ARTICLE REVIEW: THE USE OF AROMATHERAPY FOR ANOSMIA PATIENTS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

This study was conducted to determine the benefits of aromatherapy for anosmia people after exposure to COVID-19. Aromatherapy was often used for health therapy so it has the potential for the treatment of anosmia. This study is necessary to be done because there are a lot of anosmia sufferers and there is no effective way to treat it. The study of post-COVID-19 anosmia continues to evolve and more needs to be researched. This study was conducted by reviewing several literature studies originating from international and national journals, theses, and dissertations with a year limit of the last 10 years. From some literature it is known that aromatherapy can reduce the risk caused by anosmia. Aromatherapy can enter through the body's circulatory system and olfactory system through fragrances, It will affect the condition, memory, and psyche of a person. Although not very effective, further research on the benefits of aromatherapy for people with anosmia is necessary.


INTRODUCTION
Indonesia is an archipelagic country with a tropical climate with a wealth of flora and fauna in it. One of the richness of flora owned by Indonesia is flora that has high economic value and benefits, namely flora or plants that produce essential oil. Aromatherapy is an aroma that comes from essential oils or pure essential oils that are used as therapy to help maintain or improve immunity which affects health and inspires, refreshes and calms one's body and soul (Astuti et al., 2015). Aromatics possessed by plants are influenced by the content of essential oils in the form of essential oils, for example lemongrass.
Essential oils are one of the byproducts of metabolic processes carried out by plants, essential oils are formed due to reactions between various chemical compounds found in plant metabolism in the presence of water (Puspitasari, 2016).
Essential oils have a characteristic that is volatile at room temperature without decomposition, has a bitter or slightly spicy taste, has a distinctive fragrant smell according to the smell of the producing plant, generally essential oils are insoluble in water and soluble in organic solvents (Aryani et al., 2020).
To date, the COVID-19 pandemic has still not seen to end in Indonesia, even this pandemic is still not visible when the peak point will be reached. COVID-19 is a disease caused by the SARS Cov-2 virus that originated in Wuhan, China. People infected with this virus will have symptoms such as fever, cough, and difficulty breathing (Yuliana, 2020). In addition, people with COVID-19 can also experience anosmia.
Anosmia is a condition in which a person cannot feel the sensation of smell which can be caused by many factors, these factors can be related to upper respiratory tract infections (Samuel & Riyanto, 2021).
Losing the ability to smell is something that is not desirable because it can affect one's appetite, one cannot smell the aroma of food. It will cause a person to lose his appetite. Based on research, anosmia sufferers have the ability to feel food which shows a score (p < 0.001), this score indicates a correlation between anosmia sufferers and the ability to taste food (Aditya, 2020).
Based on these things, the researchers conducted a review of articles that aimed to provide information about the effects of aromatherapy on anosmia sufferers and plants that can be used as aromatherapy and their benefits.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The method used in this research was literature study. Literature study is a method that conducts a systematic examination with the aim of finding out a particular topic which will then be studied scientifically using various kinds of literature (Efron & Ravid, 2019). This review article used literature sources from international and national journals, theses, theses, and dissertations with a date limit of the last 10 years. The data sources were carried out through search engines in the form of google and indexed journal sites by sinta, garuda, etc.
The search was conducted using the keywords anosmia, aromatherapy, and the benefits of aromatherapy.

Infection
Anosmia is a condition in which a person is unable to smell odors. In this case, anosmia can be caused by a mechanical blockage that prevents odors from reaching the olfactory nerve which then causes a loss of olfactory function so that  (Suzuki et al., 2007).  (Colavita et al., 2020;Gengler et al., 2020;Sungnak et al., 2020).

Aromatherapy Source
Aroma therapy is a form of treatment or therapy using aromas derived from volatile plants, this aroma can affect a person's mood, health, and cognitive functions (Ermaya et al., 2019).
Essential oils or known as essential oils, aromatic oils produced by plants, essential oils can come from any plant organ such as leaves, flowers, stems, bark, and roots (Puspitasari, 2016).
Essential oils are often used as compositions in making perfumes because essential oils have a distinctive aroma, therefore essential oils have the potential to be used as a source of aromatherapy.
Based on research conducted by Ermaya et al., (2019) it is known that the aroma of essential oils affects locomotor activity in mice. It is since the aroma that comes from the essential oil will increase alpha waves in the brain so that someone who inhales the aroma will feel relaxed (Sholehah et al., 2020).

Aromatherapy Benefits
Aromatherapy products have various health benefits, namely calming, reducing depression, anxiety and stress (Sitepu, 2021

How Aromatherapy Works
By mechanism, aromatherapy will enter through the body's circulation system and olfactory system through fragrances, it will affect a person's emotional, memory, and psychic conditions (Safaah et al., 2019). If viewed based on inhalation theory, essential oils will make changes in the limbic system which is part of the brain, this is related to emotions and memory (Nababan, 2019).
The stages of smell are divided into 3 stages, namely the attachment of odor molecules to nerve receptors, namely the olfactory epithelium, then the smell will be transmitted to the olfactory center at the base of the brain, at this stage the neuron cells will translate various odors and will deliver them to the limbic system and forwarded. to the hypothalamus which will then be processed there, the next step is the essential oil elements will be delivered to the circulatory system and chemical agents in the body carried out by the hypothalamus (Nababan, 2019).
Steam distillation method (Apriyani et al., 2015) Provides a relaxing effect and reduces pain (Tarigan, 2018) Aromatherapy Product Form Essential oils derived from plant extracts such as cloves, nutmeg, betel leaf, lime, ylang flower, and cinnamon bark can be used as an aromatherapy product with various pharmaceutical preparations.
According Anggraini (2015) aromatherapy products include the following :

CONCLUSION
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the term anosmia was known, anosmia is a condition in which a person cannot smell.
Anosmia itself affects a person's appetite.
Based on the results of studies conducted, aromatherapy can reduce the risk of anosmia. Aromatherapy has a role in anosmia sufferers, but on the olfactory system the effects of aromatherapy cannot be felt.