Using Aromatherapy to Support Better Immune Response
Why So Many Are Sick
All of us have experienced sickness one time or another, some to a larger degree than others. It is widely accepted that the body’s own immune system, a complex network of specific cells created to ward off sickness and disease, is greatly compromised when we eat a poor/acid-causing diet, side-step exercise, surround ourselves with environmental toxins, create continuous stress and have unkind attitudes/thoughts about oneself and others. All of these choices lead to toxic build up in the body. At a certain level, the body can no longer juggle such an overload, resulting in weakened defenses and possible disease.
Using Essential Oils for Immune Support
In these modern times, many are familiar with the stress-relieving qualities of aromatic essential oils and for certain oils, awaken a fatigued body or mind. Well-established research indicates that essential oils are dynamic antimicrobials. Such characteristics are helpful in supporting a fully functional immune system; stress and non-beneficial microbes are known to weaken the immune system’s army of defenses. Few are aware that essential oils can actually strengthen the capacity of the immune system directly to fight off foreign invaders.
Fighting off Disease
Using essential oils to affect the immune system directly is gaining ground in research arenas. For the past two decades, promising research has pointed to the anti-inflammatory properties of essential oils. There is growing evidence that most diseases stem from inflammation. Recent research is currently looking at specific immune mechanisms that are enhanced by essential oils.
Helping the Bs and Ts
At the Laboratoire de Botanique in France (2006) researchers were able to identify that Melaleuca alternifolia was able to regulate the amount of inflammatory-causing secretions found in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). In so doing, natural anti-inflammatory agents, known as cytokines, were still able to be created and thus boosting the body’s ability to protect and restore itself. This in itself is quite a finding, especially for individuals suffering from conditions associated with chronic inflammation.
Inducing Natural Killer Cells
Once a pathogen gets into the cells, it is looking to replicate and destroy tissue, often resulting in painful infections. A branch of the immune system is designated to engulf cellular invaders and send lymphocytes (T cells) to destroy these foreign bodies. At Jeonju University, Korea (2008), researchers found that niaouli essential oil (from an Australian evergreen) was able to enhance the effect of cell-mediated immunity (one of two major branches of the immune system). Researchers support clinical use of niaouli essential oil to control infectious diseases.
Redirecting the Immune Response
The Institute of Neurobiology and Molecular Medicine in Italy (2008) found that Eucalyptus essential oil actually stimulates a component of the immune system known as macrophages. These immune cells are one of the primary defenses against pathogens invading our human cells. Using in vivo (in rats) and in vitro trials, they were able to pinpoint that eucalyptus essential oil does indeed mimic our natural immune response. Researchers propose that such findings may drive develop of a new family of immune-regulatory drugs/treatments altogether. This could be quite helpful for those who have weakened immune systems due to contracted diseases and effects of chemotherapy.
Conclusion
Our remarkable immune system is highly complex and important to our well-being. A strong and balanced immune system is required in order for life to exist on an enjoyable and sustainable level. Results of very recent studies indicate that essential oils could be a new branch of medical treatments for those with compromised immune systems. As conventional pharmaceuticals decline in their effectiveness, it is helpful that science has identified qualities in essential oils that are effective against disease-causing pathogens.
The author has made available reports on specific anti-microbials such as juniper essential oil and other therapeutic aromatics.