Multiple sclerosis is a disease that mostly affects women more than men. (1) Multiple sclerosis patients might regularly work with different therapists to seek treatments that can be costly. One of the effects of this disease is that it can impair working memory. Therapies and treatment for symptoms of this disease can be costly, but natural remedies such as essential oils are affordable. Lavender essential oil is one of the oils that help in improving the working memory function of women with MS. To know more about lavender essential oil’s influence on cognitive function, read the research below.
Clinical trial on working memory of women with multiple sclerosis
An Iranian randomized clinical trial determined the effects of lavender essential oil on the working memory of women diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). 60 patients with an age range of 20–40 and are diagnosed with multiple sclerosis for at least one year have been recruited in this study. These patients were referred by an MS Clinic affiliated with Rafsanjan University, which is the clinic that the patients regularly visit to have their monthly checkups. The participants were assigned to intervention and placebo groups. During the intervention period, routine treatments were carried out and the aromatherapy inhalation method was also added to their treatment. The patients in the intervention group were instructed to inhale a cotton ball with 2 drops of pure lavender essential oil for 10 minutes. The lavender cotton ball must be placed at a 5cm distance from the patient’s nose. This was performed twice a day for two weeks. Meanwhile, the patients in the placebo group were only treated with distilled water. To determine the effect of lavender aromatherapy on the working memory of patients, some assessments had to be performed before the intervention and the day after the last intervention. The patients were tasked to analyze difficult and unrelated sentences, identify whether sentences were semantically correct, and complete sentences by writing the last word of each sentence. Moreover, the amount of information processed and the amount of information stored among patients were measured. (1)
Results of this study showed that after the intervention, the working memory score between the intervention and placebo groups had a significant difference. The intragroup comparison results yielded that the working memory improvement of the patients who received lavender aromatherapy had a significant difference before and after the intervention. Their working memory score increased after the intervention. Whereas the working memory score of the patients who were only treated with distilled water did not have a significant difference. Their working memory score was only slightly higher after the intervention than their pre-intervention score. (1)
For individuals who don’t have multiple sclerosis, it can be challenging to imagine the lifestyle of multiple sclerosis patients. What’s normal to them, might be surprising to us, and vice versa. But I do hope that they will be treated and also feel good.
Be better ❤
Reference:
- (1) Rezaie S.M., Shahabinejad M., Loripoor M., Sayadi A.R. The effect of aromatherapy with lavender essential oil on the working memory of women with multiple sclerosis. Journal of Medicine and Life. 2021; 14 (6):776-781. doi 10.25122/jml-2020-0115
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