Aromatherapy Works Thanks to Placebo Effect
A new study by researchers at the University of Munich found that the alleged benefits of aromatherapy — where scented oils are supposed to induce any number of physiological changes — appeared to work simply because of the placebo effect. In other words, test subjects thought that aromatherapy would worked, and so their bodies reacted accordingly.
In the test, volunteers wore surgical masks. Some of the masks were sprayed with oils that aromatherapy advocates claim make people more alert, while some of the masks were sprayed with plain water. All subjects, however, were told they had received the aromatherapy oil.
The study found that test subjects reported being more alert regardless of whether they had received the genuine aromatherapy oils or plain water. The increased alertness was, therefore, most likely a result of the placebo effect.
Source:
Aromatherapy ‘all in the mind’. The BBC, April 19, 2001.
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