Tag Archives: nausea

Clinical trials underscore the merits of ginger for gestational nausea and vomiting

  By ironman45 | July 13, 2011 - 10:14 pm | Digestion/acid reflux
Leave a comment

Nausea and vomiting or “morning sickness” is a very common complication of pregnancy, affecting over 70% of pregnant women. Morning sickness starts early and tends to persist through the 14-16th week of pregnancy. While there are many theories of what causes morning sickness, the treatments are well established and generally effective. Surprisingly, one of the treatment options is ginger. Clinical trials have proven that the merits of ginger go far beyond their anecdotal reputation and should receive more widespread recognition and use as an effective and safe treatment for morning sickness.
(more…)

The Importance of B Vitamins to Overall Health

  By ironman45 | March 24, 2011 - 5:21 pm | alzheimers, Anemia, asthma, blood pressure, brain health, chronic fatigue, depression, diabetes, Digestion/acid reflux, eye health, fibromyalgia, Hair/Skin health, hearing loss, heart disease, MS, Pain relief, parkinson's, pregnancy/fertility, rheumatoid arthritis, sleep, stress, stroke
Leave a comment

B vitamins are essential to health. Your nerves, skin, eyes, hair, liver, mouth, muscles, gastrointestinal tract, and brain depend on them for proper functioning. They are coenzymes that are involved in energy production and are also useful for alleviation of depression and anxiety.

As we get older our ability to absorb B vitamins from our food declines. In some Alzheimer’s patients, it was found that the problem was due to a deficiency of vitamin B-12 plus vitamin B-complex in an accepted multivitamin. (more…)

Ginger in Relieving Side Effects of Chemotherapy

  By ironman45 | February 18, 2011 - 9:25 pm | cancer
Leave a comment

Ginger has been used throughout history as both a culinary herb and a medicinal agent. Ginger has gained attention in the United States because of its effect on motion sickness, nausea, as an aid in digestion, and its anti-rheumatic and anti-inflammatory effects.

Ginger is best known for its ability to lessen the nausea and vomiting associated with motion sickness. In fact, studies have found that it may be more effective than drug alternatives for many conditions and situations that make the stomach feel unsettled. What’s more, in the case of motion sickness, ginger may be preferred to antihistamines because it does not cause drowsiness. Ginger root preparations may also be useful in controlling nausea and vomiting in outpatient surgery, for lessening the nausea and loss of appetite associated with chemotherapy, and in the treatment of hyperemesis gravidarum, a condition of excessive vomiting and dehydration that occurs during early pregnancy.

Chemotherapy is the treatment of a disease with chemicals. It acts by killing cells that divide rapidly which is one of the main properties of most cancer cells. This means it also harms healthy cells resulting in side effects such as: nausea, vomiting, tiredness, pain and hair loss. After chemotherapy, healthy cells usually recover and side effects gradually go away.

Researchers decided to investigate the effectiveness of ginger as an additional antiemetic therapy in patients receiving chemotherapy. The scientists of this double-blind study randomly assigned patients with bone cancer to either ginger root powder capsules or placebo capsules as an additional antiemetic to ondensetron and dexamethasone. Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting were evaluated with the Edmonton’s Symptom Assessment Scale and National Cancer Institute criteria. The results were significantly more severe nausea and vomiting in the placebo group compared to the ginger group. These findings indicate that ginger root powder as an additional antiemetic was effective in reducing severity of nausea and vomiting in patients receiving chemotherapy.1

1 Pillai AK,Sharma KK, Gupta YK, et al. Anti-emetic effect of ginger powder versus placebo as an add-on therapy in children and young adults receiving high emetogenic chemotherapy. Pediatr Blood Cancer. Sep2010.

 

Source: Pediatric Blood and Cancer