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Original ArticleOpen Access
A Randomized Comparison of Ginger and Vitamin B6 in the Treatment of Nausea and Vomiting of Pregnancy
Sripramote M 
,
Lekhyananda N
,
Lekhyananda N MANIT SRIPRAMOTE, MD*,
NOL LEKHY ANAND A, MD*
Objective
: To compare the efficacy of ginger to vitamin B6 in the treatment of nausea and
vomiting of pregnancy.
Study design
: A randomized double -blind controlled trial.
Setting
: The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Bangkok Metropolitan Administra-
tion Medical College and Vajira Hospital.
Subjects:
Women with nausea and vomiting of pregnancy at or before 16 weeks of gestation,
who attended the antenatal care clinic. The subjects requested anti-emetics, had no medical complica-
tions, non-hospitalized and were able to attend a one week follow-up visit. From November, 1999 to
November 2000, 138 women participated and gave consent for the study.
Method
: The subjects were randomly allocated into two groups to take either 500 mg of
ginger orally or an identical 10 mg of vitamin B6 one capsule three times daily for three days. Subjects
graded the severity of their nausea using visual analogue scales before treatment and recorded the num-
ber of vomiting episodes in the previous 24 hours and again during three consecutive days of treat-
ment.
Main outcome measures
: The change of nausea scores and the number of vomiting episodes
during three days of treatment.
Results
: The 64 subjects in each group remained in the study. The demographic data were
comparable in both groups. The ginger and vitamin B6 significantly reduced the nausea scores from
5.0 (SD, 1.99) to 3.6 (SD, 2.48) and 5.3 (SD, 2.08) to 3.3 (SD, 2.07) respectively, with p
<
0.001. The
mean score change after treatment with ginger was 1.4 (2.21), less than with vitamin B6, which was 2.0
(2.19) but with no statistically significant difference (95% CI -1.4 to 0.2, p
=
0.136). The ginger and
vitamin B6 also significantly reduced the number of vomiting episodes from 1.9 (2.06) to 1.2 (1.75)
and 1.7 (1.81) to 1.2 (1.50) respectively, with p < 0.01. The mean number change after treatment with
ginger was 0.7 (2.18), more than with vitamin B6, which was 0.5 (1.44) but with no statistically signi-
ficant difference, (p
=
0.498). There were some minor side effects in both groups such as sedation
(26.6%
vs
32.8%, p
=
0.439), and heartburn (9.4%
vs
6.3%, p
=
0.510), a non-significant difference.
Vol. 86 No.9
GINGER TREATMENT OF NAUSEA AND VOMITING OF PREGNANCY
847
Conclusion :The nausea score and the number of vomiting episodes were significantly reduced
following ginger and vitamin B6 therapy. Comparing the efficacy, there was no significant difference
between ginger and vitamin B6 for the treatment of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.
Key word : Nausea, Vomiting, Pregnancy, Ginger, Vitamin B6
NOL LEKHY ANAND A, MD*
Objective
: To compare the efficacy of ginger to vitamin B6 in the treatment of nausea and
vomiting of pregnancy.
Study design
: A randomized double -blind controlled trial.
Setting
: The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Bangkok Metropolitan Administra-
tion Medical College and Vajira Hospital.
Subjects:
Women with nausea and vomiting of pregnancy at or before 16 weeks of gestation,
who attended the antenatal care clinic. The subjects requested anti-emetics, had no medical complica-
tions, non-hospitalized and were able to attend a one week follow-up visit. From November, 1999 to
November 2000, 138 women participated and gave consent for the study.
Method
: The subjects were randomly allocated into two groups to take either 500 mg of
ginger orally or an identical 10 mg of vitamin B6 one capsule three times daily for three days. Subjects
graded the severity of their nausea using visual analogue scales before treatment and recorded the num-
ber of vomiting episodes in the previous 24 hours and again during three consecutive days of treat-
ment.
Main outcome measures
: The change of nausea scores and the number of vomiting episodes
during three days of treatment.
Results
: The 64 subjects in each group remained in the study. The demographic data were
comparable in both groups. The ginger and vitamin B6 significantly reduced the nausea scores from
5.0 (SD, 1.99) to 3.6 (SD, 2.48) and 5.3 (SD, 2.08) to 3.3 (SD, 2.07) respectively, with p
<
0.001. The
mean score change after treatment with ginger was 1.4 (2.21), less than with vitamin B6, which was 2.0
(2.19) but with no statistically significant difference (95% CI -1.4 to 0.2, p
=
0.136). The ginger and
vitamin B6 also significantly reduced the number of vomiting episodes from 1.9 (2.06) to 1.2 (1.75)
and 1.7 (1.81) to 1.2 (1.50) respectively, with p < 0.01. The mean number change after treatment with
ginger was 0.7 (2.18), more than with vitamin B6, which was 0.5 (1.44) but with no statistically signi-
ficant difference, (p
=
0.498). There were some minor side effects in both groups such as sedation
(26.6%
vs
32.8%, p
=
0.439), and heartburn (9.4%
vs
6.3%, p
=
0.510), a non-significant difference.
Vol. 86 No.9
GINGER TREATMENT OF NAUSEA AND VOMITING OF PREGNANCY
847
Conclusion :The nausea score and the number of vomiting episodes were significantly reduced
following ginger and vitamin B6 therapy. Comparing the efficacy, there was no significant difference
between ginger and vitamin B6 for the treatment of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.
Key word : Nausea, Vomiting, Pregnancy, Ginger, Vitamin B6
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