SIDE GREENS, Are you wondering what I am referring to as ‘side greens’

Are you wondering what I am referring to as ‘side greens’? I would be laughing by now if we were having a conversation. I have decided to call all other forms of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as ‘side greens’. As I talk about herbal medicine, at other times I would talk about the other forms of complementary medicine.

Let us take a look at Aromatherapy. The first thing likely to come to your mind would be the aroma, right? So the use of aroma in treating diseases. In the olden days, when someone had a fever, the leaves of Ocimum gratissimum which the Akans refer to as ‘nunum’, was boiled in water and then the sick person sits on a chair with his head over the steam coming from the boiled leaves. A cloth was put all over the person so that no steam can escape. They refer to this method as ‘punu’. They believed that inhaling the strong aroma of the Ocimum leaves treated the fever. And that worked.

The use of aromatics as incense, unguents, embalming, skincare, perfumes, healing salves and distilled waters are ancient. One of the oldest literature about the use of essential oils as therapy comes from the Hindu Verdas. It involved the use of plants like the cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) and sandalwood (Santalum album). Avicenna of Persia, born in 980 A.D., improved the still for distillation. The older stills were used for the preparation of floral water. The writings of Avicenna led to the recognition of essential oils as having therapeutic properties.

The same idea applies to the current trend of aromatherapy. Today, one can define aromatherapy as the use of plant-based essential oils to treat diseases. While studying complementary medicine, I learned that aromatherapy is an art and a science. The art is bringing essential oils together in a blend to enhance the therapeutic effect. The science refers to an understanding of the therapeutic properties of essential oils through chemistry. So you see aromatherapy just like other practices are based on scientific evidence.

Aromatherapy is multicultural. The abbess Hildegard of Bingen used the essential oil and herb of lavender in the 1300s. Paracelsus’ ideas about essential oils made rosemary, cedarwood, and other oils known to pharmacists. By the 1800s approximately 60 oils were known and used in medicines and perfumes. The term aromatherapy was used for the first time in 1937 in the book L’ aromatherapy authored by Gattefosse. Dr. Jean Valnet, a Frenchman, used essential oils in his World War II surgery. According to Valnet, essential oils were greater antiseptics than phenol. His works greatly increased the use of essential oils by French physicians practicing CAM.

Plants that contain volatile or essential oils are used in aromatherapy. Essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile (easily evaporated at normal temperatures) chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils have physiological actions. These oils enter the body through the nose or skin. They enter and leave the body efficiently, leaving no toxins behind. Characteristically they have a very short plasma half-life. Essential oils are taken directly into the bloodstream; they have a positive effect on blood circulation, helping to bring oxygen and nutrients to the tissues whilst assisting in the disposal of carbon dioxide and other waste materials. Currently, the science supports the use of the oils as treatment and very little the combinations suggested by practitioners.

The olfactory system, the nose-brain association, is the most direct and powerful connection we have with the environment or nature. We smell with every breath we take, constantly monitoring the world around us, although we are not always conscious that we are doing so. When we inhale an essential oil it affects the limbic part of our brain which is where our emotions, mood, perceptions and thought process functions are seated. These changes to the brain cause physiological and psychological changes to the body. Some aroma may evoke feelings of joy and others of sadness.

Essential oils, unlike many other substances, are able to penetrate through the skin because they are small molecules. They are then absorbed into the bloodstream from where they may be transported to any organs or structures where they are needed. Generally, absorption of the oils may be inhibited by toughened skin and cellulite. Absorption may be increased by heat (e.g. sauna or massage), water (e.g. aromatic bath), aerobic exercise, and broken or damaged skin. It takes anywhere from 15 minutes to 12 hours for essential oils to be fully absorbed.

I will talk more about some essential oils in the next one.

It does not end here.

Tracy Obeng-Nyamekye

2019/2020 GHEMSA General secretary.