I feel this is an important discovery, one that could ease a lot of suffering: Adding ginger to foods before, during and after chemotherapy treatment may ease its side effects, according to one study.
Los Angeles Times' reporter Shari Roan, as reported through yesterday's Oakland Tribune (May 15, 2009), tells us that "simply adding a teaspoon of ginger to food consumed in the days before, during and after chemotherapy can reduce the often debilitating side effects of nausea and vomiting, a large, randomized clinical trial has found. A newer type of anti-nausea drug, when added to standard medications, can help such side effects as well.
"The findings are significant, cancer experts said, because about 70 percent of chemotherapy patients experience nausea and vomiting -- often severe -- during treatment.
"In the ginger study, 644 patients, most of them female, from 23 oncology practices throughout the United States received two standard anti-emetic medications at the time of chemotherapy. They also were given capsules containing either 0.5 gram, 1 gram or 1.5 grams of ginger, or placebo capsules. The patients took the capsules containing the placebo or ginger for three days before chemotherapy and three days after treatment.
"All of the patients receiving ginger experienced less nausea for four days after chemotherapy, said study lead author Julie Ryan of the University of Rochester Medical Center. Doses of 0.5 gram and 1 gram were the most effective, reducing nausea by 40 percent compared with the patients taking the placebo.
"Researchers do not know why ginger helps, Ryan said. But, she added, 'there is other research showing it has a potent anti-inflammatory effect in the gut.'"
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