1. SUMMARY
The present work is a literature review that addresses aromatherapy and the use of essential oils in auxiliary treatment, mitigating the physical and emotional impacts caused by obesity. Obesity is a non-communicable disease that has been increasingly studied and discussed in contemporary times. This is due to the significant increase in its prevalence, which currently places it as a global public health problem. It is characterized as a chronic disease with multifactorial etiology, which involves both genetic and environmental aspects. The excessive accumulation of body fat in an individual results in a series of metabolic and psychological changes, which cause serious damage to health. The treatment of obesity is very complex and must involve a multidisciplinary approach, involving several health professionals. Concomitantly with treatments considered conventional, the use of aromatherapy and essential oils in the treatment of obesity has been significant, considering the history of aromatherapy and its development. The use of essential oils is an ancient technique, they have different indications and properties, being an adjunct in beauty centers in treatments for obesity. Therefore, the use of aromatherapy and essential oils help individuals maintain health when combined, especially with good eating habits and physical exercise. Through studies by experts in the field, it is concluded that their results are very positive in obese individuals. .
Key words: Aromatherapy, Volatile Oils, and Obesity.
two. INTRODUCTION
Aromatherapy is a branch of Phytotherapy that uses essential oils as the basis of its treatment. Its use can be considered alternative or complementary depending on its form of use, replacing conventional medicine or complementing allopathic treatment (GNATTA, 2011).
The term was created by the French chemist René Maurice Gatefossé in 1928, for him the word Aromatherapy meant therapy through the aromas of essential oils (LAVABRE, 1995; AMARAL ; BARROS, 2004).
According to Naha (2014), aromatherapy is a natural, non-invasive practice, applied not only to act on the symptom or disease, but also to maintain the natural balance of the organism as a whole, through the correct use of essential oils. This definition gives the sense of a holistic and therapeutic vision, which addresses the organism in its entirety, including the physical and mental part of the individual.
Aromatherapy was recognized as a treatment in 1960 and awakens and sharpens our olfactory sensitivity (GNATTA, 2011). The use of alternative and complementary practices for different purposes has gradually increased worldwide and nationally. Among the countless alternative techniques, aromatherapy stands out, as it is based on the prescription of essential oils extracted from aromatic plants for the purpose of maintaining and promoting health. Due to their volatility and low molecular weight, the oils are quickly eliminated from the body through metabolic pathways, thus reducing their side effects, differentiating them from allopathic medicines (BANDONI; CZEPAK, 2008).
Essential oils promote health and help in the treatment of various pathologies and can be administered dermally, olfactory or ingested (DOMINGOS, 2014).
The popularization of this therapy is related not only to its effectiveness and low cost, but also to the form of assistance that focuses on the individual as a whole (GNATTA,2011).
According to Haore (2010), aromatherapy has enhanced effects on the physiology and chemistry of the body, but the greatest effects are on mood and emotions.
The way an individual sees themselves influences all aspects of both work and personal life, the events they experience reflect on self-esteem and there are several components that interfere with this perception: feeling that they are competent, having self-worth, with the sum of trust and respect we achieve high self-esteem (FERREIRA, 2009).
Young people are the most vulnerable to the trends and influences caused by the changes that occur in the body. This group, which moves between the discovery of a new world and the biological transformation of the body, tends to get lost when the idealized image in the mind conflicts with the real (LUIZ, 2005).
According to the World Health Organization – WHO, there are around 213 billion overweight individuals worldwide, 124 million of whom are clinically obese. The number of obese people already corresponds to approximately 6.5% of the world population. The tendency is for this number to grow even more in the coming years (WHO, 2017).
It also says that obesity is characterized as a disease of several factors, complex, which results from a chronic complication, resulting from heredity, hormone problems, environmental and social factors, such as stress and eating habits. Regarding psychological aspects, this disease has been identified as one of the contributing factors to problems with self-esteem, social isolation, depression, among others (SLOCHOWER; KAPLAN, 1980).
It is extremely important to study and understand aromatherapy and obesity, as obesity is considered an epidemic that kills so many people around the world, thus justifying the proposed topic.
Therefore, through research in books, periodicals and scientific articles, the objective of this work was to show how aromatherapy and the use of essential oils can be beneficial for obese individuals, acting on many physical and mainly emotional changes arising from obesity, alleviating and collaborating with treatments in this context.
