Comments on: Placebo? What about the rats?

By: Vance

Vance — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 02:19:04 +0000

You wrote, “The point is that real effects have been seen, even with small amounts, and even just with inhalation.” But the only “real effects” mentioned in your article involving inhalation are vague references to some rats that purportedly slept longer/shorter without identifying how much they inhaled or how much more/less they slept. We can also blow a dog whistle and demonstrate effects on dogs, but what is the relevance to humans? Is science so pathetic a process, unable to convincingly demonstrate “real effects” of aromatherapy on humans, that we must resort to rat studies and accept an imagined correlation?

By: Ann Wooledge

Ann Wooledge — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 18:23:20 +0000

So totally frustrating – those of us who use essential oils see on a daily basis how effective they are, but at least here where I live it’s a huge uphill battle. Your blog, Robert, is going to be very helpful in turning the tide of skepticism. My daughter started early with each of our grandchildren – I don’t think any of them have had an antibiotic since we started using essential oils. Placebo – I don’t think so. Not to mention neither my husband or I have found it necessary to take antibiotics – we just start using the oils at the first sign. If we do happen to catch anything, it quickly goes away after diffusing a cold & flu blend. But, that’s not enough to convince someone to use them, which is why I’m working so hard to get a good database up on our website. Not that there aren’t already quite a few, waving at Marge, Andrea, Wendy and Kayla, but want it on our website to show our customers research and information about the various oils. I’m just a few years behind you guys – catching up!

By: Kayla Fioravanti

Kayla Fioravanti — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 04:46:00 +0000

Very good question. My guess is that the researchers assumed that the rats couldn’t read or understand English so they didn’t take any double blind precautions or maybe…just maybe aromatherapy actually works. I know I’ve seen it work on my kids even when they were too young to know the placebo effect I was going for in them.