Rosemary Essential Oil, Energy and Concentration (my video)

[Natalia]

A video that I made today about rosemary essential oil, energy and concentration (it has helped me a little).

JO4cad4QW74

[Mike]

You had me giggling here Amethyst;). I do the same thing with frankinsense oil....a few sniffs and woooo!

I'll often use an oil dispenser too. Pretty helpful and effective

[Violet]

I've had different versions and depending on the brand the scent is weaker or stronger. The one I currently have is from Jacob Hooy and it's very strong, I can't put it up that close to my nose :)

It's said to also do wonders if you add some to your hair routine (brown to black hair).

[Natalia]

You had me giggling here Amethyst;). I do the same thing with frankinsense oil....a few sniffs and woooo!

I'll often use an oil dispenser too. Pretty helpful and effective

hehe, like a natural little high :)

I could do with an essential oil dispenser, what type do you use?

[Natalia]

I've had different versions and depending on the brand the scent is weaker or stronger. The one I currently have is from Jacob Hooy and it's very strong, I can't put it up that close to my nose :)

It's said to also do wonders if you add some to your hair routine (brown to black hair).

Yeah, the other day I mixed some of the oil with coconut oil and put it on my scalp. Maybe your oil is stronger than mine!

[Mike]

You had me giggling here Amethyst;). I do the same thing with frankinsense oil....a few sniffs and woooo!

I'll often use an oil dispenser too. Pretty helpful and effective

hehe, like a natural little high :)

I could do with an essential oil dispenser, what type do you use?



its a cheap little thing. got it at the local health food store. ive just examined it and there is no brand name anywhere to be seen on it.

pretty simple: you put a few drops on a small metallic bowl, and its heated and then diffused thru the use of a tiny fan-like thing. works great. i think aromatherapy oils are very underrated. i believe everyone has a unique oil that suits them, or a combination of oils; for me its frankincense. being exposed for a half hour or so leaves me feeling sharp and refreshed for the rest of the day....and a little high;)

[DeDukshyn]

You had me giggling here Amethyst;). I do the same thing with frankinsense oil....a few sniffs and woooo!

I'll often use an oil dispenser too. Pretty helpful and effective

At my work we process Boswellia Serrata -- this plant is extremely closely related to the original "frankincense" - and we use the resin. Back in the old days when I was production supervisor, I used to just love going into the encapsulation room where we were working with it and just take huge whiffs; there is something "special" about that smell, it is just so enlivening and invigorating; almost like a little shot of cocaine ... hard to explain ... My favorite scent though I have to say. :)

[Violet]

Interesting. Boswellia-Serrata.

http://helpfulhealthtips.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Boswellia-Serrata.jpg
(http://helpfulhealthtips.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Boswellia-Serrata.jpg)
I assume it's extracted from the resins? How do the prices compare? I know I can look all this up, but talking to an insider is just that little bit more.



Post-update:





I've had different versions and depending on the brand the scent is weaker or stronger. The one I currently have is from Jacob Hooy and it's very strong, I can't put it up that close to my nose :)

It's said to also do wonders if you add some to your hair routine (brown to black hair).


Yeah, the other day I mixed some of the oil with coconut oil and put it on my scalp. Maybe your oil is stronger than mine!

Coconut oil on your scalp, you're an insider too :p (Indian women have this hair routine, I believe).

[onawah]

I've gotten into essential oils a lot recently, and have quite a collection so far. I think frankincense is my favorite--it's good for fibromyalgia, apparently, but I like rosemary a lot too.
I bought a diffuser from NOW brands which looks like a cone-shaped UFO and it actually has a LED light in it that changes colors. Pretty cool!
t2VO-f-K1JY
And I saw this on Facebook today. Very encouraging!
Essential Oils Might Be the New Antibiotics
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/01/the-new-antibiotics-might-be-essential-oils/384247/#ixzz3RHB7Fbqy


Faced with increasingly drug-resistant bacteria, scientists and farmers are now looking to plant extracts to keep people and animals healthy.
TORI RODRIGUEZ JAN 16 2015, 7:35 AM ET


Essential oils often evoke thoughts of scented candles and day spas, but their benefits beyond relaxation are less well-known. Essential oils are ultimately just plant extracts—and those are used in countless cleaning and personal-careproducts, and are the main ingredient in some pest-control products and some over-the-counter medications, like Vick’s VapoRub and some lice sprays. They’re used in the food industry because of their preservative potency against food-borne pathogens—thanks to their antimicrobial, antibacterial, and antifungal properties. Various oils have also been shown to effectively treat a wide range of common health issues such as nausea and migraines, and a rapidly growing body of research is finding that they are powerful enough to kill human cancer cells of the breast, colon, mouth, skin, and more.

