Ginger Quells Nausea of Chemotherapy

Ginger has long been used for common medicinal purposes and is known for its effectiveness in relieving many unpleasant symptoms including indigestion, flatulence, nausea, vomiting, motion sickness, and dizziness. It can ease the intensity of morning sickness for pegnant women, as well as lessen the pain and reduce inflammation for those who suffer from osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. In addition, ginger is known to slow the growth of certain tumors and, in recent studies, has even shown to help reduce ovarian cancer when used in powdered form.

Recently, a group of researchers at the University of Rochester in New York discovered that low doses of ginger could help to quell the nausea suffered by cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy treatments. Researcher Dr. Julie Ryan, Ph.D., assistant professor of dermatology and radiation oncology at the University of Rochester, said that about 70 percent of people who undergo chemotherapy experience nausea and vomiting. Douglas Blayney, M.D., of the University of Michigan and incoming president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) commented “patients undergoing chemotherapy often ask if there is anything more they can do.”

Ryan and colleagues conducted a study of 644 cancer patients who were undergoing chemotherapy and taking standard anti-nausea medications Zofran or Kytril. All had experienced nausea after one cycle of chemotherapy with a minimum of three more cycles to undergo. The majority of the participants were women, and of these, two-thirds had breast cancer.

Participants received either a placebo one of three different doses of powdered ginger administered in capsule form once daily for six days, beginning three days prior to the first day of a chemotherapy cycle. For the first four days of chemotherapy, each Participant rated any nausea experienced four times daily, using a 7-point scale in which 1 was equal to no nausea experienced and 7 was equal to the worst possible nausea.

On day one, patients taking the two lower doses of ginger (equivalent to one-quarter and one-half teaspoon of fresh or dry ginger) reported nausea ratings of 1 or 2 points, indicative of little or no nausea being experienced. However, those taking placebo reported ratings of 4 to 5 points, indicating a good amount of nausea having been experienced. The benefits for those taking ginger were maintained for the entire four days of the study. Ryan’s expectations are that these effects will last even longer, as patients experience the most unpleasant nausea on the first day of chemotherapy and the likelihood of experiencing nausea on the remaining days of the cycle become less and less.

Although all of the ginger doses given were effective in reducing nausea, the two lower doses of half a gram and one gram were more effective than the highest dose of 1.5 grams. Generally, the study found that as little as one-quarter of a teaspoon of ginger cut nausea by 40 percent. Significantly, ginger caused no side effects. The full details of the study will be disclosed at the ASCO’s annual meeting in late May.

According to Ryan in a telephone briefing sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), it remains unclear how ginger helps to relieve nausea in cancer patients. However, she noted, “There is other research that shows it is a potent anti-inflammatory agent in the gut.” She also said that there is a possibility that eating ginger cookies or drinking ginger ale may achieve the same effect, as long as these items contain one-quarter to one-half teaspoon of fresh or dry ginger.