Essential oils : Pharmacology
Do you like this story?
Although there is currently something of a dismissive attitude concerning essential oils in pharmacology, various essential oils retain considerable popular use, partly in fringe medicine and partly in popular remedies.
Unfortunately, this makes it difficult to obtain reliable references concerning their pharmacological merits.
Taken by mouth, many essential oils can be dangerous in high concentrations. Typical effects begin with a burning feeling, followed by salivation.
In the stomach, the effect is carminative, relaxing the gastric sphincter and encouraging eructation. Further down the gut, the effect typically is antispasmodic.
Typical ingredients for such applications include eucalyptus oils, menthol, capsaicin, anise and camphor. Other essential oils work well in these applications, but it is notable that others offer no significant benefit.
This illustrates the fact that different essential oils may have drastically different pharmacology. Those that do work well for upper respiratory tract and bronchial problems act variously as mild expectorants and decongestants. Some act as locally anaesthetic counterirritants, and thereby exert an antitussive effect.
Some essential oils, such as those of juniper and agathosma are valued for their diuretic effects.With relatively recent concerns about the overuse of antibacterial agents, many essential oils have seen a resurgence in off-label use for such properties and are being examined for this use clinically.
Many essential oils affect the skin and mucous membranes in ways that variously are valuable or harmful. They are used in antiseptics and liniments in particular.
Typically, they produce rubefacient irritation at first, and then counterirritant numbness. Turpentine oil and camphor are two typical examples of oils that cause such effects.
Menthol and some others produce a feeling of cold followed by a sense of burning. This is caused by its effect on heat-sensing nerve endings. Some essential oils, such as clove oil or eugenol, were popular for many years in dentistry as antiseptics and local anaesthetics. Thymol also is well known for its antiseptic effects.
