The objective of this study is to determine the effects of 12 weeks of lavender aromatherapy on self-reported sleep and heart rate variability (HRV) in the midlife women with insomnia. Sixty-seven women aged 45–55 years, with a CPSQI (Chinese version of Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index) greater than 5, were recruited from communities in Taiwan. The experimental group (n=34) received lavender inhalation, 20 min each time, twice per week, for 12 weeks, with a total of 24 times. The control group (n=33) received health education program for sleep hygiene with no intervention. The study of HRV was analyzed by time- and frequency-domain methods. Significant decrease in mean heart rate (HR) and increases in SDNN (standard deviation of the normal-to-normal (NN) intervals), RMSDD (squa...

MedWorm Sponsor Message: Find out how you can get your message posted here and on over 100,000 other medical web pages in just a couple of days, plus support MedWorm at the same time.

More...