Jan 07: The word perfume reminds us of pleasant smell but scientists from Sackler Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University have found an interesting link between a woman's depression and her excessive use of perfume.
The study published in the January edition of Arthritis and Rheumatism says that women's in depression use more perfume because of loss of their olfactory sense.
“Our scientific findings suggest that women who are depressed are also losing their sense of smell, and may overcompensate by using more perfume,� explains Professor Yehuda Shoenfeld, a member of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University . “We also believe that depression has biological roots and may be an immune system response to certain physiological cues.�
Giving an account of other symptoms associated with depression he said that women who are depressed are also more likely to loss weight as with reduced sense smell they are more likely to loss the appetite.
"This means an impaired sense of smell could be a pointer to other serious conditions," he added.
The team led by Professor also tried to find links between depression and autoimmune conditions such as lupus, arthritis and rheumatism before reaching to the conclusion.
They found that one of the autoantibodies attacked the olfactory system weakening the sense of smell and inducing depression.
Professor Yehuda suggested aromatherapy to treat depression “People who are depressed seem to respond well to aromatherapy. Certain smells seem to help them overcome the effects of the biological factors, suggesting that depression may have a biological cause.�
“I think that science is able to show that aromatherapy might not be just for quacks. After all, some of these remedies have been used since the time of the Egyptians to treat organic diseases,� he added.
This study will bring a new insight into the treatment of depression with lessening smell sense.
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