January 9, 2004
A: FROM MENTOR JOAN LUSK IN RI
For me the basic question is whether aromatherapy products are _ever_
useful! They may smell pleasant (or not) but does that make them
therapeutic? If their purported effects operate via the part of the
brain that senses odors, then a stuffy nose that prevents signals
about odors ought to stop their effects. Some aromatherapy products
are used for massage, and a massage should still work even if you
don't percieve a smell. In fact, comparing the effects of
"aromatherapy" products in people who can smell them and those who
can't might be one way to examine whether they work and whether their
aroma is essential to how they might work. There are some people who
can't smell anything - they might serve as useful control subjects in
the experiment, since they wouldn't have to have stuffy noses.