February 2021
Sara Altshul
Just this week, coincidentally, the results of three new clinical studies confirmed the value of three classic Traditional Chinese Medicine treatments: ginger, acupuncture, and ginseng.
In the studies, which were conducted at different universities, researchers discovered that ginger reduces the nausea that often follows chemotherapy treatments, acupuncture beats conventional medical treatment for low back pain, and Asian ginseng is a natural anti-inflammatory. Here are the details.
Ginger
Ginger (Zingiber officinale) supplements relieved post-chemotherapy nausea by 40% in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study funded by the National Cancer Institute. The study will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting on May 30, in Orlando, Fla.
In the study, conducted by scientists from the University of Rochester Medical Center, 644 cancer patients (66 percent were women with breast cancer) were randomly assigned to one of four groups. They were given a placebo, 500 mg of ginger, 1,000 mg of ginger, or 1,500 mg of ginger in addition to antiemetic medication (Zofran, Kytril, Navoban and Anzemet) to prevent vomiting. The participants took the ginger for six days, starting three days before the start of their chemo cycles.
"Antiemetics are very effective against vomiting but not against nausea, because nausea is not the same as vomiting," says Julie L. Ryan, PhD, assistant professor of dermatology and radiation oncology at the University of Rochester Medical Center and the lead author of the study.
"Nausea precedes vomiting, but people can be nauseated and not vomit," she says. What's more, she says, "Cancer patients complain more about nausea than they do about vomiting because they are unable to relieve the severe nausea."
