Essential Oil Therapeutics: one-day seminar
9:00 am to 4:30 pm
The Institute for Palliative Medicine
at San Diego Hospice, Room Keck 1 & 2
4311 3rd Ave San Diego CA 92103
$180.00
6.5 hour CE Units
OVERVIEW
The following questions will be addressed by linking current practice with published research, and referring to specific essential oils to illustrate points:
• What is aromatherapy?
• How widely is it practiced?
• Do essential oils have therapeutic effects?
• How do they work?
• How should they be used?
• What conditions can be helped?
Aromatherapy is sometimes written off as no more than “placebo therapy”. And yet, some essential oils or EO constituents are used as or in medicines. Did you know that lavender oil is now being developed as an oral medication for anxiety? Or that the same reason that menthol feels cold to the skin gives it the potential to relieve cough and reduce blood pressure?
You may have heard that the therapeutic use of aromatic oils from plants was recorded by Dioscorides, a 1st century Greek physician. But did you know that wound healing was, and remains, one of its major accomplishments? One of the two principal reasons that plants have evolved to biosynthesize highly complex essential oils is protection from microbial infestation. It is perhaps no surprise then, that whole essential oils possess formidable antimicrobial properties, and that these effects are often reduced when constituents are isolated.
This is not a presentation about miraculous healing effects. It is one that is firmly grounded in science. Today, essential oils are being used in many parts of the world in palliative or supportive care, as well as in private practice. In some scenarios they are arguably the treatment of choice. Let’s separate the real from the mythical, and discuss how essential oil therapy can be of optimum benefit to the wellbeing of patients.
AUDIENCE
Those interested in aromatherapy as it applies to Complementary Alternative Medicine, such as aromatherapists, aromatherapy tutors, nurses, nurse practitioners, naturopathic doctors, integrative medicine practitioners and pharmacists.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
On completion of this seminar attendees will be able to:
• Recount the development of essential oil therapy in the context of the history of medicine.
• Describe the global scope of essential oil therapy practice.
• Explain the various types of administration and biological effect that constitute essential oil therapy.
• Describe the medicinal properties of specific essential oils in terms of chemistry and pharmacology.
• Cite papers showing an effect that goes beyond placebo.
• Refer to the therapeutic action of specific essential oils in terms of palliative care, supportive care, or intervention.
• Discuss the protective function of specific essential oils in relation to the immune system, antioxidant status and inflammation.
• Identify key essential oil quality and safety issues.
OUTLINE
The concept of “aromatherapy”
From Dioscorides to Gattefossé – a brief history
Massage, medicine, or placebo?
The evidence base
Aromatherapy as integrative medicine
The scope of essential oil therapy practice
Clinical work in hospitals & care centers
Therapeutic properties of essential oils
Synergy
Quality of life
Cognitive function
Anxiety
Sleep
Pain
Supportive and preventive care
Immune function
Inflammation
Oxidative stress
Infection
Therapeutic intervention
Inhalational
Dermal
Oral
Essential oil dynamics
Essential oil origin and integrity
Preparation, dose and bioavailability
Cellular interaction
The future for aromatherapy
Cancellation policy here