There is conclusive evidence on the destructive consequences of the over use of antibiotics. Antibiotic pressure on an organism can be a cofactor in immune deficiency conditions. Antibiotics were originally prescribed to fight bacterial diseases. Once these drugs became major moneymakers, their marketing took on a life of their own. Unaware of the link to mass destruction of their immune system, an unsuspecting generation has upped its antibiotic intake through over-use (orally), through use in skin cleansing products, and ingestion through meat and poultry. This has created a potentially greater problem of the seemingly unstoppable advance of resistant bacteria. Bacteria, resistant to most or all of the known antibiotics, are menacing hospitals and their patients. Because essential oils are not patentable and profit expectations are zero, there is no corporate sponsorship and therefore there is hardly any current scientific exploration. Essential oils are no longer researched at university level, which therefore creates the perception that these medicines are weak, useless, or ineffective. "Existing knowledge" is no longer generated by impartial, unbiased research, but almost exclusively through corporate funding. Since virtually no current research exists, aromatherapy's claims rest on traditional and anecdotal lore. The reality of aromatherapy is therefore only partly defined by science. It may be a sign of our times that a short attention span is also reflected in the work of contemporary scientists who find neither the time nor the energy to look at available evidence before they set out to conduct more research or formulate their statements. As a consequence, abundant scientific documentation on the pharmacology of essential oils , especially in German and French scientific literature, is overlooked. A substantial body of scientific studies already exists. This provides a perfect pharmacological rationale for many of the applications of essential oils. Antibiotics can set off allergies, and this happens most frequently in countries where they are in general use. The widespread diffusion of penicillin, and it's dirivitives, its systematic and at times indiscriminate use in mild infections, together with its abuse in such pharmaceutical preparations as toothpaste, can explain the steadily increasing numbers of people in the West who have become sensitized to it. Text taken from: Medical Aromatherapy, Healing With Essential Oils by Kurt Schnaubelt. Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy by Valerie Ann Worwood. The Practice of Aromatherapy, by Jean Valnet, M.D.