Effects of Aroma Massage on Pruritus, Skin pH, Skin Hydration and Sleep in Elders in Long-term Care Hospitals

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of aroma massage on pruritus, skin pH, skin hydration and sleep in elders in long-term care hospitals. METHODS: The participants were elders over 65 years old admitted to long-term care. They were assigned to the experimental group (26) or control group (28). Data were collected from May to August, 2012. Visual Analogue Scale and Verran and Snyder-Halpern Sleep scale were used to identify levels of pruritus and sleep. A skin-pH meter and moisture checker were used to measure skin pH and skin hydration. Aroma massage was performed three times a week for 4 weeks for elders in the experimental group. The data were analyzed using the SPSS Win 17.0 program. RESULTS: There were significant differences in pruritus, skin pH and skin hydration between the two groups. However there was no significant difference in sleep. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that aroma massage is effective in reducing pruritus, skin pH and increasing skin hydration in elders. Therefore, this intervention can be utilized in clinical practice as an effective nursing intervention to reduce pruritus in elders in long-term care hospitals.

The Effects of Aroma Inhalation on Stress, Fatigue, Mood, and Vital Signs of the Nurses in the Operating Rooms / 성인간호학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of aromatherapy on stress, fatigue, mood, and vital signs of the nurses in the operating rooms. METHODS: The data were collected from September 2007 to February 2008 in the operating room at K hospital located in Seoul, Korea. A total of 48 nurses were recruited. Among them, 25 nurses were randomly assigned to an experimental group and 23 were assigned to a control group. Experimental group was provided with aroma inhalation by necklace which had essential oil mixture of 0.2 cc. For aroma inhalation, Lavender, Zeranium and Mazoram were mixed in ratio of 5:3:2. In order to test the effectiveness of aroma inhalation, the pretest and posttest results for stress, fatigue, mood, and vital signs were compared between the experimental group and the control group. The data were analyzed by unpaired t-test and ANCOVA using the SPSS/WIN 15.0 program. RESULTS: There were statistically significant decreases in the stress and fatigue scores, and increase in the mood scores and showed significant relaxation in the vital signs after the aroma inhalation. CONCLUSION: The aromatherapy had the positive effects on stress, fatigue, mood, and vital signs.

The Effect of Aroma Therapy on Lower Extremity Edema of Terminal Cancer Patients: A Controlled Trial / 한국호스피스완화의료학회지

PURPOSE: This study was designed to examine the effect of aroma massage therapy on lower extremity edema of terminal cancer patients. METHODS: A total of thirty-six terminal cancer patients with lower extremity edema were divided into two groups: the aroma massage group received massage with blending oil which was applied from toes to 10 cm above the knee of the subject for 15 to 20 minutes in each turn, while the control group received sham aroma massage (applied with carrier oil only). The circumferences of the fore-foot, ankle and calf were measured before massage and 30 minutes, 2 hours, and 12 hours after massage. The blood pressure, pulse and body temperature were also measured to find the change of subject's physiologic conditions. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature and lower extremity circumferences between two groups. However, edema at each site was slightly improved in the treatment group after the aroma massage therapy, compared to baseline data (P<0.05). In addition, the reduction of lower extremity circumference was maximal at 2 hours in foot, 30 min in right ankle and 12 hours in right calf after aroma massage therapy (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that aroma massage therapy is not effective on the lower extremity edema of terminal cancer patients.

Toward Integration of Traditional Medicine and Advanced Medicine / 日本東洋医学雑誌

Functions of the human body in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) are described in terms of Yin-Yang and the five elements. These ideas tend to be ignored in current research on TCM, since they are based on ancient Chinese philosophies which are considered incompatible with modern science. However, they may provide us with some new insights into human health and disease. In this paper, I will compare the characteristic view of human beings in TCM with that of western medicine.The view of brain function is a distinctive characteristic of TCM. In TCM, the functions of the brain are dispersed to five zang organs, including heart and liver, and are maintained by comprehensive functional interactions among the five zang organs. Therefore, in contrast to modern western medicine, brain diseases are regarded as systematic diseases in TCM, and their treatments are aimed to normalize not only the activity of the organs, but also the balance of functional interaction. Another characteristic of TCM is that much importance is attached to the interaction between human beings and the environment. This is in contrast to modern western medicine, which tends to regards human beings as independent of their environment. These features of TCM derive from its theoretical basis in Yin-Yang and the five elements. The whole idea of Yin-Yang theory is expressed by the Tai-Chi symbol (figure). The black and white areas in Tai-Chi symbol means that the whole world, including human beings, consists by two opposing components, namely, Yin (black area) and Yang (white area). Importantly, each component exists within the other component; the white and black areas contain small back and white circles, respectively. The world is considered to be infinitely divided into Yin and Yang, and each part has a similar structure to the Tai-Chi symbol. The world, including the human body, in Yin-Yang theory, therefore, has fractal geometry. In addition, interestingly, the functional interaction between the five zang organs in TCM resembles a biological model based on chaos theory.In conclusion, TCM had co-opted the basic idea of a complex system for the diagnosis and treatment of human diseases thousands years ago. Research into TCM should not only evaluate the effects of herbal medicine or acupuncture, but should take into consideration the view of human beings in TCM. Such studies may help us to understand disease in terms of the relationship between humans and the environment.

The Effects of a Multi Agent Obesity Control Program in Obese School Children / 간호학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of a multi agent obesity control program in obese school children. This program was composed of strategies to modify diet and exercise habits and to change cognitive behavior variables(stress, coping, and self-efficacy). METHOD: The subjects were 40 obese school children who participated in our project voluntarily via homepage, TV, newspaper, public paper and school official documents. The program was implemented daily for 4 sessions per day for ten days from August 16 to 26, 2004. The daily program consisted of exercise therapy, dance therapy, cognitive behavior therapy and aroma therapy. The data was analyzed by paired t-test using the SPSSWIN program. RESULT: There was a significant decrease in children's waist-hip ratio (p=.04) and in children's stress (p=.00) after the program. There was a significant increase in children's self-confidence after the program(p=.02) and a significant decrease in children's diet habit after the program(p=.02). CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence that a multiagent obese control program is effective in changing waist-hip ratio, stress, self-confidence, and diet habits in obese school children.

Effects of Aroma Therapy on Exam Syndromes and Fatigue in Grade 12 Students Preparing for College Entrance Exams / 기본간호학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of aroma therapy on exam syndromes and temporary fatigue of senior high school students who are preparing to take college entrance exams. METHOD: This study was a pre-experimental research using a one-group pre-post test design and was conducted between April and July 2003 with 35 high school students. A pre-post test was used to measure long-term exam syndromes and temporary fatigue during the first period of school. Paired t-test was used. Aromas were given using an aroma electrical lamp, aroma necklet with basic oils of rosemary and lemon. According to the condition of the students, one or two oils were added: peppermint, pine, eucalyptus and Clary-Sage. RESULTS: After two months (May, June), the result of administering aroma therapy to senior high school students showed in June there was a decrease in principal exam syndromes such as eye fatigue, headache, shoulder pain, neck stiffness, back pain, and common cold, and there was an increase in study concentration during the two months. However, in May, there were no significant effects. The reason may have been a strong extraneous factor from midterm exams that would affect their college entrance. CONCLUSION: According to these results, if we use aroma oil carefully, with evidence-based applications, aroma therapy can have a positive effect on senior high school students who are preparing for the college entrance exams.