Characteristics of the Pharmacological Regulation of Functional States in Elderly Adults
PDF Russian
HTML (Russian)

Keywords

elderly adults
functional state
pharmacological regulation
essential oil
aromatherapy
relaxation psychotherapy
catnip oil
subjective well-being
anxiety
depression

Abstract

Introduction. This paper reports a study of characteristics of pharmacological regulation of functional states in elderly adults by means of psycho-relaxation and aromatherapy sessions of various durations with the use of catnip oil. The assessment of functional states was carried out through the analysis of the main parameters of cardiovascular system and subjective estimates of respondents’ health, activity, and mood. This is the first study on the pharmacological effects of catnip essential oil on elderly adults’ functional states, depending on the diffusion duration (10, 20, and 30 minutes), monitored by psycho-relaxation recording.

Methods. The study used the following techniques: (a) recording of cardiovascular parameters (systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, pulse pressure, heart rate, minute blood volume, heart stroke volume, cardiac index, blood circulation index); (b) the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS); (c) the Technique for Measuring the Speed of Thought; (d) the Proofreading Test (modified version); (e) Ivanov-Smolensky proofreading tables; and (f) self-assessment diagnostic technique by Dembo-Rubinstein (modified by A. M. Prikhozhan).

The study participants were 324 adults aged 50–90 years, including 94 hypertensive respondents who were registered at social services centers for elderly and disabled citizens in Yalta and Simferopol (the Republic of Crimea).

Results. The study results show that a 10- or 20-minute non-invasive pharmacological exposure to aromatherapy with the use of catnip oil can positively affect psychophysiological and psychoemotional states and mental working capacity in elderly adults.

Discussion. The data obtained indicate that aroma-relaxation treatment with the use of catnip essential oil positively affects functional states in elderly adults, reduces anxiety symptoms, and decreases pulse and systolic blood pressure.

Highlights

  • Pharmacological exposure to catnip essential oil (EO) combined with the psycho-relaxation and aromatherapy treatment can positively affect psychophysiological and psychoemotional states and mental working capacity in elderly adults.
  • Inhaling catnip essential oil (1 mg/m3) for 10 and 20 minutes reduces situational anxiety. A 30-minute aromatherapy session with the use of catnip essential oil increases the speed of thought. Inhaling catnip essential oil for 10, 20, and 30 minutes increases mental working capacity and subjective self-rating of the overall respondents’ condition, health, mood, vitality, and attention.
  • Aroma-relaxation treatment with catnip essential oil has a pronounced impact on basic parameters of cardiovascular system in hypertensive elderly adults.
https://doi.org/10.21702/rpj.2018.2.2
PDF Russian
HTML (Russian)

References

Kirillova A. V., Panova S. A., Lesova L. D. Comparative assessment of the effect of essential oils on the psychophysiological status of the human. Uchenye zapiski Tavricheskogo natsional'nogo universiteta im. V. I. Vernadskogo. Seriya “Biologiya, khimiya” – Scientific Notes of V. I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University. Series Biology and Chemistry, 2011, V. 24 (63), no. 2, pp. 150–156 (in Russian).

Boroda T. V., Tonkovtseva V. V., Serobaba L. A., Seredina O. S., Borisova E. V., Maksimova I. N., Ovcharenko Yu. P., Sushchenko L. G., Derzhavitskaya N. I., Strashko I. Yu., Gritskevich O. I., Kulik N. I., Samotkovskaya T. A., Yarosh A. M. Impact of various concentrations of Virginia cedarwood essential oil on the psychoemotional state, mental working capacity, and memory of the person. Byulleten' Gosudarstvennogo Nikitskogo botanicheskogo sada – Bulletin of the State Nikitsky Botanical Gardens, 2015, no. 114, pp. 44–48 (in Russian).

Aidarkin E. K. A functional state: Physiological mechanisms. Chelovecheskii faktor: problemy psikhologii i ergonomiki – Human Factors: Problems of Psychology and Ergonomics, 2013, no. 4 (67), pp. 58–62 (in Russian).

Aidarkin E. K., Kundup'yan O. L., Kundup'yan Yu. L. The method of aromacorrection of human functional states during cognitive activities. Chelovecheskii faktor: problemy psikhologii i ergonomiki – Human Factors: Problems of Psychology and Ergonomics, 2014, no. 1 (68), pp. 43–48 (in Russian).

