This preliminary investigation compares peripheral blood cell counts including red blood cells (RBCs), white blood cells (WBCs), neutrophils, peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs), CD4+, CD8+ and CD16+ lymphocytes, CD4+/CD8+ ratio, hematocrit, humoral parameters including serum interferon-γ and interleukin-6, salivary secretory immunoglobulin A (IgA). Psychological measures including the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) questionnaire and the Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) between recipients (n = 11) of carrier oil massage and aromatherapy massage, which includes sweet almond oil, lavender oil, cypress oil and sweet marjoram oil. Though both STAI and SDS showed a significant reduction (P < 0.01) after treatment with aromatherapy and carrier massage, no difference between the aromatherapy and control massage was observed for STAI and SDS. Aromatherapy, in contrast to control massage, did not significantly reduce RBC count or hematocrit. However, aromatherapy massage showed a significant (P > 0.05) increase in PBLs, possibly due to an increase in CD8+ and CD16+ lymphocytes, which had significantly increased post-treatment (P < 0.01). Consequently, the CD4+/CD8+ ratio decreased significantly (P < 0.01). The paucity of such differences after carrier oil massage suggests that aromatherapy massage could be beneficial in disease states that require augmentation of CD8+ lymphocytes. While this study identifies the immunological benefits of aromatherapy massage, there is a need to validate the findings prospectively in a larger cohort of patients.

The prevalence of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) was measured in 424 Japanese students using a Japanese version of the Maudsley Obsession-Compulsive Inventory (MOCI-J). Six students (1.7%) of 350 interviewed students were diagnosed as OCD according to DSM-III-R. When the cut-off point of the MOCI-J was 12, the sensitivity was 100% and the specificity was 96%. Our results suggest that individuals with OCD are not rare among the young Japanese population and that the MOCI-J is a useful tool for screening OCD.

Japan. Detailed explanations of the project were given to each patient and all patients signed informed consent forms prior to participating.This study was carried out in five patients aged 31-59 years, with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV classification of 296.21 Major Depressive Disiorder, Single Episode, Mild (not including psychotic features). One of these patients was male. None of the patients used antidepressants or received psychotherapy. Each received a 30-min aromatherapy massage using essential oils of sweet orange, geranium and basil twice per week for 4 weeks. To examine response to the therapy, patients were submitted to the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM) and Profile of Mood States (POMS) 1 week before the first session and 1 week after the last session. Cognitive function was evaluated using the Wisconsin card sorting test (WCST). Effects of aromatherapy massage were mutually examined using Wilcoxon mached pairs signed test.Our results were as follows. All data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation (SD) and were analyzed with Wilcoxon matched pairs signed test.HAM score and the confusion-bewilderment (C-B) score, which is one of the subscales of POMS, were significantly improved from 14.8 ± 2.39 to 8.8 ± 3.63 ( P = 0.039) and 62.2 ± 13.07 to 51.6 ± 8.05 ( P = 0.043), respectively. These results suggest a subjective and objective improvement in depressive states. Especially, C-B indicates subjective disturbances in cognition and thought.Number of errors, perseverative errors and perseverative responses of WCST significantly decreased from 24.4 ± 3.97 to 17.2 ± 3.19 ( P = 0.042), 15.6 ± 5.03 to 10.2 ± 2.17 ( P = 0.043) and 16.8 ± 5.81 to 10.4 ± 2.51 ( P = 0.042), respectively. These results indicate that improvement in prefrontal dysfunction, because WCST assesses rule conceptualization and modification of strategies for responses to verbal feedback and is particularly sensitive to damage in the prefrontal cortex. Because of the 4-week interval, improvement on WCST scores might be due to a learning effect. There was a previous study in which WCST was administered before and 21 days after treatment for major depressive patients who used antidepressants.1 The previous study reported that WCST scores were not improved. It would be possible that the improvement in WCST scores does not always depend on the interval between the first and second administration of WCST.Most types of depression are related to frontal lobe hypometabolism and low perfusion. A recent study reported that fragrance stimulation brought more blood flow to the prefrontal cortex.2 Komori et al . reported the effects of citrus fragrances on depressive states.3 Taking the results of these previous studies together with the findings, it is conjectured that aromatherapy massage improves depressive states by increasing blood flow to the prefrontal cortex.Aromatherapy massage may be useful as a complementary therapy for depression.

The Body Attitude Test (BAT) was developed by Probst et al . (1995) for female patients with eating disorders (ED). This test measures the subjective body experience and attitudes toward one's body. The present authors have developed the Japanese version of the BAT and the purpose of the present paper was to investigate its reliability and validity in control (CON, n = 599) and ED patients ( n = 46). The ED patients consisted of 21 anorexia nervosa, restricting type (AN-R) patients and 25 bulimia nervosa (BN) patients. Internal consistency was determined with Cronbach's a coefficient in CON. Factor analysis was conducted on BAT ratings given by CON. Factor analysis indicated that BAT was composed of two factors. These were body dissatisfaction (factor 1) and lack of familiarity with one's body (factor 2). A comparison was made among AN-R, BN, and CON. Bulimia nervosa had a significantly higher score than the other two groups. The BAT scores of ED patients correlated significantly with the Self -rating Depression Scale, and StateTrait Anxiety Inventory. These results show that ED patients have negative feelings toward their own body, similar to the findings in the original report. On factor analysis, however, it was not possible to distinguish between negative appreciation of body size and general body dissatisfaction as described in the original report. The authors also examine influences on this difference from a cross-cultural view point.

This is a report on six psychiatric patients who indulged in excessive ingestion of water and subsequently developed tonic‐clonic seizures in the course of the underlying mental disorders. On the basis of the DSM‐III criteria, they were diagnosed as follows: schizophrenic disorder, 4; schizoaffective disorder, 1; borderline personality disorder, 1. The levels of serum electrolytes were estimated during five episodes of seizures in three patients. Hyponatremia was a consistent finding (serum sodium: mean = 120.6 mEq/liter). Plasma osmolality and plasma levels of arginine vasopressin (AVP) were determined during two episodes in two patients. The inappropriately high circulating levels of AVP relative to plasma hypoosmolality were documented. However, the response to the overnight fluid deprivation and acute water load during the period of no seizures in two patients revealed no evidence of the persistent SIADH, suggesting the temporal association of hyponatremic encephalopathy with inappropriate AVP secretion. It is not conclusive whether the transient SIADH is the cause or the consequence of hyponatremic encephalopathy, although a delusion or an auditory hallucination could play a critical role in drinking water excessively in three patients.