Lavender Aromatherapy Proven to Calm Premenstrual Emotions

By: Case Adams
GreenMedInfo.com

While conventional medicine continues to drug women with PMS with addictive SSRIs, Japanese researchers have determined that Lavender essential oil can alleviate premenstrual emotional mood changes, confirming other research showing that Lavender aromatherapy produces overall calming effects.

The research comes from Japan’s Shitennoji University and Kyoto University. The scientists conducted a randomized crossover study using 17 women with an average age of 20 years old who experienced premenstrual emotional symptoms in the late luteal phase of their menstrual cycle. These emotional symptoms have been defined by conventional medicine as premenstrual syndrome, and in its worst stage, as premenstrual dysphoric disorder or PMDD – which typically appear in the late luteal phase (about a week prior to menstruation).

The women were selected from Shitennoji University after the researchers conducted medical questionnaires and medical histories from a larger group of women.

The women were tested during two different monthly cycles. Their cycle phases were determined by measuring their body temperatures and their levels of estrone and pregnanediol-3-glucuronide – taken from urine samples.

During the first test, half the women inhaled the scent of Lavender essential oil – generally called aromatherapy – for ten minutes. The other half of the women were tested using water as a control.

During the second test, the control group inhaled the Lavender aromatherapy while the other group was tested with the control.

The researchers tested the effects of the aromatherapy using two different measurements. The first was heart rate variability (HRV) measured by electrocardiograph. Other research has established that reduced heart rate variability (HRV) is associated with increased stress and anxiety and related symptoms.

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