סטמה - קצרת Too nice to be true?? Smelling Citrus Oils Prevents Asthma in Rats................Cheap, non dangerous treatment.....worth trying even if you don’t like Darwin.

אסטמה -  קצרת    Too nice to be true??  Smelling Citrus Oils Prevents Asthma in Rats................Cheap, non dangerous treatment.....worth trying even if you don’t like Darwin.

Smelling Citrus Oils Prevents Asthma in Rats

 Keith Winkler - 22 Dec 2004 02:24 GMT

Smelling Citrus Oils Prevents Asthma in Rats

Tue Dec 21,11:20 AM ET Health - Reuters

By Alison McCook

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A key ingredient in the aroma from citrus fruits 

such as oranges and lemons appears to protect rats from the symptoms of 

asthma, new research shows.

Study author Dr. Ehud Keinan explained that the citrus ingredient is called 

limonene, and it likely protects against asthma by "burning" inhaled ozone, 

which can increase inflammation in the lungs.

Other scents - such as those emitted from pine trees, geraniums and roses - 

contain similar ingredients to limonene, Keinan said, which may help explain 

why asthma is much more common in urban areas that lack vegetation.

"In rural populations, people are very much exposed to these compounds," he 

said.

The researcher, who is based at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology 

in Israel, told Reuters Health that squeezing an orange peel releases liquid 

that contains a high concentration of limonene. He said he has heard stories 

of people who say they experienced relief from asthma and other lung 

diseases after spending time around limonene.

He added that he and his colleagues, who report their current findings in 

the journal Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry, are currently investigating 

how limonene and similar substances may help alleviate asthma in humans.

A growing body of research suggests that ozone, which is a key component of 

air pollution, can encourage changes in the body that result in persistent 

inflammation in the airways.

Limonene helps rid the body of ozone because it reacts with ozone, muting 

its toxic effects, Keinan explained.

To investigate whether limonene could protect lungs from asthma, Keinan and 

his team induced the symptoms of asthma in rats, them let them smell 

limonene or eucalyptol, the key ingredient in the odor of eucalyptus, which 

does not react with ozone.

The researchers checked the rats for asthma symptoms repeatedly over a 

period of 20 hours to five days. They found that only rats exposed to 

limonene "didn't show any symptoms of the disease," Keinan said.

These results suggest that inhaling limonene may protect people from 

developing asthma, or alleviate symptoms in those already diagnosed, he 

noted.

SOURCE: Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry, December 8, 2004.