A handful of promising, real-life studies have been conducted with humans and other animals, though most of the research in that realm thus far has been conducted in the lab. More controlled trials will be required before some of these applications will be available to the public, but meanwhile, scientists have turned up exciting results in another area of use: countering the growing antibiotic-resistance crisis. “The loss of antibiotics due to antimicrobial resistance is potentially one of the most important challenges the medical and animal-health communities will face in the 21st century,” says Dr. Cyril Gay, the senior national program leader at the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Research Service.

DRUG-RESISTANT MICROBES COULD CAUSE MORE THAN 10 MILLION DEATHS BY THE YEAR 2050.
As Cari Romm previously reported in The Atlantic, livestock consume up to 80 percent of the antibiotics used in the U.S., and the amount actually jumped by 16 percent between 2009 and 2012, according to a recent FDA report. This rampant use of the drugs has led to “superbugs” that are becoming increasingly resistant to the antibiotics that are used to treat not just farm animals, but humans as well. In fact, almost 70 percent of the antibiotics given to these animals are classified as “medically important” for humans. According to Romm, “In the U.S., antibiotic resistance caused more than two million illnesses in 2013, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and an estimated 23,000 deaths,” and they’ve also amounted to an extra $20 billion in healthcare costs. And it’s only poised to get worse: a recent report commissioned by the U.K. government estimates that drug-resistant microbes could cause more than 10 million deaths and cost the global economy $100 trillion by the year 2050.

While the drugs are, of course, sometimes necessary to treat infections in livestock, the real reasons they’re overused are to speed up growth and to compensate for the cramped, unsanitary living conditions the animals endure. Dr. Stuart B. Levy, a man of many titles—hematologist and professor at Tufts University; director of the Center for Adaptation, Genetics, and Drug Resistance; president of the Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics; and author of the book The Antibiotic Paradox: How the Misuse of Antibiotics Destroys Their Curative Powers—says he and his colleagues consider the misuse of antibiotics on farms to be the biggest influence on antibiotic resistance, which has been declared “an increasingly serious threat to global public health that requires action across all government sectors and society” by the World Health Organization. Levy has been warning about this impending disaster for nearly 40 years, a couple of decades after farmers discovered that putting small amounts of antibiotics in the animals’ feed resulted in increased growth. Even back then, astudy led by Levy found that chickens developed resistance to the antibiotic tetracycline at a rapid pace–within a week, the animals had resistant bacteria in their gut. Months later, the stubborn bugs had spread to untreated chickens and even the farmers. And it didn’t stop there: Those resistant bacteria also became resistant to other antibiotics that the chickens hadn’t even consumed. “Antibiotics used anywhere creates antibiotic resistance, and that resistance doesn’t stay in that environment,” Levy says. “And resistance is transferrable among bacteria of different types.”

What’s being done to confront this major contributor to this obvious, growing world health threat? The FDA has asked those in the agricultural industry to voluntarily reduce their use of antibiotics, but no one is keeping track of whether they do (nor has there been a record of the antibiotic use all these decades). Farmers can still say they’re using it for prevention of infections. “The lobby is so strong it’s hard to get categorical refusal to do this,” Levy says. “We really want to convince the users—the farmers—that this is a practice that should be eliminated.”

"WE REALLY WANT TO CONVINCE THE FARMERS THAT THIS IS A PRACTICE THAT SHOULD BE ELIMINATED."
Whether farmers choose to use it or not, there is a strong alternative on the horizon. Numerous recent studies—including several done by the USDA—have shown great promise in using essential oils as an alternative to antibiotics in livestock. One of their studies, published in October 2014 in the journalPoultry Science, found that chickens who consumed feed with added oregano oil had a 59 percent lower mortality rate due to ascites, a common infection in poultry, than untreated chickens. Other research, from a 2011 issue of BMC Proceedings, showed that adding a combination of plant extracts—from oregano, cinnamon, and chili peppers—actually changed the gene expression of treated chickens, resulting in weight gain as well as protection against an injected intestinal infection. A 2010 study from Poultry Scienceproduced similar findings with the use of extracts from turmeric, chili pepper, and shiitake mushrooms. A multi-year study is currently underway at the USDA that includes investigations into the use of citrus peels and essential oils as drug alternatives.

