Today, when returning to nature and embracing green to become a social trend and healthy fashion, aromatic drugs and aromatherapy from natural plants have attracted more and more interest with their unique pharmacological effects. Thousands of years ago, the ancients knew that "there can be swearing." In the moment, scientists try to use it for adjuvant therapy. Ancient and modern Chinese and foreign, the value of aromatherapy continues to be prominent.

Aromatherapy has a history of more than 6,000 years. In ancient Egypt, people used an impregnation method to extract essential oils from aromatic plants. After bathing, they massaged with aromatic essential oils to protect the skin. In ancient India, the use of aromatic plant essential oils for massage is an important part of folk medicine. In the Arabian around the 11th century, a doctor invented the steam distillation method, steamed rose oil from the rose, is a pioneer in the extraction of essential oils by modern distillation.

In China, aromatherapy has a long history.

1. Empirical theory, aromatherapy in China

As early as in the Yin Shang oracle bones, there are records of smoked oysters, steamed oysters and fragrant wines in China. By the time of the Zhou Dynasty, there was a custom of wearing sachets and bathing orchid soup. "Shan Hai Jing" records that the scent of scented grass can be smashed. A batch of sachets and smoked stoves were unearthed from Mawangdui Han Tomb. There are aromatic medicines such as Xinyi, Perrin and Maoxiang. These all illustrate the customs and habits of using aromatic drugs to prevent diseases, sterilize and clean the environment.

From the Warring States to the Qin and Han Dynasties, aromatherapy gradually rose from practice to theory. "Shen Nong's Herbal Classic" is a collection of medicinal sciences before the Eastern Han Dynasty. There are many records about aromatic drugs, such as "Zhangpu, Weixin Wen. Main wind and cold dampness, coughing up the gas, happy hole, filling the five internal organs, passing nine 窍, Ming and ear, a voice. Long-wearing, not forgetting, not confusing, prolonging." The book elaborates the function of the drug according to the four flavors and five flavors, and explains the general drug properties of the aromatic drug in more detail, which provides an important basis for the later use of aromatic drugs. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Sui and Tang Dynasties, a large number of ethnic minorities moved in, bringing their experience in aromatherapy. The Tang Dynasty National Pharmacopoeia "Newly Modified Materia Medica" supplemented the exotic aromatic medicines such as Su Hexiang, Awei, Benzoin and Dipterocarp, which created conditions for the development of aromatherapy. Sun Sizhen's "Preparing for the Needs" is using a variety of methods to prevent and treat mild fever in the "Pu Wen" section. The selected drugs are mainly aromatic drugs.

In the Song Dynasty, the Sino-foreign exchanges of aromatic medicines reached their peak, and the "Maritime Silk Road" appeared as a "fragrant" specializing in overseas transportation trade. In Taiping Shenghui Fang, there are 120 prescriptions named after aromatic medicines, such as Su He Xiang Wan, An Xi Xiang Wan, Mu Xiang San and so on. With the prosperity of prescription pharmacy in the Ming Dynasty, the application and research of aromatherapy has made great progress. For example, in the "Puji Fang" special column "Zhutangxiang fried door", collect 97 parties, and detail the composition, production, usage, etc. of the prescription; "Compendium of Materia Medica" records 35 species of "fragrant wood" and 56 species of "fragrant grass". The administration methods of aromatherapy such as coating method, rubbing method, dressing method, puffing method, blowing method, gargle method and bath method are also introduced. The research and practice of aromatherapy in the Qing Dynasty produced a qualitative leap. Wu Shiji's "Liang Li Wen" systematically expounds the mechanism of action, syndrome differentiation, drug selection, usage and dosage, and precautions of aromatherapy, so that aromatherapy has a complete theoretical system.

Aromatherapy in traditional Chinese medicine has been continuously developed and improved with the accumulation of experience and the improvement of theory, which has laid the foundation for the innovative development of modern aromatherapy. In the past decade, more and more hospitals, clinics, and spas have provided aromatherapy, and aromatherapy has entered more people's lives.

