The Effect of Eucalyptol on Nursing Home Residents

Eucalyptol is one of the most popular volatile components used in many essential oils for relieving sinus and lung congestion caused by variety of conditions. This pilot study aims to analyze clinical evidence of the effect of the scent of eucalyptol on dementia patients to answer two questions: 1) whether eucalyptol aroma is an effectiveness at reducing the symptoms of dementia, and 2) if so, how it mitigates those symptoms. 27 nursing-home residents with dementia were recruited to assess the efficacy of the scent of eucalyptol. Two one-week experiments were performed: the scent was diffused only at wake-up time in the first experiment and at wake-up time and bedtime in the second experiment. Results showed MMSE, DBD, CMAI scores slightly improved in the first experiment and significantly improved in the second experiment even though no subject reported perceiving the scent in either experiment. The present results indicate that eucalyptol is effective in mitigating dementia symptoms in an elder population with an impaired sense of smell.