Ginger Capsules Don’t Boost Nausea Medicines During Chemotherapy

Ginger root

Although ginger is often recommended as a simple remedy for chemotherapy nausea, ginger capsules don’t seem to work any better than a sugar pill to improve the effects of standard nausea drugs.

In a randomized study, 162 patients received either ginger capsules or a placebo for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. Neither the patients or their doctors knew which they were getting. All patients were already receiving an 5-HT₃ inhibitor such as Zofran® or Kytril®. Some were also being treated with Emend® (aprepitant).

All patients in the trial had already had at least one episode of nausea or vomiting during chemotherapy. They were given either 1 gram or 2 grams of ginger within a capsule or a identical looking placebo in addition to their regular anti-nausea medicine for three days after chemotherapy.

Researchers found no different in either acute nausea and vomiting on the day of chemo or delayed nausea over the next few days. Combining ginger with Emend actually increased acute nausea and vomiting.

Despite blinding, patients were able to guess accurately whether or not they were actually getting ginger or a sugar pill.

There were no significant differences in side effects between the two groups, although the patients who got ginger capsules had less fatigue.

Dr. Suzanna M. Zick and her colleagues at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor concluded,

Ginger provides no additional benefit for reduction of the prevalence or severity of acute or delayed CINV when given with 5-HT₃ receptor antagonists and/or aprepitant.

SOURCE: Zick et al., Supportive Care in Cancer, Online First, November 13, 2008.

This news article was originally posted on December 9th, 2008 and was accurate at the time of publication. Since then, information may have changed or links may now be outdated. Please call our Answer Line 1-877-427-2111 for the latest information, or talk to your doctor before making any medical decisions.

Posted by Kate Murphy on December 9th, 2008
Tags: chemotherapy, ginger, nausea

Comments

zman

December 23, 2008 at 10:16pm

Ginger capsules are nothing compared to slicing a dime size piece of raw ginger and chewing it. The nausea is gone nearly immediately. Just my experience.