What methods don't work to reduce stress

Clinical studies have convinced many medical experts on stress that some techniques do reduce stress, and other techniques -- such as yoga, massage and helping others -- probably work, as well, they surmise. Yoga, for example, emphasizes breathing, massage activates the relaxing properties of the parasympathetic nervous system, and helping others gets people's minds off their troubles and lifts mood. But researchers don't have enough data to be sure.

They are fairly confident, however, about what doesn't work.

DON'T COUNT ON AROMATHERAPY

Though inhaling pleasant scents may seem like a welcome relief, it probably won't do much else for you.

In a study she conducted earlier this year, Ohio State's Janice Kiecolt-Glaser and her colleagues tested the effects of two much-touted scents -- lemon and lavender -- and found that neither seemed to enhance the immune system response. The researchers tracked participants' heart rates, blood pressure, stress hormone levels and immune responses, and found no improvement in any when people inhaled these scents. Nor did the compounds mitigate pain or stress. The study involved 56 healthy men and women who were pre-screened to confirm their ability to detect certain odors. In some cases, even distilled water showed a more positive effect than lavender.

The study, published in the online journal Psychoneuroendocrinology, looked for evidence that such aromas go beyond increasing pleasure and actually have a positive medical effect on a person's health.

People often confuse a brief happy feeling with lower stress, Kiecolt-Glaser said. "The brief positive effect of a pleasant scent or a happy movie can actually stimulate stress hormones. More important, briefly activated good feelings do not evoke lower stress responses and do not contribute to long-term positive moods."

"While a massive commercial industry has embraced this notion," Kiecolt-Glaser and her research team concluded, "little, if any, scientific proof has been offered supporting these health claims."

DRINKING WON'T HELP

That's a loser for many reasons. A little social drinking can be relaxing, but consuming much more than one alcoholic drink a day depresses the cellular arm of the immune system, triggers inflammation and contributes to poor sleep. Drinking also causes many people to become hostile or detached in relationships, which leads to feelings of social isolation.

-- Marnell Jameson