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eCAM Advance Access published online on July 4, 2007
eCAM, doi:10.1093/ecam/nem073
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© 2007 The Author(s).
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Anxiolytic Effect of Aromatherapy Massage in Patients with Breast Cancer

Jiro Imanishi1, Hiroko Kuriyama1, Ichiro Shigemori1, Satoko Watanabe1, Yuka Aihara2, Masakazu Kita1, Kiyoshi Sawai3, Hiroo Nakajima3, Noriko Yoshida4, Masahiro Kunisawa4, Masanori Kawase5 and Kenji Fukui4

1Department of Microbiology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kawaramachi-Hirokoji, Kamikyo-ku, Kyoto 602-8566, 2Department of Psychosomatic Internal Medicine, Kansai Medical University, 10-15 Fumizono-cho, Moriguchi, Osaka 570-8506, 3Department of Endocrine and Breast Surgery, 4Department of Psychiatry, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kawaramachi-Hirokoji, Kamikyo-ku, Kyoto 602-8566 and 5Department of Psychology, Kyoto Notre Dame University, 1 Minami-Nonogamicho, Shimogamo, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-0847, Japan

We examined how aromatherapy massage influenced psychologic and immunologic parameters in 12 breast cancer patients in an open semi-comparative trial. We compared the results 1 month before aromatherapy massage as a waiting control period with those during aromatherapy massage treatment and 1 month after the completion of aromatherapy sessions. The patients received a 30 min aromatherapy massage twice a week for 4 weeks (eight times in total). The results showed that anxiety was reduced in one 30 min aromatherapy massage in State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) test and also reduced in eight sequential aromatherapy massage sessions in the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) test. Our results further suggested that aromatherapy massage ameliorated the immunologic state. Further investigations are required to confirm the anxiolytic effect of aromatherapy in breast cancer patients.

Keywords: anxiety – aromatherapy massage – breast cancer

For reprints and all correspondence: Jiro Imanishi, MD, PhD, Department of Microbiology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kawaramachi-Hirokoji, Kamikyo-ku, Kyoto 602-8566, Japan. Tel: +81-75-251-5330; Fax: +81-75-251-5331; E-mail: imanishi-micro{at}nifty.com

Received September 9, 2006; accepted March 24, 2007


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