Researchers have also directly compared the effects of commonly used antibiotics with those of various essential oils. One such study, from the March 2012 issue of the Journal of Animal Science, found that rosemary and oregano oils resulted in the same amount of growth in chickens as the antibiotic avilamycin, and that the oils killed bacteria, too. Additional findings have shown that essential oils help reduce salmonella in chickens, and another study found that a blend of several oils can limit the spread of salmonella among animals. One of the co-authors of that study, Dr. Charles Hofacre, a professor at the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine, says it’s such a new area of research that they don’t yet know exactly how the essential oils work, but “there is some strong evidence that they are functioning by both an antibacterial action in the intestine and also some have an effect to stimulate the intestinal cells ability to recover from disease more quickly–either by local immunity or helping keep the intestinal cells themselves healthier.”

Of course, there is also a dire need for alternatives to antibiotics for the direct treatment of infections in humans and animals, not only for illness prevention and growth-boosting in livestock. Research investigating the use of essential oils in humans has produced encouraging results, but such studies have been small and surprisingly rare, especially given the demonstrated success of their use in livestock. An Italian study found that a combination of thyme and clove essential oils was just as effective in treating bacterial vaginosis as the usual antibiotic treatment, and results of a study by U.S. researchers show that staph-infected wounds healed faster when they were treated with vapors of tea-tree oil than with conventional methods. Research published in December 2013 reported that a hand gel made with lemongrass oil was effective in reducing MRSA on the skin of human volunteers, and previous research has shown that a cleanser made with tea-tree oil clears MRSA from the skin as effectively as the standard treatments to which bacteria appear to be developing resistance. This type of simple, inexpensive fix—an essential-oil-based hand sanitizer—could be a major boost to hospitals, in particular, since MRSA infections are so common in healthcare settings.

STAPH-INFECTED WOUNDS HEALED FASTER WHEN THEY WERE TREATED WITH VAPORS OF TEA-TREE OIL THAN WITH CONVENTIONAL METHODS.
In the lab, scientists have been testing all kinds of combinations of essential oils and antibiotics, and they’re repeatedly finding that the oils—used on their own and in combination with some common antibiotics—can fight numerous pathogens, including antibiotic-resistant strains of E. coli,Staphylococcus aureus (which causes staph infection), and other common types of bacteria. Results consistently show that combining essential oils and antibiotics significantly lowers the amount of antibiotic required to do the job. For example, two recent studies showed that lavender and cinnamon essential oils killed E. coli, and when combined with the antibiotic piperacillin, the oils reversed the resistance of the E. coli bacteria to the antibiotic. Anotherrecent study found that basil oil and rosemary oil were both effective in inhibiting the growth of 60 strains of E. coli retrieved from hospital patients. Other research has produced similar results for many other essential oils, both alone and in combination with antibiotics. Researchers believe that one mechanism by which the oils work is by weakening the cell wall of resistant bacteria, thereby damaging or killing the cells while also allowing the antibiotic in.

Further investigation is clearly needed to advance this promising area of research, but that would require time and money. “Such investment is not likely to come from the mainstream pharmaceutical industry, which has not placed much emphasis on antibiotic development for a number of reasons, including the excessive cost in bringing a single drug to market without a commensurate return,” says Dr. Nicole M. Parrish, associate professor of pathology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and associate director of medical mycobacteriology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, who co-authored a recentreview on the potential use of essential oils as alternatives or supplements to antibiotics.

She says the situation is urgent: When she and her colleagues perform testing to determine the appropriate medication for a patient, they often find that there are no longer any effective antibiotics in existence to treat the bacteria in question. “We feel helpless in the face of this growing threat, and the answer as to why we have not made more progress on this front is simple: economics. Unfortunately, the 'specter' of monetary gain overshadows the perspective from 'the trenches.'” She says that essential oils contain some of the most potent antimicrobial compounds available, and that furthering our understanding of them may lead to the development of entirely new classes of drugs. “Let us all hope the prevailing wind changes to move this field of research forward,” she says.


