Too long in the Spa Not Good for the Heart

When you're in a bad mood, some people will spend time to go to the spa, get a massage reflexology and aromatherapy. Aromatherapy or aroma therapy steam inhalation of certain essential oils themselves have long known the benefits to calm the mind.
But a new study from Taiwan revealed aromatherapy can also be harmful to the heart if exposed too long. This was revealed after researchers studied 100 workers conditions spa in Taipei who asked to sit in a room and inhaling vapors bergamot oil or orange extract for two hours.
At the same time researchers measured blood pressure and heart rate of participants, including the levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the air. VOC itself is a compound such as essential oils are volatile at room temperature.
First 45 minutes of the average systolic blood pressure of participants dropped by 2.10 mmHg and heart rates reached 2.21 beats per minute. This condition is increasingly proving properties of essential oils that can relieve stress.
But 120 minutes later a team of researchers looked at the effect of the opposite. Systolic blood pressure of the participants not only get back to the starting point but also rose to 2.19 mmHg and his heart rate to 1.70 mmHg per minute higher heart rate at the beginning of the study participants.
"These findings suggest that excessive exposure to essential oils that can be harmful to cardiovascular health," said researcher was quoted as saying by LiveScience, Monday (03/12/2012).
Previous studies have also linked the VOC with asthma to increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease. "It turns inhaling these compounds can increase inflammation in the body, including changing the function of the nervous system which in turn affects the health of the heart," added the researchers.
But the researchers admit further studies are still needed to ensure these findings. Because despite changes in blood pressure and heart rate is a marker of cardiovascular disease, it is unclear whether the fluctuations are small and short-term as seen in this study could lead to heart problems.
Moreover, because the researchers measured levels of total VOCs, other compounds in the air as well as aromatherapy oil vapor itself may influence the findings.
The study was recently published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.