Dementia is a chronic disorder, with increasing incidence throughout the world, and can cause significant agitation and distress in both patients and their families and friends. Antipsychotics are commonly prescribed to help manage agitation in the people, however these pharmaceuticals can cause undesired side-effects, which can sometimes be significant. Is there another option?
Over the last couple of years I have been involved as a co-investigator in a pilot clinical trial to examine the feasibility of using individualised topical essential oil (also known as volatile oil) preparations to help manage agitation in patients with dementia. Essential oils are concentrated extracts from some medicinal plants, often used in flavouring and in aromatherapy. Led by Associate Professor Matthew Leach, the results of our study were just published in Integrative Medicine Research.
In short, in this small pilot study, we saw some positive benefits in measures of agitation at week 4, compared to the placebo. Whilst this does not offer conclusive evidence of widespread benefit, it is one of the first studies to explore an individualised topical volatile oil prescription. It indicates that it would be feasible to investigate the value of such individualised preparations in larger clinical trials, to determine whether or not such preparations may be of widespread value in helping dementia patients with their agitation.
You can read the full text here:
Leach, M. J., Sangalli, M., Breakspear, I., & Walsh, S. (2021). Essential Oils for Agitation in Dementia [rELOAD]: A Pragmatic, Cluster-Randomised, Placebo-Controlled, Pilot Feasibility Trial. Integrative Medicine Research, 10(4), 100747. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.imr.2021.100747