3. METHODOLOGY
The study carried out a bibliographical review using research on aromatherapy, obesity and self-esteem between the years 1995 and 2016. This research took place between the months of August and October 2017 and was based on books, articles, magazines and electronic websites, such as Scientific Electronic Library Online (ScieLO) and Google Scholar
4. LITERARY REVIEW
Since the beginning of civilization, man has found a means of survival in plants, both for food and clothing, as well as for defense and cure of illnesses that began to exist (CUNHA, 2012).
According to Lyra, man has been using aromatic plants since prehistoric times, however, he only began to develop knowledge about plants when he stopped being nomadic (LYRA, 2009).
In the past, aromatic herbs were used in cooking and medicine, there are reports that smoke was probably one of the oldest uses of aromatic plants, they acted in different ways on the body, causing hallucinations, stimulating the body and calming the individual (MALUF, 1997 ).
In the age of chipped stone, the extraction of fatty oils from vegetables by pressure began to be carried out, beginning to develop their knowledge of aromatherapy. However, the main countries considered pioneers of the benefits of aromatherapy were Egypt, China and India (LYRA, 2009).
Brito and collaborators (2013), mentioned that there is information that China was dedicated to the cultivation of medicinal plants, 3,000 BC, with Emperor Sheng-Nung, using a series of plants on his own body to find out the effect they had and , among so many, the one that stood out the most was the use of ginseng root, announcing that it was the most phenomenal of herbs and that it benefited longevity.
Maluf (1998) reported that writings evidence the use of aromatic substances in Chinese Medicine 4500 years ago, as well as in spiritual and medicinal rituals in Egypt and also during the Middle Ages to prevent infections and plagues.
In India, aromatherapy has been practiced since 6000 years ago and is still widely used today through Ayurvedic Medicine, which includes massages with aromatic oils (CUNHA; ROQUE, 2013; AIA, 2014). According to Cunha and Roque (2013), in ancient Egypt, essential oils were used in religious practices associated with the treatment of diseases and in 12 techniques for mummifying corpses, in an attempt to keep the home of their souls intact so that they could return to the body. . They were also used to perfume temples and as an offering to the gods. These practices spread to neighboring civilizations, such as Greece and Italy, which adopted some of these applications.
According to Avello and Suwalsky (2009), Hippocrates, a Greek known as the father of medicine, makes reference in his manuscripts to both aromatic substances and their use in massages, praising the role of the doctor in these practices. According to him, “the key to good health lies in taking an aromatic bath and a massage with essences a day”.
One of the major steps towards the evolution of the use of essential oils was the development of the technique for extracting them by distillation in Arab countries in the 10th century (AIA, 2014). Later, essential oils arrived in Europe by the hands of medieval Knights in the 12th century (CUNHA; ROQUE, 2013).
The 17th and 18th centuries were marked in the history of aromatherapy as a “golden age”, in that certain essential oils, such as wormwood, rosemary, nutmeg, garlic, camphor, were used as antiseptics against the plagues that haunted this period of history (CUNHA; ROQUE, 2013).
In the 18th century, essential oils became part of doctors’ therapeutic options along with other standard medicines. However, this golden age did not last long, as a result of the appearance of chemically synthesized medicines in the second half of this century. After this discovery, people began to prefer isolating the active principles of plants and producing similar chemical substances to the detriment of using these natural compounds (CUNHA; ROQUE, 2013).
Despite already having centuries of history, the term “Aromatherapy” was only used in 1920 by the French chemist Maurice René de Gattefossé, driven by a personal experience, as he had an accident in his perfume laboratory when he burned his arm and, in an attempt Before putting out the fire, he dipped his arm into a barrel of liquid that was nearby containing NOx Ph232, popularly known as lavender oil (BRITO et al., 2013).
Pain relief quickly occurred without signs and symptoms usually detected in burns, such as redness, heat, inflammation, blisters and scars, and the burn healed. After his surprising discovery, the French chemist dedicated himself to studying the properties of various oils in hospitalized soldiers (BRITO et al., 2013).
According to Tisserand (1995), this result of Gattefossé’s experience inspired Dr. Jean Valnel, a French army surgeon during the Second World War, who used essential oils of thyme, lemon, chamomile and clove to heal soldiers injured in combat. Years later, he tried a new approach to the potential of essential oils in a psychiatric hospital, where he also obtained excellent results.
Brito and collaborators (2013),…