Köteles Ferenc, Babulka Péter, Szemerszky Renáta, Dömötör Zsuzsanna, Boros Szilvia
Institute of Health Promotion and Sport Sciences, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Bogdánfy u. 10/B, Budapest H-1117, Hungary.
Tárnics Co., Budapest, Hungary.
Physiol Behav. 2018 Oct 1;194:319-323. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.06.022. Epub 2018 Jun 18.
Essential oils of herbal origin are widely used in the treatment of diseases of the upper and lower respiratory tract primarily due to their antibacterial and antiviral effects. Menthol, the major component of the essential oil of mint (Mentha) species, exhibits antispasmodic activity, which might result in improved lung function. In a randomized experiment, 106 healthy participants received nebulized peppermint, eucalyptus, or rosemary essential oil for 15 min or no treatment (control). None of the essential oils had an impact on the measured spirometric variables (forced vital capacity, peak expiratory flow, the ratio of the volume of air forcibly blown out in the first second to forced vital capacity). Participants' expectations regarding the effects of essential oils did not affect their objective performance, however, they predicted perceived (subjective) changes. Perceived and measured changes were not connected with each other. In conclusion, inhaled rosemary, peppermint, and eucalyptus essential oils' subjective (perceived) effect on spirometry is mediated at least partly by expectations.
草本来源的精油因其抗菌和抗病毒作用而被广泛用于治疗上、下呼吸道疾病。薄荷醇是薄荷属植物精油的主要成分，具有解痉活性，这可能会改善肺功能。在一项随机实验中，106名健康参与者接受了15分钟的薄荷、桉树或迷迭香精油雾化吸入治疗，或不接受任何治疗（对照组）。这些精油均未对所测量的肺功能变量（用力肺活量、呼气峰值流速、第一秒用力呼气量与用力肺活量的比值）产生影响。参与者对精油效果的预期并未影响其客观表现，然而，他们预测了感知到的（主观的）变化。感知到的变化与测量到的变化之间没有关联。总之，吸入迷迭香、薄荷和桉树精油对肺活量测定的主观（感知到的）影响至少部分是由预期介导的。
