Conflicting interpretations of rosemary oil study

[nomadreid]

TL;DR Summary

A study in a peer-reviewed journal gives some indication that rosemary oil may contribute in some cases to a slight improvement in memory; a critique of this finding in an article holds that the study was not rigorous enough. I include the two links. On one side, the journal in question has higher standing than the article source, on the other hand it does sound a little like folk medicine. I include the two links.

The journal in question is the International Journal of Neuroscience, which appears to be a respectable peer-reviewed journal. I give a link to a reproduction in a secondary source, with a note that I am not addressing the more subjective "mood" part of the paper: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/10808709_Aromas_of_rosemary_and_lavender_essential_oils_differentially_affect_cognition_and_mood_in_healthy_adults

The critique, admittedly not in a peer-reviewed journal but nonetheless appearing to bring up points which may be of importance (or not: I am not a biologist), is here:
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/sniffing-rosemary/

I am not qualified to judge where the golden mean here lies. I am always wary of ideas that support folk medicine, but on the other hand, it would be silly to reject something only because it agrees with folk medicine. So I will be grateful for a more qualified judgment.

 

[jim mcnamara]

I agree with your "folklore" interpretation. The science seems a bit hand-wavy to me. Researchgate has a lot of papers that have not been peer reviewed. Some are. That does not mean that a well designed study will or will not support the findings. It is an open question.

 

[nomadreid]

Thank you very much, jim mcnamara.

One aspect that throws me off is that, although I cited Researchgate (which I know is not a peer-reviewed source), my understanding was that it was reproducing an article exactly as it appeared in a peer-reviewed journal (International Journal of Neuroscience).

Of course I understand that even peer-reviewed journals publish some hand-wavy stuff, but it is every time a disappointment...

 

[atyy]

I'm not sure if the critique's interpretation of Shakespeare is correct, so the critique itself may be hand wavy.

Looking at the paper, they do many statistical comparisons, and consider p<0.05 to be significant. As we already know, one gets a p<0.05 by chance every now and then. mfb mentions this in a different area of study in this post https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/what-is-supersymmetry.999708/post-6464033. An adjustment for multiple comparisons correction can help https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_comparisons_problem. They could also try to confirm the hypotheses by collecting more data.

 

[nomadreid]

Thanks, umerfarooq, but I am not intending to use it; my interest is purely academic; I wished to examine the validity of the arguments in the articles cited. The question was put in this forum because I did not find any other appropriate studies, but I assumed that this was primarily due to my lack of expertise in the field, so that those more qualified than myself would have a better overview.

 

[pinball1970]

Thanks, umerfarooq, but I am not intending to use it; my interest is purely academic; I wished to examine the validity of the arguments in the articles cited. The question was put in this forum because I did not find any other appropriate studies, but I assumed that this was primarily due to my lack of expertise in the field, so that those more qualified than myself would have a better overview.

The thread is from 2021! I thought, cool @atyy is posting again!

Anyway a quick word because I had a seminar on alternative medicine years ago. Hand on heart I thought it was completely nuts and unscientific. I had to do it it was not by choice!
In terms of oils? I cannot remember touching on that, it is completely plausible that an aerosolised oil could elicit some physiological effect if there is enough of it. Vaping is based on it.
The smell of a BBQ makes me very happy, release of endorphins and some salivary and gastric activity.
The smell of "Deep heat" in the changing room had an affect on me.
The best ever? Hugging my future gf and recognising her smell from a year earlier. Totally brought out the cave man out in me!
"Must be with this woman!"

So smells can certainly do things to us whether it's a recognition, pavlos reaction or just high enough concentration to cause a pharmacological effect.
Very personal though, girls in the office love going to Boots chemist to look at all the tat women waste money on every year.
Perfumes, lotions, creams, supplements etc etc. I can barely make it down the aisle without passing out!