With spring comes the allergy that often causes asthma in predisposed people. A help in countering both the allergy response and asthma seems to come from the essential oil of lavender. This emerges from a scientific research published a few years ago in the Life sciences journal by a Japanese team (Ueno-lio et al, Life Sci, 2014).
The properties of lavender essential oil
We have already had the opportunity to know and appreciate lavender essential oil for its powerful antiseptic properties, useful for example in case of insect bites, wounds and acne. Not only that, lavender is also calming, reduces the sleep onset latency and promotes deep sleep, helping to wake us up in the morning refreshed and rested. We now know that lavender oil, once inhaled, helps to counteract the inflammation, generated by the allergic response when we come into contact with the allergen, and asthma.
The anti-allergic action of lavender
The researchers started from the assumption that allergy arises from an inflammatory process and that lavender is anti-inflammatory. Therefore, the scientists developed a study conducted on animals in which it was clear that inhaling lavender essential oil proves to be a useful ally against asthma and allergy. In fact, the inhalation of lavender oil made it possible to reduce pro-inflammatory substances, and therefore the allergic response, but also various conditions related to asthma. In people with asthma there is a greater presence of the mucin Muc5b, a substance found in the mucous secretions that line the airways for the purpose of defense. Not only that, in the case of asthma there is also a thickening of the smooth muscles, or muscle hyperplasia, and an enlargement of the glands that produce mucus, or glandular hyperplasia. Lavender oil has been shown to decrease both Muc5b mucin and hyperplasia, counteracting not only allergy but also asthma.
