How aromatherapy works.
There are two ways in which is essential oils can be absorbed into the bloodstream.

1) Through the skin
Essential oils are absorbed into the body through the skin, by means of diffusion. As the skin is semi-permeable, the essential oils can be absorbed through the sweat pores and the hair follicle. Being fat soluble, the oil dissolves in sebum, produced by the sebaceous glands and passes into the dermis through the capillary network. They are then carried by the blood and lymphatic system throughout the body. This action is enhanced by massage.
Along with having positive effects on all internal systems, essential oils have amazing qualities to address many external conditions, such as skin imbalances. The therapeutic values of essential oils vary greatly from one oil to the next, while at the same time many share qualities. This is why essential oils are used widely in skincare products. These precious oils are often used to treat rosacea, acne, eczema and psoriasis. A skin condition by definition doesnt need to be present to appreciate the exquisite value of essential oils. They are also valuable additions to skincare products for those with oily skin, sensitive skin, dry skin, mature skin and even normal skin. Essential oils are now commonly found in good skincare products, including cleansers and facial washes, toners, moisturisers and masks.

2) Through Respiration.
Being Volatile, the Essential Oils quickly and easily become gaseous in nature. These molecules are inhaled and pass through the respiratory system until reaching the alveoli. This is where gaseous exchange takes place. The alveoli are surrounded by a network of capillaries and a membrane of simple epithelial cells. The inhaled essential oil molecules diffuse through this membrane and are transported in tissue fluids. The essential oil molecules can also dissolve in mucous in the inner nasal cavity or be transported to the olfactory nerves by electrochemical message.

Essential oils have three distinct modes of action:
Pharmacological action- the reaction with hormones and enzymes.
Physiological effect – the physical effect on all systems of the body, including its largest organ, the skin.
Psychological effect – how it affects the mind, i.e. sense of well-being, calms the mind.

Purity of Essential Oils
The most common method used to check the purity of essential oils is gas liquid chromatography (GLC). Chromatography is a method of separating substances in a mixture, showing its chemical make-up. A small quantity of essential oil is injected and to a fine, coiled, tubular column and is filled with an absorbent material. The coil has gas flowing through it and is fitted within a temperature- controlled oven. The heat causes the lighter components to be carried along the column more quickly. The time it takes for each component to pass along the column is called retention time. The reading for each batch is compared with an original copy and any variances may indicate that the essential oil has been adulterated. Each essential oil is then given a certificate stating its authenticity and batch number confirming its purity.

Bishops weed is known to be the erect and small shrub comprising with soft fine hairs. The fruit of this particular herb is egg-shaped, greyish and minute in nature. In India this herb is known by the name of ajwain which is derived from the word adarjawan.

The seeds of the herb are used to prepare several valuable carminative and unani medicines. It has numerous healing or curative properties for health ailments such as the seeds of ajwain acts as a stimulant to counteract the affect of spasmodic disorders.

Gastro-intestinal disorders: It acts as an effective medicine for curing various gastro-intestinal disorders such as dysentery, diarrohea, dyspepsia, colic, cholera, indigestion and flatulence. It is advised that 1tsp of ajwain should be taken with rock salt to cure the problem of indigestion.

Respiratory Disorders: For curing respiratory disorders it is advised that the seeds of ajwain should be consumed with buttermilk to cure phlegm. For curing cough caused by influenza it is advised that ajwain seeds should be consumed with clove and salt to have beneficial results.

Common cold: For curing common cold it is advised that 1 tbsp of ajwain crushed seeds should be tied in the cloth and used for inhalation to have the beneficial results.

Migraine: To cure the migraine it is advised the ajwain seeds should be sniffed or smoked to have beneficial results.

Rheumatism: To cure the rheumatic or neuralgic pain it is advised that the oil extracted from the ajwain seeds should be applied thrice a day over the affected area.

Mouth Disorders: To cure various mouth disorders it is advised that the decoction of the seeds prepared with salt should be used for gargle daily to have beneficial results.

Earache: Ajwain proves to be an effective remedy for earache. It is advised that the ear drops prepared by boiling the seeds in 40 ml of milk till gets thicken and later filtered should be administered three times a day. For curing the pain caused in the ear by boils it is advised that 4gms of ajwain seeds should be boiled with 2 garlic cloves in sesame oil till it becomes hot. Later this oil is filtered and used as ear drops twice a day to have beneficial results.

Aphrodisiac: To cure aphrodisiac problem it is advised that the powder prepared by frying ajwain seeds with tamarind kernel seeds in pure ghee should be consumed in the ratio of 1 tsp daily with honey and milk at nighttime to have beneficial results.

Classifying an upper respiratory infection as bronchitis is imprecise. However, studies of bronchitis and upper respiratory infections often use the same symptoms. Cough is the most commonly observed symptom of acute bronchitis. The cough begins within two days of infection in 85 percent of patients. Most patients have a cough for less than two weeks however, 26 percent are still coughing after two weeks, and a few cough for six to eight weeks. When a patient’s cough fits this general pattern, acute bronchitis should be strongly suspected.

Although most physicians consider cough to be necessary to the diagnosis of acute bronchitis, they vary in additional requirements. Other signs and symptoms may include sputum production, dyspnea, wheezing, chest pain, fever, hoarseness, malaise, rhonchi, and rales. Each of these may be present in varying degrees or may be absent altogether. Sputum may be clear, white, yellow, green, or even tinged with blood. Peroxidase released by the leukocytes in sputum causes the color changes; hence, color alone should not be considered indicative of bacterial infection.

