| PDF[?] (Download) | Lavender (Lavendula angustifolia)LimonenePerillyl Alcohol | | Date: March 15, 2005 | HC# 110645-276 |
Re:Lavender - Its Historical and Contemporary Uses
Ulbrict C. Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia Miller) Journal of Herbal Pharmacotherapy. 2004;4(2):63-78.
This article provides a systematic, scientific review of the historical and contemporary uses of lavender (Lavendular angustifolia [English lavender], L. burnamii, L. dentata, L. dhofarensis, L. latifolia, and L. stoechas). Lavender is native to the Mediterranean, Arabian Peninsula, Russia, and Africa, and has many common names, including common lavender, garden lavender, pink lavender, true lavender, and white lavender. English lavender is the most common species.
Lavender has been used for centuries. In Latin, lavender means lavare, meaning 'to wash.' Ancient Greeks, Persians, and Romans used lavender to scent baths and laundry and as an antiseptic. Tibetans still use lavender to treat psychoses. In the United States and European phytomedicine, it is used as an anxiolytic and sleep aid. More than 100 different constituents have been isolated from lavender, including linalool, perillyl alcohol, linalyl acetate, camphor, limonene, tannins, triterpenes, coumarins, cineole, and flavonoids. Lavender has also been promoted, among other usages, as an anesthetic, anticonvulsant, antioxidant, antimicrobial, diuretic, and for diabetes, migraine headaches, insect repellant, and varicose veins.
According to the authors, most of the studies investigating lavender's medicinal actions have been small (less then 20 volunteers). Generally, the evidence for the medicinal use of lavender is weak. As an anxiolytic, hypnotic, and spasmolytic, lavender is administered as an inhalation, which makes creating a placebo in a blinded study difficult. Five human studies examined lavender's anxiolytic effects. All of these studies were criticized for methodological inconsistencies or incomplete blinding. While in vitro data has found lavender to be an effective antibiotic, human studies are lacking, which makes the clinical relevance of the in vitro studies difficult to assess.
Two studies used isolated perillyl alcohol (POH) in patients with oral cancer. Volunteers experienced a reduction in the progression of the tumors for six months and established its safety up to 1200 mg per square meter of tumor per day. In humans, POH is metabolized to limonene. These compounds inhibit cancer initiation and promotion, and have been shown to cause the regression of some cancers in mice1. Animal studies have also shown that lavender or its constituents decrease low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ('bad cholesterol') and raise high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ('good cholesterol').
Lavender is considered 'likely safe' for internal or external use; however, people with allergies to lavender should not use it. Additionally, lavender may potentiate the effects of barbiturates or other central nervous system depressants. It has not been proven safe for consumption in pregnancy. Additional research is needed to better understand the potential benefits and medicinal actions of lavender.
—John Neustadt, ND4 |