While I usually blame the media or comms departments for this kind of nonsense, in this case it's hard not to also point the finger at the scientists involved
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The study was done in mice, you can find it here: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00241/full … Basically, the researchers compared mice who were exposed to a fragrant chemical - linalool - to mice that weren't to see if they were less anxious
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Going from "mice that smell linalool are slightly less anxious than mice that don't" to "this may be useful for preoperative patients" is an enormous, and I would argue entirely unjustified, leap
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That being said, the media getting excited about this rodent study is still a huge issue, that I discuss in the blog Aromatherapy in general is poorly-evidenced and not likely to be effective for any condition
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Overall, it's unlikely that smelling lavender is a treatment for any health condition, but this study didn't even look at that question, so the media articles on it (like this one from the Daily Mail) were totally unjustifiedpic.twitter.com/MyFUU7xFkK
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If I pair lavender with the idea of relaxation enough times I can create the desired effect with lavender alone.
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Btw I suspect there’s a more banal explanation for findings. Smell is a critical sense for some animals esp rodents. Unlike in humans’ it’s almost like “seeing” & vital for social interactions. Expose to a strong scent & their senses are “blinded” like humans in a bright light
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Am quite surprised this study got through std animal experimentation ethical oversight tbh. Anxiety can be a serious medical condition obviously but methodologically their are big potential animal welfare flags in this too
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