Lavender Oil Aroma Aids Sleep of Elderly, British Doctor Says

Monitoring four older people, a British physician has found that they slept longer and better when the odor of lavender oil filled their bedrooms. In fact, the doctor says in a letter to the British medical journal Lancet that the nursing home residents slept as well under the influence of sweet-smelling lavender as they had previously on tranquilizers. Lavender oil has long been thought to have a calming effect, but its slumber-inducing ability has not been studied directly. The physician’s prescription: more research into aroma therapy for insomnia.