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eCAM Advance Access originally published online on April 27, 2005
eCAM 2005 2(2):179-184; doi:10.1093/ecam/neh087
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© The Author (2005). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
The online version of this article has been published under an open access model. Users are entitled to use, reproduce, disseminate, or display the open access version of this article for non-commercial purposes provided that: the original authorship is properly and fully attributed; the Journal and Oxford University Press are attributed as the original place of publication with the correct citation details given; if an article is subsequently reproduced or disseminated not in its entirety but only in part or as a derivative work this must be clearly indicated. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions{at}oupjournals.org

Immunological and Psychological Benefits of Aromatherapy Massage

Hiroko Kuriyama1,*, Satoko Watanabe1, Takaaki Nakaya1, Ichiro Shigemori1,5, Masakazu Kita1, Noriko Yoshida2, Daiki Masaki2, Toshiaki Tadai3, Kotaro Ozasa4, Kenji Fukui2 and Jiro Imanishi1

1Department of Microbiology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine Japan, 2Department of Psychiatry, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine Japan, 4Department of Epidemiology for Community Health and Medicine, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine Japan, 3Graduate School of Science for Human Services, Ritsumeikan University Japan, and 5Department of Research and Development, Hyper Plants Co., Ltd Japan

This preliminary investigation compares peripheral blood cell counts including red blood cells (RBCs), white blood cells (WBCs), neutrophils, peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs), CD4+, CD8+ and CD16+ lymphocytes, CD4+/CD8+ ratio, hematocrit, humoral parameters including serum interferon-{gamma} and interleukin-6, salivary secretory immunoglobulin A (IgA). Psychological measures including the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) questionnaire and the Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) between recipients (n = 11) of carrier oil massage and aromatherapy massage, which includes sweet almond oil, lavender oil, cypress oil and sweet marjoram oil. Though both STAI and SDS showed a significant reduction (P < 0.01) after treatment with aromatherapy and carrier massage, no difference between the aromatherapy and control massage was observed for STAI and SDS. Aromatherapy, in contrast to control massage, did not significantly reduce RBC count or hematocrit. However, aromatherapy massage showed a significant (P > 0.05) increase in PBLs, possibly due to an increase in CD8+ and CD16+ lymphocytes, which had significantly increased post-treatment (P < 0.01). Consequently, the CD4+/CD8+ ratio decreased significantly (P < 0.01). The paucity of such differences after carrier oil massage suggests that aromatherapy massage could be beneficial in disease states that require augmentation of CD8+ lymphocytes. While this study identifies the immunological benefits of aromatherapy massage, there is a need to validate the findings prospectively in a larger cohort of patients.

Keywords: anxiety – aromatherapy – immune function – massage

*For reprints and all correspondence: Hiroko Kuriyama, MD, PhD, Department of Microbiology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kawaramachi-Hirokoji, Kamikyo-ku, Kyoto, 602-8566 Japan. Tel: +81-75-251-5329; Fax: +81-75-251-5331; E-mail: khiroko{at}basic.kpu-m.ac.jp


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