Objective. Comparing the effectiveness of vitamin B6 (40?mg twice daily) and ginger (250?mg four times daily) in treatment of pregnancy nausea. Methods. In a clinical trial in health centers of Qazvin University of Medical Sciences from November 2010 to February 2011 on pregnant mothers, the effects of vitamin B6 (40?mg twice daily) and ginger (250?mg four times daily) were evaluated in treatment of pregnancy nausea. Results. In both groups, treatments with vitamin B6 or ginger led to significant reduction in MPUQE score. Scores of symptoms at the day before treatment in vitamin B6 and ginger groups were and , respectively, and reduced to and , respectively, in the fourth day of treatment; however, mean changes in the two groups were not significantly different. Mean changes of MPUQE score in ginger and vitamin B6 groups were and , respectively, showing no significant difference ( ). Conclusion. Vomiting was more reduced in vitamin B6 group; however, this reduction was not statistically significant. There was no significant difference between the two groups in nausea occurrences and their duration. No side effect was observed in either group. 1. Introduction Nausea is the common complaint of women in the first half of pregnancy period, and 85% of pregnant women experience it in early pregnancy [1]. This symptom usually begins between the first and second forgotten menstruations, beats its peak at week 9, and continues until around week 14 to 16 [1]. Nausea is more severe in the morning and may continue throughout the day. 50% of cases spontaneously recover until week 14 and 90% until week 22. At 63% of cases, there is a history of nausea in a previous pregnancy [2]. Characteristics and severity of pregnancy nausea are similar to nausea caused by cancer chemotherapy. Nearly 50% of these people are absent from work for at least one turn [3]. Although this symptom gets spontaneously recovered with the time passing, it can place a great stress on the pregnant woman and those around her and disturb her work so that, in 25% of cases, the employed pregnant women often require a leave. This symptom can even lead to depression [4]. Nausea and vomiting are the most common symptoms experienced in early pregnancy, with nausea affecting between 70 and 85% of women. About half of pregnant women experience vomiting [5]. Antiemetic medication appears to reduce the frequency of nausea in early pregnancy [5]. Ginger has been used throughout the world as a therapeutic agent for centuries. The herb is increasingly used in western society also, with one of the most common
References
[1]
C. Maltepe and G. Koren, “The management of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy and hyperemesis gravidarum: a 2013 update,” Journal of Population Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacology, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. e184–e192, 2013.
[2]
C. Piwko, G. Koren, V. Babashov, C. Vicente, and T. R. Einarson, “Economic burden of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy in the USA,” Journal of Population Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacology, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. e149–e160, 2013.
[3]
C. Asker, B. N. Wikner, and B. K?llén, “Use of antiemetic drugs during pregnancy in Sweden,” European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, vol. 61, no. 12, pp. 899–906, 2005.
[4]
F. Borrelli, R. Capasso, G. Aviello, M. H. Pittler, and A. A. Izzo, “Effectiveness and safety of ginger in the treatment of pregnancy-induced nausea and vomiting,” Obstetrics and Gynecology, vol. 105, no. 4, pp. 849–856, 2005.
[5]
D. Jewell and G. Young, “WITHDRAWN: interventions for nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy,” Cochrane database of systematic reviews (Online), vol. 9, Article ID CD000145, 2010.
[6]
M. Ding, M. Leach, and H. Bradley, “The effectiveness and safety of ginger for pregnancy-induced Nausea and vomiting: a systematic review,” Women and Birth, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. e26–e30, 2013.
[7]
O. Betz, P. Kranke, G. Geldner, H. Wulf, and L. H. J. Eberhart, “Is ginger a clinically relevant antiemetic? A systematic review of randomized controlled trials,” Forschende Komplementarmedizin und Klassische Naturheilkunde, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 14–23, 2005.
[8]
M. Sripramote and N. Lekhyananda, “A randomized comparison of Ginger and vitamin B6 in the treatment of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy,” Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand, vol. 86, no. 9, pp. 846–853, 2003.
[9]
C. Smith, C. Crowther, K. Willson, N. Hotham, and V. McMillian, “A randomized controlled trial of ginger to treat nausea and vomiting in pregnancy,” Obstetrics and Gynecology, vol. 103, no. 4, pp. 639–645, 2004.
[10]
G. Portnoi, L.-A. Chng, L. Karimi-Tabesh, G. Koren, M. P. Tan, and A. Einarson, “Prospective comparative study of the safety and effectiveness of ginger for the treatment of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy,” The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, vol. 189, no. 5, pp. 1374–1377, 2003.
[11]
P. Chittumma, K. Kaewkiattikun, and B. Wiriyasiriwach, “Comparison of the effectiveness of ginger and vitamin B6 for treatment of nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy: a randomized double-blind controlled trial,” Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand, vol. 90, no. 1, pp. 15–20, 2007.
[12]
J. Ensiyeh and M.-A. C. Sakineh, “Comparing ginger and vitamin B6 for the treatment of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy: a randomised controlled trial,” Midwifery, vol. 25, no. 6, pp. 649–653, 2009.
[13]
S. A. Boone and K. M. Shields, “Treating pregnancy-related nausea and vomiting with ginger,” Annals of Pharmacotherapy, vol. 39, no. 10, pp. 1710–1713, 2005.