2, the medicine is homologous, traditional aromatherapy can criticize fitness, cultivate temperament

In a broad sense, aromatherapy refers to the use of aromatic or aromatic plant essential oils to prevent and treat diseases. Traditional Chinese aromatherapy uses Chinese herbal medicine (aromatic medicine) with aromatic odor to make various dosage forms or fragrances for use. It can achieve the functions of rickets fitness, beautifying life, clean the environment and edifying temperament. Said. Aromatic scent is spicy, sexually warm and dry, the main heart, liver, spleen, lung, can be wet (dispelling phlegm), qi, open phlegm, pass through pain, detoxification and swelling, etc. Usage includes internal and external use.

Aromatized and wet. Also known as "fragrance rumors", phlegm and dampness refer to wet evil as a disease, and more invade the spleen, so that the spleen is lost in transport. Aromatic medicinal properties are mostly mild and dry. "Shen Nong's Herbal Medicine" lists these aromatic drugs as fragrant dryness drugs, including agarwood, dragon brain, musk, etc., which has the functions of spleen and dampness, dampness and spleen. Clinical treatment of dampness and internal resistance syndrome, such as damp heat fumigation, febrile burnout, jaundice, etc., commonly used musk, perrin, white coix seed, etc., such as nectar disinfection Dan. Another example is cold turbidity to suppress the air machine, symptoms such as headache, aversion to cold, fever, chest tightness, nausea and retching, bowel diarrhea, commonly used musk, perilla, white peony, Shichangpu, etc., such as fragrant scent. Modern scientific research has confirmed that aromatized wet medicine has both excitatory and inhibitory effects on the contraction of various parts of the stomach, which provides a basis for Chinese medicine to understand the relationship between aromatic medicine and spleen.

Aroma. The aroma can walk away, the temperature can pass, and there is a role of sparse air. "Shen Nong's Herbal Medicine" is classified as a gas-reducing medicine, such as scent, turmeric, and agarwood. These drugs are mainly caused by the lungs, liver and spleen, and the lungs, liver and spleen are most closely related to the qi of the human body, so they can treat diseases caused by qi stagnation. Clinical treatment of spleen and stomach stagnation caused by abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, etc., more wood, sandalwood, etc., should choose qi and spleen products, prescriptions such as Xiangsha Liujunzi soup; treatment of liver qi stagnation Ribs, pain, phlegm pain, breast pain, irregular menstruation, etc., should be used to soothe the liver and relieve the stagnation of the product, such as Shenxiang Si Mo Tang; treatment of lung qi stagnation caused by chest tightness chest pain, cough and asthma, etc., should choose Wide chest and qi, lowering the gas and relieving asthma and asthma, the prescription is like Suzi Jiangqi Decoction. Experiments show that agarwood, Gansong, etc. have the effect of relaxing bronchial smooth muscle.

Aromatic open. "Shen Nong's Herbal Medicine" is classified as a drug for medicinal herbs, which has a strong fragrance and aroma, and is used for customs clearance and waking up. The mind is hiding God, the Lord God is clear, the heart is clear, the god is the Lord, and the heart is blocked, the god is closed inside, and there is a symptom of coma. The medicinal herbs are spicy and aromatic, good at walking, all in the heart, and have the power to clear the mouth, such as musk, borneol, Su Hexiang, etc., used to treat the symptoms of coma, such as coma, physical strength, suffocation, The stool is closed. There is a difference between cold and heat in addition to the symptoms of cold and heat. In addition to the symptoms of the mind, the cold is accompanied by a cold image, such as face blue, body cooling, etc., it is advisable to use warm-opening medicine, such as Su Hexiang Pill; hot closed with a hot image, such as face red, Body heat, etc., should be used to cool the products, such as Angong Niuhuang Wan, Zhibao Dan and so on. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that sputum drugs can wake up patients with coma.