Aidarkin E. K., Kundup'yan O. L., Kundup'yan Yu. L., Arkhinya A. P., Bibov M. Yu. Psychophysiological indicators of complex cognitive activities in the absence or presence of rosemary. Valeologiya – Journal of Health and Life Sciences, 2014, no. 1, pp. 5–14 (in Russian).

Razumnikova O. M., Vol'f N. V. Aging-induced reorganization of association between intelligence and characteristics of attention and memory. Zhurnal vysshei nervnoi deyatel'nosti im. I. P. Pavlova – I. P. Pavlov Journal of Higher Nervous Activity, 2017, V. 67, no. 1, pp. 55–67 (in Russian).

Kennedy D. O., Little W., Haskell C. F., Scholey A. B. Anxiolytic effects of a combination of Melissa officinalis and Valeriana officinalis during laboratory induced stress. Phytotherapy Research, 2006, V. 20, Issue 2, pp. 96–102. DOI: 10.1002/ptr.1787

Libus' O. K., Rabotyagov V. D., Kut'ko S. P., Khlypenko L. A. Efiromaslichnye i pryano-aromaticheskie rasteniya [Aromatic and spicy-aromatic plants]. Kherson, Ailant Publ., 2004. 272 p.

Kapelev O. I. Anti-microbial and anti-bacterial properties of lemon catnip. In: Osnovnye napravleniya nauchnykh issledovanii po intensifikatsii efiromaslichnogo proizvodstva. Ch. 2. [The main directions of scientific research on the intensification of essential oil production: Part 2]. Simferopol, 1985, pp. 74–75.

Tonkovtseva V. V., Yarosh A. M. Impact of a course exposure to catnip essential oil on the human nervous system. Tavricheskiy Mediko-Biologicheskiy Vestnik, 2012, V. 15, no. 1 (57), pp. 321–327 (in Russian).

Tonkovtseva V. V., Yarosh A. M. Impact of a course of aromatherapy with the essential oils of lavender and catnip on human psycoemotional state, mental working capacity, and neuromotor processes during resort recreation. Sbornik nauchnykh trudov GNBS – Works of the State Nikitsky Botanical Gardens, 2015, V. 141, pp. 65–78 (in Russian).

Tonkovtseva V. V., Bekmambetov T. R., Bakova N. N., Yarosh A. M. Impact of the inhalation of a low concentration of catnip essential on elderly adults’ psychophysiological state. Byulleten' Gosudarstvennogo Nikitskogo botanicheskogo sada – Bulletin of the State Nikitsky Botanical Gardens, 2015, V. 116, pp. 73–76 (in Russian).

Zigmond A. S., Snaith R. P. The hospital anxiety and depression scale. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 1983, V. 67, Issue 6, pp. 361–370.

Cheremiskina I. I. Methodical guidance for practical training in the ‘Special practical work on psychology’ course: Techniques for diagnosing thinking attributes. Vladivostok, Institute of Advanced Training, Admiral Nevelskoy Maritime State University Publ., 2007. 51 p. Available at: http://msun.ru/upload/folders/edu_lit/kaf/phsihology/030.pdf (Accessed 25 May 2018).

Yan'shin P. V. Klinicheskaya psikhodiagnostika lichnosti [Clinical psychodiagnostics of personality]. St. Petersburg, Rech' Publ., 2007. 320 p.

Raigorodskii D. Ya. Prakticheskaya psikhodiagnostika. Metodiki i testy [Practical psychodiagnostics: Techniques and tests]. Samara, Bakhrakh-M Publ., 2001. 672 p.

The sixth report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure. Archives of Internal Medicine, 1997, V. 157, Issue 21, pp. 2413–2446. DOI: 10.1001/archinte.1997.00440420033005

Oshevenskii L. V., Krylova E. V., Ulanova E. A. Izuchenie sostoyaniya zdorov'ya cheloveka po funktsional'nym pokazatelyam organizma [Studying health by functional parameters of human organism]. Nizhny Novgorod Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod Publ., 2007. 67 p.

