Smelling stinky armpits may reduce social anxiety: Study

Got social anxiety? Well, according to some Swedish researchers, smelling other people's body odour could be an effective anxiety therapy for you. Scientists have been using armpit sweat in their experiments and they have reportedly found that social anxiety can be reduced with the help of human "chemo-signals". The study was done by researchers from Karolinska Institute in Sweden.

The study says that exposure to human stink reduces social anxiety by nearly 40 per cent when clubbed with mindfulness therapy.According to a BBC report, they are presenting some of their early findings at a medical conference in Paris this week.

The researchers believe that smell activates brain pathways linked to emotions, which eventually offersa calming effect. But the study is in its initial stage and it is far too soon to say if they are right or wrong.

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For the study, the researchers asked volunteers to donate theirarmpit sweat while watching either a scary or a happy movie. Then they looked for48 women who had social anxiety and asked them to sniff some of these samples, alongside receiving a more conventional therapy called mindfulness, which encourages people to focus on the present moment than replaying negative thoughts.

Some of the women were given genuine body odour to sniff, while others were given clean air instead. Scientists say that those who were exposed to sweat appeared to do better with mindfulness therapy.

Lead researcher of the study, Elisa Vigna, says, "Sweat produced while someone was happy had the same effect as someone who had been scared by a movie clip. So there may be something about human chemo-signals in sweat generally which affects the response to treatment."

Vigna added, "It may be that simply being exposed to the presence of someone else has this effect, but we need to confirm this. In fact, that is what we are testing now in a follow-up study with a similar design, but where we are also including sweat from individuals watching emotionally neutral documentaries."

Smell helps humans sense danger. It also makes meals tastier and evokes strong memories too. Aromas, detected by receptors in the upper part of the nose,are relayed directly to the limbic system, a brain region that is associated with memory and emotions. And while most of the skin's sweat is odourless, sweat glands in the armpit and groin produce certain compounds that cause body odour.

Duncan Boak from the charity Fifth Sense says, "We know there's a strong link between our sense of smell and our emotional well-being. Losing the ability to smell other people, such as your partner and children can cause depression and feelings of isolation."

Boakadded, "Whilst this is a preliminary study and further work is of course needed, it's very encouraging to see further research around the importance of our sense of smell to good mental health."

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