Because acute bronchitis is most often caused by a viral infection, usually only symptomatic treatment is required. Treatment can focus on preventing or controlling the cough (antitussive therapy) or on making the cough more effective.

Protrusive therapy is indicated when coughing should be encouraged (e.g., to clear the airways of mucus). Antitussive therapy is indicated if cough is creating significant discomfort and if suppressing the body’s protective mechanism for airway clearance would not delay healing.

Breathing techniques and respiration devices become more and more popular among asthmatics and people with other respiratory problems. Among the known breathing techniques is the Buteyko breathing method, which had six randomised controlled trials in western countries.

The results were remarkable: twice less steroids, 3-10 times less reliever medication, better quality of life and less asthma symptoms, but unchanged bronchial responsiveness or lung function results after several months of breathing exercises. Meanwhile, all these studies had a major methodological flaw, which I am going to consider here.

Dr. K. Buteyko made the following clinical statements:
– Sick people, asthmatics including, breathe more air at rest than the minuscule medical norm (chronic hyperventilation). Overbreathing reduces tissue oxygenation and strengthens the desire to breathe even more.
– If they normalize their breathing pattern, then they will not require medication and will not experience their symptoms.
– The Buteyko Table of Health Zones relates breathing parameters of sick people, regardless of the name of the disease, with their current health state. This table describes parameters that reflect normal breathing (8 breaths/min for breathing frequency at rest, 6.5 percent for alveolar CO2 content, 60 seconds for stress-free breath holding time after usual exhalation, etc.). These parameters correspond to normal health and absence of asthma and many other chronic diseases since normal breathing improves body oxygenation.
– Someone has mastered the Buteyko breathing method, if his breathing parameters are normal.

Dr KP Buteyko never made claims that a particular Buteyko practitioner could achieve a particular result in relation to some group of asthmatics. Let us apply these Buteykos claims to available scientific data and the results of these randomised controlled trials.

First of all, hundreds of scientific research publications have shown that hyperventilation DIMINISHES oxygen content in body tissues.

Do asthmatics breathe much more air than the medical norm? A typical respiratory minute ventilation for an average asthmatic is about 12-15 L of air in one minute at rest (5 publications are available on my website), while the medical norm is only 6 L/min. Therefore, asthmatics breathe at rest about 2-2.5 times more air than the physiological standard.

Did asthmatics improve their breath parameters during these randomised controlled trials of the Buteyko breathing method? During the most impressive study (Bowler et al, 1998), in 3 months, use of relievers was reduced by 96 percent (25 times less ventolin) and preventers or inhaled steroids by 50%. Respiratory minute volume decreased from their initial 14 L/min to 9.6 L/min, but the physiological norm is only 6 L/min, while Dr. Buteykos hard standard is 4 L/min at rest for a 70-kg man. Hence, during their best shot, the participated asthmatics got only about a half way towards the standard. Consequently, there were a very few asthmatics, if any, who normalized their breath during these trials. They continued to hyperventilate.

The assumption of the medical doctors, who conducted these randomised controlled trials, was that a Buteyko teacher taught the Buteyko breathing method and a controlled group “learned” the method. This is easy to see from the titles, which usually say about a “trial of the Buteyko method”. How could they study the method, if no one learned it?

From a practical view, since I taught the Buteyko method to hundreds of people, the key difficulty during these randomised controlled trials were the following. The participants were mainly limited to practicing breathing exercises (e.g., 40-70 min per day). They could not use the versatile arsenal of life-style addressing tools of the Buteyko method. Breathing normalization process requires 24/7 control of breathing including:
– nasal breathing all the time (hence, it is necessary then to seal ones mouth with a surgical tape, if the mouth is usually dry in the morning; and someone will never solve their problems with asthma, if mouth breathing occurs during each night
– physical exercise (no less than 2 hours daily with only nasal breathing, in and out, otherwise exercise is more or less ineffective for most, especially sick people)
– prevention of sleeping on ones back (we breathe about two times more air, when we sleep on our backs at night)
– and various other lifestyle-related factors so that ones basal breathing pattern is restored back to our physiological standard.

Even more successful results have been discovered after application of the Frolov Breathing Device during recent clinical trails in Russia (under review and to be published in 2011).

The body’s breathing system is known as the respiratory system and is most likely the most vital system within the body. When operating correctly it provides us with the oxygen we must have to survive and removes the carbon dioxide we simply do not need.

The human body can go without any food for weeks, without water for days – but without any oxygen from the air we breathe we cannot last more than a couple of minutes.

Of all the muscles in the body, the muscles we use to breathe are the only ones over which we have dual management; that is, they can work both automatically and voluntarily.

When enough air has been inhaled successfully the muscles and diaphragm rest and the air is exhaled as the lungs tighten. Then the diaphragm contracts once more and the cycle starts again.

When the air passes through the nose it enters the trachea and also the bronchi, Which are small airways that run through every lung.These bronchi turn smaller and smaller, eventually taking the shape of bronchioles, which finish as small air sacs known as alveoli. The alveoli are connected to blood capillaries, which switch over oxygen and carbon dioxide at a really fast rate.

On average we take about twelve breaths per minute, and that rate is controlled by the body consistent with its desires at a particular purpose in time. If there is too much carbon dioxide and very little oxygen, the rate of breathing will increase and the body can gulp or gasp for air.

This could, as an example, occur during strenuous exercise, an asthma attack, or in fright. When the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide come back to normal, breathing returns to its normal rate. Breathing problems are very serious and it is imperative to treat them as soon as possible.