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Ginger helped reduce nausea during chemotherapy
2009 ASCO Annual Meeting
Adding ginger supplements to traditional antiemetic drugs reduced chemotherapy-related nausea in patients with cancer, according to data from a URCC CCOP randomized trial. The data were presented ahead of the 2009 ASCO Annual Meeting.
“We have found that ginger supplementation is an effective tool
against chemotherapy-related nausea,” Julie L. Ryan, PhD,
MPH,University of Rochester Medical Center, said during her presentation.
“Ginger, at a daily dose of 0.5 g to 1 g, significantly aids in reduction
of nausea on the first day of chemotherapy.” 
Click
here to hear Dr. Ryan speak about the results.
Ryan and colleagues randomly assigned 644 patients to placebo, 0.5 g, 1.0 g or 1.5 g of ginger. All patients had experienced nausea from chemotherapy and were scheduled to receive at least three more cycles of chemotherapy.
Patients received antiemetics on day one of all cycles. Doses were split into two regimens and were given each day for six days starting three days before the first day of the second and third chemotherapy cycle. Patients rated nausea in the morning, afternoon, evening and night on a seven-point scale (1=Not at all nauseated; 7= Extremely nauseated).
Using analysis of covariance, the researchers examined change in nausea for the four arms on day one of cycles two and three. Nausea was significantly reduced by all doses of ginger (P=.003). Patients assigned to 0.5 g and 1.0 g of ginger experienced the largest reduction in nausea. In addition, the researchers reported a linear decrease in nausea over 24 hours in patients assigned to ginger (P<.001).
“Reduced nausea will lead to improved quality of life in many cancer patients during chemotherapy.”
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