This experimental study was designed to verify the effect of inhalation of essential oils on body weight, feed intake, food efficiency rate and serum leptin.

The subjects of this study were 90 growing SD rats (46 males and 44 females). They were allocated into one of four groups, the Fennel group, Patchouli group, Bergamot group and control group. The experimental treatment was the inhalation of aromatherapy essential oils which was applied two times a day for 10 minutes each during 8 weeks. To evaluate the effects, body weight, feed intake, food efficiency rate and serum leptin were measured before and after the treatment. The collected data was analyzed by repeated measures of Kolmogorov-smirnov test and Normal Q-Q plot for nomality, Kruskal Wallis test and χ²-test for experimental effects with the SPSS program.

The food efficiency rate was significantly lower in the Patchouli group and Fennel group than in the Bergamot group and control group (P=.000). No significant group effects were found for SD rat's body weight, feeding amount and serum leptin.

In conclusion, these findings indicate that the inhalation of essential oils could be effective in lowering the food efficiency rate rather than the feed intake.

This study was designed to investigate the effect of delivery nursing care using essential oils on labor stress response, labor anxiety and postpartum status anxiety for primipara.

This study used nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The subjects of this experiment consisted of forty eight primipara with single gestation, full term, & uncomplicated pregnancies. Twenty four primipra were in the experimental and control group each. Their mean age was 27.9 years old, their mean gestation period 279.9 days. As a treatment, delivery nursing care using essential oils was applied by nurses. Data collected epinephrine, norepinephrine, anxiety during labor. In the 24 hours after birth, the data for the postpartum mother's status anxiety was collected. Data was analyzed by t-test, repeated measures ANOVA, Mann-Whitney U test, & Wilcoxon signed ranks test with SPSS Program.

Plasma epinephrine, norepinephrine were significantly low in the experimental group (P=0.001, P=0.033, respectively). There was no significant difference between the two groups in anxiety during labor and postpartum mother's status anxiety.

These findings indicate that delivery nursing care using essential oils could be effective in decreasing plasma epinephrine, norepinephrine. But, that could not be verified in decreasing mother's anxiety.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of essential oil on oxidative stress, immunity, and skin condition in atopic dermatitis (AD) induced mice.

This study was a 3×3 factorial design. Factors were oil type (Lavender, Thyme, and 2:1 mixture of lavender and thyme oil [blending oil]) and treatment period (0 day, 7 days, and 21 days). The samples were 45 mice with AD and randomly assigned to nine groups of five mice per group. The dependent variables such as superoxide radical, IgE, degranulated mast cells, and epidermal thickness were measured. Data were collected from February to April in 2014. Descriptive statistics, One-way ANOVA, Two-way ANOVA, and Tukey's HSD test were performed using the SPSS WIN 20.0 program.

Dependent variables were not statistically significantly different by the three oil types (p>.05). Essential oils such as lavender, thyme, and blending oil were all effective in reducing AD symptoms and especially 2:1 blending oil were most effective. There were statistically significant differences by the three treatment periods in all dependent variables (p<.001). There were statistically significant interactions between oil types and treatment periods in all dependent variables (p<.01). For decreasing superoxide radical, degranulated mast cells, and epidermal thickness, 2:1 mixed oil should be applied for at least 21 days. Otherwise to reduce IgE, 2:1 mixed oil should be used for at least 7 days.

These findings provide bases for developing effective interventions for AD patients to manage their AD symptoms.

This study was done to examine the effects of oral care with essential oil in improving the oral health status of hospice patients with terminal cancer.

The participants were 43 patients with terminal cancer admitted to K hospital in G city, Korea. Twenty-two patients were assigned to the experimental group and 21 to the control group. Participants in the experimental group received special mouth care with essential oil (application of essential oil mixture consisting of geranium, lavender, tea tree, and peppermint). The control group received special mouth care with 0.9% saline. The special mouth care was performed twice daily for one week in both groups. The scores for subjective oral comfortness, objective oral state, and numbers of colonizing Candida albicans were measured before and after the treatment.

The score for subjective oral comfortness and objective oral state were significantly higher in the experimental group compared to the control group. The numbers of colonizing Candida albicans significantly decreased in the experimental group compared to the control group.

Oral care with essential oil could be an effective oral health nursing intervention for hospice patients with terminal cancer.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an essential oil mouthrinse with gingival massage on oral health in community indwelling elderly.

The subjects were composed of 61 healthy elderly at a Senior Welfare Center in J city. Thirty subjects in the experimental group were given toothbrushing education ongingival massage toothbrushing with an essential oil mouthrinse for 2 weeks(4 times per day, 3 minutes per session). The 31 subjects in the control group were given toothbrushing education ongingival massage toothbrushing. The effects of the treatment were measured by salivary pH, salivary IgA level, halitosis, oral subjective symptoms, and oral self care behavior scores before, right after and 2 weeks after the experiment.

Salivary pH was significantly increased(p=0.018) in the experimental group. Salivary IgA levels were not significantly different between the experimental and control groups; however, IgA levels of the experimental group were significantly increased(p=0.006) after time had passed. Halitosis was significantly decreased(p=0.002) in the experimental group. Oral subjective symptom scores were significantly decreased(p=0.000) and oral self care behavior scores were significantly increased(p=0.000) in the experimental group.

Regular gingival massage toothbrushing with an essential oil mouthrinse could be an effective oral health nursing intervention for the elderly.