INVINCIBLE BACTERIA IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Gay explains that “phytonutrients” or “phytochemicals” are chemical compounds derived from plants that have a range of health benefits, “including promoting tumor killing and increased resistance to infectious diseases, and they have been used as health-promoting agents by many cultures for several millennia.” Their potency isn’t surprising when you consider that the plant compounds that make up essential oils exist in the first place to help plants protect themselves from infection, endure temperature variations, heal from damage, and repel pests. Still, skepticism is likely in a culture like ours that is used to lab-created synthetic medicines (not to mention the bad reputation essential oils may have gained from being frequently touted as miracle cures for everything), even though some of our most important and common pharmaceuticals originated from plants. For example, aspirin is derived from willow bark, though the key compound is now synthesized by manufacturers; the treatment for malaria (still used today) is derived from fever-tree bark; morphine is derived from the poppy plant; the cancer-fighting drug paclitaxel was initially derived from the bark of the Pacific yew tree; and many cold and cough medicines and muscle-relief creams have mint extract as the main ingredient. Even a newly developed Ebola treatment hinges on the use of tobacco plants.

Back on the farms, some are already putting essential oils into practice. “There are a number of companies that are currently selling plant extracts as feed additive, and large integrated producers are also adding feed additives to their rations to enhance the health of animals, especially their intestinal health, during their production cycle,” Gay says. No one seems willing to readily offer that information, though—and they don’t have to. One farmer who has talked publicly about using essential oils is Scott Sechler, owner of Bell & Evans Farms, a high-end producer of antibiotic-free poultry. Back in 2012, he told the New York Times about his use of oregano oil and cinnamon to fight infection on his farms, which now number about 140 with a total of 9 million chickens at any given time. Though he says the approach worked better than all other options he had tried, he still told the Times, “I have worried a bit about how I’m going to sound talking about this,” adding, “But I really do think we’re on to something here.” He clearly knows about the stigma attached to his approach, despite the fact that it’s working. So,essential oils are truly a secret weapon, an unsung hero being used successfully but not quite openly.

It took Sechler nearly 10 years just to get the people he works with to believe in his method, including farmers, workers at the feed mills, and his own employees, of which there are now around 1,200. He has met his share of skepticism from colleagues, too. For someone who notes that he lacks a formal education, Sechler is at the forefront of some cutting-edge methods (for one, he counts Temple Grandin, the famous animal-science expert, as a friend who helped him implement a humane slaughter system). He has been on the antibiotic-free kick for about 30 years, and he describes his current method in terms of its effects on gut bacteria—another hot topic right now. “We started with a breed of chicken that wasn’t raised to be stressed and overfed and to live in sanitary conditions,” he says. They also feed the chickens high-quality grains enhanced with essential oils, and they avoid the use of toxic chemicals like hexane, which is commonly used by other farmers in processing their feed. “With our chicken breed, housing environment, and feeding program, we’re able to promote healthy gut bacteria—we use oregano oil to kill the bad bacteria and cinnamon oil to support the good bacteria.”

He says his model works for him because he’s not trying to correct a problem that’s already out of control. Some farmers need more powerful weapons because they’re trying to compensate for ongoing problems caused by improper cleaning practices and unsanitary living conditions. They might put baby chickens on the remnants of manure from previous flocks because they don’t properly clean out the barn first, and then they may use chlorine to wash the processed chickens. Whatever bacteria (and antibiotics) that aren’t left at the chicken plant end up on plates. On Sechler’s farms, he says he doesn’t allow these problems to get out of hand in the first place. “You can’t just introduce essential oils into a bad environment and expect magic–—they don’t fix a screw-up,” he says. “But if you meet them halfway by doing things right, they will carry you across the finish line.” People warned him that the bacteria would become resistant to the essential oils, too, but they haven’t yet, and his farms processed over 50 million chickens last year. According to C. Norman Shealy, a Duke-educated neurosurgeon and author of The Healing Remedies Sourcebook: Over 1000 Natural Remedies to Prevent and Cure Common Ailments, it is possible for bacteria to become resistant to essential oils, but it’s unlikely because the oils contain hundreds more chemical compounds than antibiotic medications, making it difficult for bacteria to adapt to the oils.

"WE USE OREGANO OIL TO KILL THE BAD BACTERIA AND CINNAMON OIL TO SUPPORT THE GOOD BACTERIA."
Adopting healthier practices may cost a penny or nickel more per pound, which could affect stock prices of the big poultry producers. Sechler, whose company is not publicly traded, says he has been fortunate to have a loyal and ever-growing customer base that is willing to pay a bit more for better quality. Sechler says if the public starts asking for antibiotic-free meat en masse, more producers will comply, and change should come from other key players, too. “Essential-oil use by the food industry should be a hundred times bigger than it is,” he says. “Universities need to be able to speak up to some in the industry without getting their heads chopped off,” instead of tiptoeing around them because they provide research funding. He also believes the USDA and the FDA should create standards limiting antibiotic use and require everyone in the industry to comply by a certain date, similar to the way fuel efficiency standards for cars have been introduced and enforced.

