Dear Lacemakers, I apologise for taking this liberty, but with the current enthusiasm for lavender, I thought I'd better re-post this article about the hidden dangers of lavender!
Yours sincerely, Linda Walton, (in HIgh Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, U.K., where it's just a bit cooler, Thank Heavens). ----- Original Message ----- From: "Linda Walton" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Lace Chat" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, February 12, 2003 10:20 AM Subject: Re: [lace-chat] Memory: Lavender and Rosemary > > > NEWS STORY > Shakespeare right about rosemary > Researchers claim its scent improves long-term memory > > Richard Starnes > Edmonton Journal > > > Thursday, March 21, 2002 > > A whiff of rosemary improves long-term memory, while > lavender acts like a sedative. > > A team of psychologists has proved what many have known > all along: the herb rosemary can improve your memory. Lavender, on the other > hand, makes it worse. > > After wafting scent from essential oils from the two herbs > in front of volunteers, a team of psychologists from Northumbria University > in Northern England found that rosemary increases alertness and long-term > memory by about 15 per cent, while lavender acts like a sedative, slowing > the brain and impairing some types of memory. > > Dr. Mark Moss says he conducted the study because the > benefits, or otherwise, of herbs have received very little scientific > assessment, being left mostly to alternative practitioners. > > Moss and his colleagues put 132 volunteers into individual > booths. One third carried out a standard series of attention and memory > tests in booths sprayed with rosemary, one third with booths sprayed with > lavender and one third with no fragrances. > > The volunteers were asked to memorize 15 words and then > recall them immediately and again after 30 minutes. They were told they were > mood tests. Rosemary had no effect on working memory, but improved the > long-term memory by 15 per cent. > > Lavender slowed reaction and impaired working memory. > > Moss told the annual meeting of the British Psychological > Society that molecules from essential oils can be absorbed into the > bloodstream through the nose. > > He also explained that the chemicals also stimulate a > nerve in the nose that could affect functioning of the brain. > > The ancient Egyptians knew it. Shakespeare knew it. Now a > team of psychologists have proved it. The herb rosemary can improve your > memory. > > The Rosemary results would have pleased Shakespeare, who > referred to it in Hamlet when Ophelia declared: "There's rosemary, that's > for remembrance: pray, love, remember." > > It was used regularly in wedding and funeral rituals in > ancient Egypt and a 1500s herbal book called Banke's advised readers to > "smell it oft and it shall keep thee youngly." > > © Copyright 2002 Edmonton Journal > > So there you are. Personally, I've never used lavender for anything since I > read that its main application in the past was to damp down the sexual urges > of older women. > And I don't believe its scent repels moths from clothing either. > To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
