What is Lavender Oil Used for Today?
Lavender continues to be recommended for all its traditional uses. Only a few of these uses, however, have any supporting scientific evidence whatsoever, and for none of these is the evidence strong. A few studies suggest that lavender oil, when taken by inhalation ( aromatherapy ) might reduce agitation in people with severe dementia . For example, in one very well-designed but very small study, a hospital ward was suffused with either lavender oil or water for two hours. 1 An investigator who was unaware of the study’s design and who wore a device to block inhalation of odors entered the ward and evaluated the behavior of the 15 residents, all of whom had dementia. The results indicated that use of lavender oil aromatherapy modestly decreased agitated behavior. A somewhat less rigorous study reported similar benefits. 2 Rigor is essential in such studies, as it has been shown that merely creating expectations about the effects of aromas may be sufficient to cause them to occur. 9 A p