“Unfortunately in this industry, you have to force people. Unless everyone has to do it, many won’t,” Sechler says. Despite encouraging study results and Sechler’s proven success, the lack of regulation and record-keeping is a potential problem with the use of essential oils, too: “These products are being used every day, but I really can’t tell you how many chickens or turkeys are being given these products because I don’t think there is anyone keeping track of this across the country,” Hofacre says, and Gay notes that the feed additives are not regulated either. “However, they are being used very successfully and I think as we learn more about the various essential oils and other plant extracts we will find more effective combinations,” Hofacre says.

Levy thinks the investigations into plant extracts as alternatives to antibiotics is “wonderful,” but he cautions that for any alternative, “it should be demonstrated that this practice is really useful, and alternatives should be given the same scrutiny” that antibiotics haven’t been.

[Dennis Leahy]

... I do the same thing with frankinsense oil....a few sniffs and woooo!

... i believe everyone has a unique oil that suits them, or a combination of oils; for me its frankincense.... Hmmmmm.... frankincense. Could you be a reincarnation of one of the Three Wise Guys? :)

[Dennis Leahy]

... I do the same thing with frankinsense oil....a few sniffs and woooo!

... i believe everyone has a unique oil that suits them, or a combination of oils; for me its frankincense.... Hmmmmm.... frankincense. Could you be a reincarnation of one of the Three Wise Guys? :)

p.s. Amethyst, you rock! I feel more alert just watching you. :)

[LindyLou22]

Amethyst, I have a little jar of Rosemary essential oil, and I lifted it up and gave it a sniff in honor of you. Mmmmmm. Rosemary is one of my favorite oils to use in my massage practice along with the base of jojoba oil. It really makes a difference for people who come in achy.

Rosemary Oil Uses: Aching muscles, arthritis, dandruff, dull skin, exhaustion, gout, hair care, muscle cramping, neuralgia, poor circulation, rheumatism. [Julia Lawless, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Essential Oils (Rockport, MA: Element Books, 1995), 56-67.]

My favorite essential oil just for the fragrance is myrtle. OMG! Bliss, clean, fresh, green bliss.

[Natalia]

Omg, I need to get more essential oils for sniffy heaven! I have also Lavender and Geranium - which I have used (at times) for years...but there are other nice ones, like I might try that Frankincense...

[DeDukshyn]

Interesting. Boswellia-Serrata.

http://helpfulhealthtips.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Boswellia-Serrata.jpg
(http://helpfulhealthtips.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Boswellia-Serrata.jpg)
I assume it's extracted from the resins? How do the prices compare? I know I can look all this up, but talking to an insider is just that little bit more.



Yes the active ingredients in Boswellia are contained in the resin - so that part is used - Frankincense is the resin -- same thing.

I always wanted to try to bring some of the raw powder home and try to burn it. :) Boswellia Serrata resin is a general health tonic, and extremely good at reducing inflammation and muscle pains, but has a host of other health benefits as well when ingested. I am not entirely sure if you can just buy the resin powder (or globules), but I am curious about just burning it as in incense. I might try this.

[Violet]

A question about rosemary. The herb, when ingested influences your blood pressure. Does diffusion (high concentrations) cause similar effects?

[Natalia]

A question about rosemary. The herb, when ingested influences your blood pressure. Does diffusion (high concentrations) cause similar effects?

Thank you for asking that, I am going to look into it (I don't know).

[LindyLou22]

A question about rosemary. The herb, when ingested influences your blood pressure. Does diffusion (high concentrations) cause similar effects?

Rosemary essential oil is mentioned as one to avoid with high blood pressure. Here's a website from South Africa that has a lot of good info. There are some European sites that are really good, too. They seem to take their essential oils very seriously in Germany, France, and England.

http://www.essentialoils.co.za/essential-oils/rosemary.htm

[onawah]

Here's another great article on the possible further benefits of essential oils that really piqued my interest:
http://jonbarron.org/herbal-remedies/aromatherapy-untapped#


Aromatherapy: the word conjures up images of noses hovering over tiny bottles filled with scented oils and of massages enhanced by intoxicating smells. We think of aromatherapy as a modality that works on the brain via the nostrils and then sends healing messages to the body. Many practitioners use aromatherapy to relax stressed or depressed clients. In fact, that’s the main application that gets touted on aromatherapy websites. Aromatherapy also gets used to heal infections, reduce nausea, combat insomnia, clear nasal passages, and sometimes to reduce pain.1

It turns out, though, that the way aromatherapy gets practiced for the most part is the equivalent of walking the horse down the trail instead of riding it. In other words, there’s a lot more potential for using scent as a healing modality than most of us realize, and that potential has barely been tapped according to a recent article in The New York Times.2 The reasons for this start with the fact that most of us have a basic misunderstanding of how the body deciphers scent.

