. The studies have focused mainly on determining whether aromatherapy can be useful in treating patient suffering from various illnesses. Most of the studies have indicated that aromatherapy generally helps in improving the well-being of the patient; nonetheless, no substantial medical evidence is available so far to show that it can be useful in curing or preventing diseases. For example, the Australian Government’s Department of Health in 2015 published results of a research carried out to examine the effectiveness of different alternative therapies as forms of medicine, and found out that there is no evidence to show the effectiveness of aromatherapy as an alternative medicine, especially in the area of curing or preventing illnesses. Thus, this shows the available evidence from various studies that have been carried out on aromatherapy shows that it efficacy in treatment of various medical conditions is poor (Watt and Janca, 2008).
In summary, this research shows that aromatherapy is useful in improving the physical and psychological wellbeing of the patients (Price and Price, 2007). The products used in aromatherapy are extracted from plants, and they are mainly in the form of oil, which is given to the patient through messaging, ingestion or inhaling (Newcomer, 2014). The findings of the research show that there is no evidence to show the effectiveness of aromatherapy in prevention and cure of diseases, making it use limited among the healthcare professionals. In conclusion, it is recommendable that people use aromatherapy as means of improving their physical and psychological wellbeing. When using any aromatherapy oil for treatment purposes, especially in curing and prevention of disease it is critical to make sure that it has FDA approval to ensure that it safe for human consumption.
References
Buckle, J. (2014). Clinical Aromatherapy-E-Book: Essential Oils in Practice. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Chang, K. M., & Shen, C. W. (2011). Aromatherapy benefits autonomic nervous system regulation for elementary school faculty in Taiwan. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2011.
Kuriyama, H., Watanabe, S., Nakaya, T., Shigemori, I., Kita, M., Yoshida, N., … & Imanishi, J. (2005). Immunological and psychological benefits of aromatherapy massage. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2(2), 179-184.
Muzzarelli, L., Force, M., & Sebold, M. (2006). Aromatherapy and reducing preprocedural anxiety: A controlled prospective study. Gastroenterology Nursing, 29(6), 466-471.
Newcomer, L. (2014). 11 Alternative Medicines Explained. [online] Greatist. Available at: https://greatist.com/health/alternative-medicine-therapies-explained [Accessed 25 Jul. 2017].
Posadzki, P., Alotaibi, A., & Ernst, E. (2012). Adverse effects of aromatherapy: a systematic review of case reports and case series. International Journal of Risk & Safety in Medicine, 24(3), 147-161.
Price, S., & Price, L. (Eds.). (2007). Aromatherapy for health professionals. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Watt, G. V. D., & Janca, A. (2008). Aromatherapy in nursing and mental health care. Contemporary nurse, 30(1), 69-75.