Scent of vanilla helps to ease pain: Japanese researchers
OKAYAMA. KAZINFORM - The aroma of vanilla extract can help to ease muscle pain and tension and may eventually factor into a treatment for stress headaches, a team of Japanese researchers has concluded, Kyodo reports.
The team from Kawasaki University of Medical Welfarein Okayama Prefecture, western Japan, recently discovered the pain-relievingeffects of vanillin, a key element of vanilla, in an experiment using mice.
Although the scent of vanilla has long been used inaromatherapy to induce relaxation, it had not previously been confirmed throughscientific study to affect the nervous system, the team said.
According to the group, the experiment involvedadministering vanillin to mice and then putting them on a board heated toaround 55 C. Mice that had inhaled vanillin took two seconds longer beforeleaving their forepaws due to the heat than those which had not received a doseof the agent.
The result suggested that inhaling vanillin made themice less sensitive to pain, said the team led by Hiroshi Ueno, an instructorof neuroscience.
«It would be difficult to look for the sameeffects (of vanilla scent) in humans, because sense of smell issubjective,» Ueno said.
But the nervous systems of humans and mice have manysimilarities, he said, adding, «We hope smelling (vanilla) may help easesymptoms like shoulder stiffness and nerve pain.»