Rosa Damascena oil: An adjunctive therapy for pediatric refractory seizures

Several investigations have demonstrated that Rosa damascena has an inhibitory effect on the hypothalamus and on pituitary system reactivity in the rat; it ahs also been shown that the essential oil of Rosa damascena has significant antiepileptic effects on pentylentetrazole (PTZ) induced seizures in rats. We aimed at assessing the effects of the essential oil of Rosa damascena when used as an adjunct treatment to treat children with refractory seizures In this double-blind clinical trial, conducted as a pilot study between April 2004 and March 2005, we administered essential oil of Rosa damascena to sixteen children with refractory epilepsy as an adjunct therapy, and evaluated its effects. 16 patients, age range 3-13 years, were enrolled; 56.3% (n=9) girls and 43.8% (n=7) boys. All has been under treatment for 3-6 weeks (baseline phase). They received either the essential oil or placebo for a period of 4 weeks and in between these periods, they took only their pre-existing antiepileptic drugs for two weeks (washout phase). The mean frequency of seizures in those using essential oil, showed significant decrease as compared to the controls using placeboes (p=0.00). It can be concluded that the essential oil of Rosa Damascena has beneficial antiepileptic effect in children with refractory seizures.