While noses are nice, they aren’t the sole source of scent detection in the body. In fact, almost every organ-from the liver to the heart to the intestines and kidneys- has its own olfactory receptors. In fact, the human body has 350 different types of olfactory receptors. Each type of olfactory receptor reacts only to particular scents that other receptors don’t necessarily have any reaction to. If 350 receptors sounds like many, by the way, consider that the tiny mouse has over 1000 receptors, giving the rodent the clear advantage over you in locating the cheddar cheese remnant you lost on the floor.

As Jon Barron explained in a recent newsletter, a new study out of the German Rohr Bochum University has concluded that human skin, too, is full of olfactory receptors. “More than 15 of the olfactory receptors that exist in the nose are also found in human skin cells,” said study director Dr. Hanns Hatt. This does not mean the skin is full of little nostrils invisible to the eye. Rather, the olfactory receptors in the skin and elsewhere throughout the body function as chemical detectors, not necessarily interpreting scents as odors. If the olfactory receptor detects a particular chemical present in a particular scent, a cascade of chemical reactions gets set off, depending on which type of receptor meets which type of scent. In the case of nasal receptors, the scent sets off nerve signals that get interpreted by the brain as an odor. In the case of other receptors, the scent may trigger a chain reaction that ends up in promoting healing in the area of the body exposed to the scent.

The experts explain that this process works like a lock and key. Only a particular key will unlock a particular lock: there has to be a fit. In the same way, some scents exude chemicals that unlock the molecular structure of particular olfactory receptors. For instance, the researchers discovered that one type of skin receptor responds to a synthetic sandalwood odor called Sandalore. When the skin receptor detects the Sandalore scent, a chain of molecular reactions gets set in motion and that causes any damage to the skin to heal itself.

In experiments, skin exposed to the Sandalore scent healed 30 percent faster than skin that didn’t. The experts suggest that Sandalore products might be developed to not only heal skin injuries, but also, to reverse the effects of aging. Sniffing Sandalore sure sounds like a more pleasant way to repair wrinkles than checking into the hospital for a painful facelift. And Sandalore is just one of many scents, targeting just one of many receptors, currently being investigated by mainstream researchers.3 Also, it should be noted that the researchers did not test real sandalwood scent, which may very well work equally as well.

From the point of view of industry, the discovery promises a gold mine. Not only does the existence of skin scent receptors open the door to the development of stinky drugs to heal skin disorders, but also, cosmetics manufacturers can create products that heal while beautifying. The problem is that scientists need to match the right scent to the right receptor, and they’re working with an endless array of possibilities.

So far, though, they’ve had some success beyond the Sandalore story. One big success was discovered in 2009 by the same team in Germany, with Dr. Hatt at the helm. The scientists found that an odor compound found in violets and roses, called beta-ionone, appeared to stop prostate cancer cells from spreading by switching off wayward genes.

Another amazing breakthrough came from researchers at Emory University, who found that when skeletal muscles were exposed to a scent derived from lily-of-the-valley, the muscles regenerated damaged tissue. Even the researchers were amazed by this phenomenon.

“This was totally unexpected,” said study director Dr. Grace Pavlath. “When we were doing this, the idea that olfactory receptors were involved in tissue repair was not out there.”

The point is that those who have snubbed their noses at aromatherapy, doubting its efficacy, may want to reconsider.

1. “Aromatherapy.” University of Maryland Medical Center. 16 October 2014. http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/treatment/aromatherapy
2. Stone, Alex. “Smell Turns Up in Unexpected Places.” 13 October 2014. The New York Times. 16 October 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/14/science/smell-turns-up-in-unexpected-places.html?ref=health
3. “Olfactory receptors in the skin: Sandalwood scent facilitates wound healing, skin regeneration.” 8 July 2014. Science Daily. 16 October 2014. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140708092555.htm