AnalystSoft Inc. A friendly statistics package for PC. [Online]. Available at: www.analystsoft.com/ru (Accessed 25 May 2018).

Pérez-García A. M., Oliván S., Bover R. Subjective well-being in heart failure patients: Influence of coping and depressive symptoms. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 2014, V. 21, Issue 2, pp. 258–265. DOI: 10.1007/s12529-013-9311-4

Bernardi M. M., Kirsten T. B., Salzgeber S. A., Ricci E. L., Romoff P., Guilardi Lago J. H., & Lourenço L. M. Antidepressant-like effects of an apolar extract and chow enriched with Nepeta cataria (catnip) in mice. Psychology & Neuroscience, 2010, V. 3, Issue 2, pp. 251–258. DOI: 10.3922/j.psns.2010.2.015

Mamedov N., Mamadalieva N. Medicinal plants from countries of former USSR used for treatment of depression. In: C. Grosso (ed.) Herbal Medicine in Depression. Springer, Cham, 2016, pp. 183–258. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-14021-6_6

Galati E. M., Miceli N., Galluzzo M., Taviano M. F. & Tzakou O. Neuropharmacological effects of epinepetalactone from nepeta sibthorpii behavioral and anticonvulsant activity. Pharmaceutical Biology, 2004, V. 42, Issue 6, pp. 391–395. DOI: 10.1080/13880200490885059

Frazer C. J., Christensen H., Griffiths K. M. Effectiveness of treatments for depression in older people. The Medical Journal of Australia, 2005, V. 182, Issue 12, pp. 627–632.

Pauli L., Daseking M., Petermann F., Stemmler M. Zusammenhänge zwischen den kognitiven Leistungen in einem Demenzscreening (SKT) und in einem Intelligenztest (WAIS-IV). Welche kognitiven Leistungseinbußen im Alter sprechen für einen möglichen pathologischen Abbauprozess? Zeitschrift für Gerontologie und Geriatrie, 2017, V. 51, Issue 3, pp. 266–274. DOI: 10.1007/s00391-017-1263-x

Ybarra O., Burnstein E., Winkielman P., et al. Mental exercising through simple socializing: Social interaction promotes general cognitive functioning. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2008, V. 34, Issue 2, pp. 248–259. DOI: 10.1177/0146167207310454

Ermakov P. N., Vorob'eva E. V., Kaidanovskaya I. A., Strel'nikova E. O. Model of the mental and the development of thinking in preschool children. Eksperimental'naya psikhologiya – Experimental Psychology, 2016, V. 9, no. 3, pp. 72–80 (in Russian). DOI: 10.17759/exppsy.2016090306

Nazlidou E.-I., Moraitou D. Theory of mind in aging: A critical presentation of contradictory findings and divergent views. Hellenic Journal of Psychology, 2016, V. 13, Issue 3, pp. 116–146 (in Greek).

Sergienko E. A., Melekhin A. I. Model of the mental: Heterogeneity of changes in the old and very old age. Chelovek. Soobshchestvo. Upravlenie – Human. Community. Management, 2016, V. 17, no. 1, pp. 26–41 (in Russian).

Palii A. E., Palii I. N., Marko N. V., Rabotyagov V. D. Biologically active substances: Nepeta Cataria L. Byulleten' Gosudarstvennogo Nikitskogo botanicheskogo sada – Bulletin of the State Nikitsky Botanical Gardens, 2016, no. 118, pp. 37–44 (in Russian).

Tisserand R., Young R. Essential oil safety: A guide for health care professionals: 2nd edition. Churchil Livingstone Elsevier, 2014. 784 p. DOI: 10.1016/C2009-0-52351-3

Vorob'eva E. V., Sheiko S. O., Ermakov P. N. Motivatsionnye osobennosti studentov-psikhologov kak sostavlyayushchie ikh funktsional'nogo sostoyaniya [Motivational characteristics of psychology students as components of their functional states]. Materialy II-oi Vserossiiskoi nauchnoi konferentsii Psikhologiya psikhicheskikh sostoyanii: aktual'nye teoreticheskie i prikladnye problemy [Proc. the 2nd All-Russian Scientific Conference “Psychology of mental states: Urgent theoretical and applied problems”]. Kazan, Otechestvo Publ., 2013, pp. 141–146.