4 results
PP21 Efficacy And Safety Of Aromatherapy: An Overview Of Systematic Reviews
- Andrea Duarte-Díaz, Amado Rivero-Santana, Lilisbeth Perestelo-Pérez, Yolanda Álvarez-Pérez, Vanesa Ramos-García, Alezandra Torres-Castaño, Analía Abt-Sacks, Ana Toledo-Chávarri, María Padilla-Ruiz, Leticia Rodríguez-Rodríguez, Carlos González-Rodríguez, Pedro Serrano-Aguilar
-
- Journal:
- International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care / Volume 38 / Issue S1 / December 2022
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 23 December 2022, p. S47
-
- Article
-
- You have access Access
- Export citation
-
Introduction
Aromatherapy is the field of herbal medicine that uses essential oils distilled from flowers, roots, and herbs and other plant compounds to promote physical and psychological well-being. Essential oils are absorbed into the body in different ways, with the inhaled and topical routes being the most widely used. The aim of this review was to critically evaluate and synthesize the available scientific evidence on the efficacy and safety of aromatherapy for the management of any therapeutic indication. This report was requested by the Spanish Ministries of Health and Science and Innovation.
MethodsAn overview of systematic reviews (SRs) was performed. The MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and PsycINFO databases were searched for literature published from January 2006 to August 2021. SRs reporting the efficacy and safety of aromatherapy were included. We applied no restrictions in terms of administration route or essential oil used. Two reviewers independently performed screening and selection, data extraction, and quality assessment.
ResultsWe included 74 SRs covering a wide variety of populations and settings. The most reported outcome was anxiety, followed by pain, and the most commonly used essential oil was lavender. Fifteen SRs reported mild adverse events with aromatherapy. Only 11 SRs assessed the certainty of evidence using the GRADE approach. Aromatherapy reduced heart rate and likely reduces anxiety and breathing rate in patients with cardiovascular diseases. Aromatherapy probably also reduces pain in women with primary dysmenorrhea. Additionally, it may reduce blood pressure, acute pain, subjective stress, and the need for antiemetic drugs after surgical procedures. However, the evidence was very uncertain regarding the effect of essential oils on anxiety, pain, and quality of life in patients with cancer, anxiety and pain after a caesarean section, and dental anxiety.
ConclusionsAromatherapy may be useful for managing psychological and physical symptoms in different settings. However, the conclusions of this review are not definitive because of the moderate to high risk of bias in many of the primary studies included in the SRs.
Contribution of small mammal taphonomy to the last Neanderthal occupations at the El Salt site (Alcoi, southeastern Spain)
- María Dolores Marin-Monfort, Ana Fagoaga, Sara García-Morato, Francisco Javier Ruíz Sánchez, Carolina Mallol, Cristo Hernández, Bertila Galván, Yolanda Fernández-Jalvo
-
- Journal:
- Quaternary Research / Volume 103 / September 2021
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 06 April 2021, pp. 208-224
-
- Article
- Export citation
-
The El Salt site (Alcoi, Alicante, Spain) is one of the latest Neanderthal sites in the south-eastern Iberian Peninsula. The disappearance of this human group is controversial and needs detailed studies from different research areas. Taphonomy is essential to establish how representative is a fossil assemblage of the past living organisms that produced it and to interpret the formation process of the fossil site. In the case of El Salt, we have analyzed the micromammal assemblages of Units X and V, which contain fossils of Neanderthals and/or evidence of their activity. In contrast with previous identifications of the little owl (Athene noctua), our detailed taphonomic study shown here allows us to conclude that the main predator involved in the production of the micromammal assemblages was the European eagle owl (Bubo bubo). This is an opportunistic predator whose feeding preferences and behavior reflect the abundance of local micromammalian species, which can therefore provide a representation of past ecosystems near El Salt. The taphonomic information provided by this study also indicates the absence of transport and reworking processes, and reinforces previous paleoecological interpretations, suggesting an increase of aridity at the top of El Salt sequence that coincided with the local disappearance of Neanderthals.
Contributors
-
- By Rene Almeling, John B. Appleby, Lucy Blake, Kate Bourne, Andrea Mechanick Braverman, Naomi Cahn, Lorraine Culley, Fatemeh Ebtehaj, Jeannette Edwards, Tabitha Freeman, Lucy Frith, Susan Golombok, Susanna Graham, Cathy Herbrand, Nicky Hudson, Susan Imrie, Vasanti Jadva, Sarah Jennings, Anja J. Karnein, Hallvard Lillehammer, Julie McCandless, Petra Nordqvist, Guido Pennings, Veerle Provoost, Martin Richards, Sally Sheldon, Carol Smart, Marcin Smietana, Venessa Smith, Helen Statham, Sophie Zadeh, Irenee Daly, Yolanda Garcia-Ruiz, Zeynep Gürtin, Robert Klitzman, Soraya Tremayne, Sheryl Vanderpoel, Effy Vayena, Katharine Wright
- Edited by Tabitha Freeman, University of Cambridge, Susanna Graham, University of Cambridge, Fatemeh Ebtehaj, University of Cambridge, Martin Richards, University of Cambridge
-
- Book:
- Relatedness in Assisted Reproduction
- Published online:
- 05 August 2014
- Print publication:
- 14 August 2014, pp vii-ix
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
7 - Gamete and embryo donation
- Edited by Martin Richards, University of Cambridge, Guido Pennings, Universiteit Gent, Belgium, John B. Appleby, University of Cambridge
-
- Book:
- Reproductive Donation
- Published online:
- 05 August 2012
- Print publication:
- 05 July 2012, pp 112-129
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
Introduction
Spain has a strong culture of family life. Family relationships are often close and people grow up aspiring to have their own children. So, if a couple find that they are infertile and may need the assistance of a gamete donor to have children, this can be deeply disturbing. Their hopes and expectations of having ‘their own’ children may crumble and their feelings of esteem and personal worth can be jeopardized. Many feel deeply frustrated and find this one of the most challenging situations they have had to face in life. In Spain there is little understanding of what conception by assisted reproduction techniques (ARTs) is and no knowledge of gamete donation, and this can make the experience even more difficult for prospective parents.
It is estimated that at least three million children have been conceived in fertility clinics, according to the statistics collected by the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (De Mouzon et al., 2010). This figure is an underestimate, since the report only collects data from fifty-two countries and about two thirds of the global activity of ARTs. ARTs have brought a revolution with medical, social and legal implications for Spanish society. Since the birth of Spain’s first IVF baby, Anna Victoria, at the Dexeus Clinic in Barcelona in 1984, Spain has experienced many changes in the development of ARTs. Expectations – and controversies – have grown with the development of egg donation and more recently with the possibility of freezing and storing eggs. Since the late 1980s, many countries have enacted laws designed to regulate these practices. However, far from achieving a consensus, legislation has been characterized by diversity, especially in the most controversial areas, such as the involvement of donors in the reproductive process. Maintaining donor anonymity, payment for donation, the risks to the health of the donor (in the case of egg donation), the relevance for children’s welfare of knowing their biological origins, the importance of limiting the total number of donations by a donor and recording donations in a donor registry have all been regulated differently in jurisdictions around the world. Currently, these issues are raising new legal challenges that are leading to significant legislative changes in some countries.