Effect of Zingiber officinale R. rhizomes (ginger) on pain relief in primary dysmenorrhea: a placebo randomized trial

BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Research Article

Parvin Rahnama¹  Hassan Fallah Huseini²  Saeed Kianbakht²  Ali Montazeri³  Mohsen Naseri⁴ 

[1] Department of Midwifery, Herbal Research Center, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran;Department of Pharmacology, Research Institute of Medicinal Plants, ACECR, Karaj, IR, Iran;Mental Health Research Group, Health Metrics Research Center, Iranian Institute for Health Sciences Research, ACECR, Tehran, Iran;Traditional Iranian Medicine Clinical Trial Research Center, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran;

关键词: Placebo;    Placebo Group;    Curcumin;    Capsaicin;    Menstrual Period;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1472-6882-12-92

 received in 2011-10-06, accepted in 2012-07-10,  发布年份 2012

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundZingiber officinale R. rhizome (ginger) is a popular spice that has traditionally been used to combat the effects of various inflammatory diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of ginger on pain relief in primary dysmenorrhea.MethodThis was a randomized, controlled trial. The study was based on a sample of one hundred and twenty students with moderate or severe primary dysmenorrhea. The students were all residents of the dormitories of Shahed University. They were randomly assigned into two equal groups, one for ginger and the other for placebo in two different treatment protocols with monthly intervals. The ginger and placebo groups in both protocols received 500 mg capsules of ginger root powder or placebo three times a day. In the first protocol ginger and placebo were given two days before the onset of the menstrual period and continued through the first three days of the menstrual period. In the second protocol ginger and placebo were given only for the first three days of the menstrual period. Severity of pain was determined by a verbal multidimensional scoring system and a visual analogue scale.ResultsThere was no difference in the baseline characteristics of the two groups (placebo n = 46, ginger n = 56). The results of this study showed that there were significant differences in the severity of pain between ginger and placebo groups for protocol one (P = 0.015) and protocol two (P = 0.029). There was also significant difference in duration of pain between the two groups for protocol one (P = 0.017) but not for protocol two (P = 0.210).ConclusionTreatment of primary dysmenorrhea in students with ginger for 5 days had a statistically significant effect on relieving intensity and duration of pain.Trial registrationIRCT201105266206N3

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Rahnama et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2012