PreventDisease.com - Study Indicates Ginger May Help Morning Sickness



		Study Indicates Ginger May Help Morning Sickness NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Ginger may help relieve the nausea and vomiting that can occur in early pregnancy, results of a study suggest. Investigators found that a group of 32 pregnant women who took a daily supplement containing 1 gram of ginger for 4 days reported feeling less nauseous and had fewer vomiting episodes than a group of 35 women who took an inactive placebo pill. Ginger did not appear to cause any side effects among the mothers or their babies, although more research will be needed to confirm this finding, Dr. Teraporn Vutyavanich and colleagues from Chiang Mai University in Thailand report in the April issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology. According to the researchers, nausea and vomiting during the first trimester of pregnancy, also known as morning sickness, is common but not well understood. Some studies have suggested that morning sickness indicates that a pregnancy is healthy, because a growing placenta produces estrogen. The hormone can heighten a woman's sense of smell and cause nausea. If the placenta is not producing estrogen, there may be a problem with the pregnancy. Whatever the cause, the symptoms of morning sickness, while rarely dangerous, can cause discomfort and temporary disability. Drugs are rarely prescribed since they can harm the developing fetus. Ginger, which has been shown to reduce nausea for motion sickness and after surgery, also appears to work for pregnant women, the study findings suggest. ``In countries where large amounts of ginger are used on a daily dietary level, there does not seem to be a problem,'' Dr. Mark Blumenthal, executive director of the nonprofit American Botanical Council, told Reuters Health. Ginger supplements that are available in healthfood stores contain dried, powdered ginger root, Blumenthal said. But larger studies will need to determine if ginger has any rare side effects before it is recommended as a therapy for morning sickness, Vutyavanich said in an interview. What's more, the active ingredient of ginger is not known, she pointed out. In the US, the government does not regulate dietary supplements such as ginger. SOURCE: Obstetrics and Gynecology 2001;97:577-582. Reference Source 89 For more information on how to prevent other diseases, use PreventDisease.com's "Quick Prevention Resources".