Aromatherapy in Cancer Patients Receiving Palliative Care

Palliative care is a specialty that aims to prevent and reduce the distress of patients and their families who encounter life-threatening diseases. Especially, it aims to eliminate the problems caused by the cancer itself or the treatment methods. Patients diagnosed as having cancer experience many problems such as nausea, vomiting, anxiety, depression and sleep disturbance due to the disease and its treatment. Patients can search for complementary treatment methods such as aromatherapy in order to reduce or eliminate these symptoms and increase their well-being and quality of life. Aromatherapy is defined as the use of essential oils obtained from plants for therapeutic purposes. Essential oils used in aromatherapy are applied in the form of massage, bath or inhalation. In this review, the use of aromatherapy in the treatment of common symptoms in cancer patients receiving palliative care will be discussed.