My grandmother had dementia. In the decade before she passed away she didn’t know what day it was, where she was in the world, and, after I cut my hair, who I was. She’d circle her way through the same handful of conversational loops, and I’d play a game where I tried to elicit new…
Article Review: Chamomile-Lavender Aromatherapy and Music Therapy Reduces Anxiety in Clinical Nurses
Nurses are no strangers to stress, anxiety, and burnout. Even at the best of times these afflictions can wreak havoc on quality of life and work performance (Jennings, 2008). And the Covid Era is, well, hardly the best of times. Anxiety, defined as “an excessive and uncontrollable worry,” is of particular concern among nurses: it…
Raynaud’s Syndrome: The Vagus Nerve Connection – Part II
Raynaud’s Syndrome is a condition where blood vessels in a person’s extremities shut down when exposed to cold. It is caused by peripheral blood vessels overreacting to colder temperatures and can result in painful and discolored extremities. The Vagus Nerve New research suggests an alternative method for treating Raynaud’s symptoms indirectly via the vagus nerve….
Raynaud’s Phenomenon: An Aromatic Exploration – Part I
Raynaud’s Syndrome is a condition where blood vessels in a person’s extremities shut down when exposed to cold. It is caused by peripheral blood vessels overreacting to colder temperatures and can result in painful and discolored extremities. Raynaud’s syndrome was first identified by a French physician named Auguste Gabrielle Maurice Raynaud in 1862. It often…
Adrenal Fatigue PART III: Promoting Resilience — Essential Oils for HPA Axis Support
HPA axis dysregulation is fundamentally caused by stress, which can take many forms: Psychosocial stress (relationships, finances, housing insecurity, discrimination, etc.) Inflammation (diet, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, infection, insulin resistance) High or low blood sugar Insufficient sleep (sleep apnea, poor sleep habits) Interventions should first and foremost target these root causes of stress in order…
Adrenal Fatigue PART II: Cortisol and the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) Axis – A Dip Into Physiology
“Adrenal fatigue” proponents are right about one thing: the stress of life can definitely be too much for the body to handle. It’s just not the adrenals that are the problem. Changes in cortisol production aren’t caused by a deficiency in the adrenal glands, but by regulatory mechanisms of the nervous system that protect against…
