Posted on 01/05/2008 6:11:15 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Wearing too much perfume 'signals depression'
By Rebecca Smith, Medical Editor
Last Updated: 3:29pm GMT 04/01/2008
Women who wear too much perfume may be suffering from depression, scientists have said.
The sense of smell appears to be impaired in people with the condition meaning they use more scent.
Smell is already known to have a profound effect on mood and memory with shops and retailers using aromas to induce shoppers to buy certain products.
But a team at Tel Aviv University have found that certain diseases cause the body to attack the olfactory system which governs the ability to detect smells.
This means an impaired sense of smell could be a pointer to serious conditions.
The team suggest depression could have a biological cause rather than being just a psychological disorder and other studies have confirmed patients with depression have a loss of sense of smell and when their condition is treated their senses improve.
Prof Yehuda Shoenfeld, a member of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University is an expert in autoimmune disorders such as arthritis, lupus and rheumatism where the body attacks its own cells.
He found that one of the autoantibodies attacked the olfactory system weakening the sense of smell and inducing depression.
"Our scientific findings suggest that women who are depressed are also losing their sense of smell, and may overcompensate by using more perfume.
"We also believe that depression has biological roots and may be an immune system response to certain physiological cues," he said.
The findings can be applied more widely than just to patients suffering with autoimmune disorders, Prof Shoenfeld said.
"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 suggested that a "smell test" could be used by doctors to help diagnose depression as well as autoimmune diseases.
Other studies have questioned if depression is a result of a reduced ability to smell rather than the other way around as the condition is also linked to weight loss as people lose their appetite.
Scientists have also used electrodes to establish that the brains of people with depression are less responsive to smells and picked up scents later and at stronger concentrations.
Same here! Yuch. Yuch. Yuch again.
I make potpourri and I can deal with that. Apple peels, orange peels and cinnamon sticks. If I use it as a boiling mix, I add a little vanilla.
I’m careful, too, esp about smelly things. Once I find a shampoo, etc that doesn’t bother me, I stick with it.
Some candles don’t bother me, but again, I have to be careful.
My youngest son uses Old Spice body wash. Nasty!
I love the older guys—is it Bay rum? That smells yummy!
Whoa! Then that woman who got on the elevator two weeks ago in the hotel in Atlanta should be on a suicide watch.
What is strange is things that I really like the smell of, will choke me. So its not a matter of things smelling good or bad to me, it is strong or faint.
A friend of mine grows is own grapes and makes his own wine. He wanted to show me the room where he does it all and after about 3 minutes in there I was gasping for breath but the smell was wonderful.
Love the smell of unleaded gas—memories of my father’s old massey-ferguson tractor. Talk about not good for you!
I think it’s how our bodies perceive smells. I work in a garden center. Most of the chemicals don’t bother me. You’d be surprised at the people who come in and complain about the chemical smell—they’re usually the ones wearing the most perfume! Go figure!
I’d be willing to bet that 90% of those kids drenched in Axe or whatever knock-off they’re soaking themselves in didn’t read the can so they don’t know that 1) its primary function is being a deodorant, NOT cologne and 2) therefore it should be sprayed on skin, specifically underarms, and NOT clothing. If you follow the directions, it works just fine as a deodorant and you still don’t smell like cheap cologney stuff.
LOL, I remember a guy in my dorm who used the ‘hug test’ to determine the proper amount of cologne to use. His theory was that a girl shouldn’t be able to smell a guy’s cologne unless she’s close enough to hug him - and I fully agree.
My theory is that the use of cologne and perfume, to the degree that it is overwhelming or noticeable, is a subliminal signal to others not to trust oneself, that one is using it to cover up something. It may be why freshly washed dogs go out and roll in crap and decaying stuff to hide their own scent.
I always wore perfume because it’s a hangover from when I was a student in the 70’s. I loved to go into the girls room and fix my hair and put on some perfume. It intimidated the hell out of the mother earth types there. All the hippie losers didn’t wear perfume... actually, they didn’t bathe, wear deodorant, wash their clothes, wear cosmetics or comb their hair either. One of those girls actually had BLACK elbows! They hated anyone who was into the girlie feminine stuff. Now of course, they are all voting Dem. Some things never change.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.