Pass through pain. Most of the pain syndrome is caused by the obstruction of the meridians, that is, the pain is not acceptable, but the meridians are blocked by cold coagulation, qi stagnation and blood stasis. The smell of aromatic medicine is fragrant, and it can disperse energy. It can not only dilute the air machine, but also relieve pain. For example, woody, agarwood, incense, etc., it is also feasible to stagnate in the blood, to open the meridians, to relieve blood pressure, such as Yujin, frankincense, myrrh and so on. And the aromatic medicinal properties are warm, can warm the meridians, dispel cold and relieve pain, such as cloves, fennel and so on. It is also commonly used in clinical practice to use the fragrant medicinal herbs to pass the meridians and stop the pain. Such as treatment of spleen and stomach qi stagnation, abdominal pain and pain, can be used in wood incense, Amomum, sandalwood, such as fast gas soup. For the treatment of stagnation of heart and abdomen, you can use frankincense and myrrh. Modern pharmacological experiments show that the ethanol extract of Xiangfu has an analgesic effect, and the intravenous injection of clove emulsion can produce anesthesia and analgesic effects.

Detoxification and swelling. Aromatic drugs are used to reduce swelling and are mainly used for surgery. In the Song Dynasty, Chen Ziming’s "Surgical Essentials" said: "When the blood is smelling, the smell is reversed, and the smell is reversed. It is sore because of the glory, the glory is not good, the rebellion is rude, and the scent is the pus. Then the blood is popular." Sore is caused by qi and blood against the meat, so the use of aromatic drugs to carry out its qi and blood. Clinical use of aromatic medicine to treat sore and swollen, can be treated with internal and external treatment, such as treatment of sore swollen poison, can be musk, frankincense, myrrh equivalent, prescription such as waking up pills; treatment of bruises, fractures and sprains, can Frankincense and myrrh are equivalent to external use in powders, such as Qi Li San and Ba Li San. Modern medicine believes that sores and diseases are related to infections. Studies have found that most aromatic drugs have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects and can treat sore swollen poison.

3, using essential oils, modern aromatherapy to treat chronic diseases

Compared with traditional aromatherapy, modern aromatherapy has many differences in the nature of raw materials, methods of use, fields of application and efficacy.

Modern aromatherapy refers to the use of natural aromatic plant essential oils, through breathing, massage, bathing, application and other means to achieve metabolism, accelerate the elimination of toxins in the body, maintain skin and other health care and rickets. Scientific research has found that aromatic plant essential oils have the effects of improving memory and mood, relieving mental stress, alleviating menstrual and childbirth pain, improving hypertension, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory, and inhibiting cancer cell growth.

Improve memory and mood. Studies have found that adults exposed to the aroma of sage and lavender leaf sage have improved their cognitive abilities and mood. There is also an experiment on patients with Alzheimer's disease, which exposes the morning to the aroma of rosemary and lemon essential oils, and exposes to the aroma of lavender and orange essential oil at night, and its memory and cognitive ability are significantly improved.

Reduce menstrual pain during childbirth and childbirth. A study in South Korea examined the effects of aromatherapy on menstrual cramps and found that a blend of essential oils consisting of lavender, clary sage, and rose massages the abdomen to alleviate menstrual cramps and dysmenorrhea in women.

Improve high blood pressure and relieve stress. Chinese scientists have found through experiments that lavender essential oil has the effect of lowering blood pressure. Studies abroad have also shown that continuous inhalation of essential oils of lavender and bergamot can effectively reduce blood pressure, psychological stress and serum cortisol levels in patients with essential hypertension.

  Antibacterial anti-inflammatory. Experiments have confirmed that lavender essential oil has a synergistic effect on inhibition of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and thyme oil can kill methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus within 2 hours.

Can also be used in other areas. For example, hospice care, aromatherapy is used to improve the comfort of some cancer patients, used to treat patients with pressure sores, nausea, loss of appetite and other symptoms caused by long-term bed rest, welcomed by patients and caregivers. For example, inhibition of cancer cells, studies have found that tea tree oil interferes with the migration and invasion of melanoma cells, lavender essential oil components have a good inhibitory effect on nasopharyngeal cancer cells.