Pregnancy Morning Sickness - Ginger as Effective as Vitamin B6

Ginger works as well as vitamin B6 at reducing nausea and vomiting in pregnant women without any side effects to the fetus, according to a review of previous studies that is published in the April 1 issue of... Obstetrics & Gynecology, Reuters Health reports. Dr. Francesca Borrelli of the Department of Experimental Pharmacology at the Universita Degli Studi di Napoli Federico II and colleagues reviewed six double-blinded studies with a combined total of 675 pregnant women reporting nausea. In four of the studies, ginger was more effective than a placebo in controlling nausea and vomiting, even in women with a severe form of morning sickness called hyperemesis gravidarum, Reuters Health reports. The other two studies randomly assigned participants to take three times per day for three weeks either a capsule containing 350 milligrams of ginger or one containing 25 milligrams of vitamin B6. Both studies found that ginger and vitamin B6 improved nausea, vomiting and dry retching symptoms in slightly more than half of the participants. Some of the women taking ginger reported side effects such as headache, diarrhea and drowsiness, but there were no differences in pregnancy outcomes among women taking ginger, vitamin B6 or placebo, according to Reuters Health. The review's authors concluded that the data are still "preliminary" and more studies are needed to confirm the safety of ginger use by pregnant women, Reuters Health reports (Reuters Health, 4/4).

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