A randomized comparison of ginger and dimenhydrinate in the treatment of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE: To study the efficacy of ginger and dimenhydrinate in the treatment of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. STUDY DESIGN: Double blind randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Thammasat Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Thammasat University. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Between January 2005 and December 2005, 170 pregnant women who attended at antenatal clinic Thammasat University Hospital with the symptoms of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy were randomly allocated into group A (n = 85) and group B (n = 85). The patients in group A received one capsule of ginger twice daily (one capsule contained 0.5 gm of ginger powder) while the patients in group B received the identical capsule of 50 mg dimenhydrinate twice daily. The visual analogue nausea scores (VANS) and vomiting times were evaluated at day 0-7 of the treatment. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the visual analogue nausea scores (VANS) between group A and group B in day 1-7 of the treatment. The vomiting episodes of group A were greater than group B during the first and second day of the treatment with statistically significant difference. No difference in vomiting episodes during the day 3-7 of treatment was found in both groups. There was a statistically significant difference in the side effect of drowsiness after treatment in group B greater (77.64%) than group A (5.88%) (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: From the presented data, ginger is as effective as dimenhydrinate in the treatment of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy and has fewer side effects.

Revisión de los medicamentos antivertiginosos / a review of antivertigo medication

Objetivo. Valorar la información existente sobre los efectos de las sustancias antivertiginosas, basados en la bibliografía asequible. Información. Se localizaron artículos pertinentes en Medline y en revistas obtenidas en la ciudad de México. Selección del material. Los artículos se seleccionaron en base a su aparente consistencia interna y su relación con el propósito de la revisión. Conclusión. Se evaluaron 22 substancias pertenecientes a 8 grupos farmacológicos (colinérgicos, antihistamínicos, GABAérgicos, bloqueadores de canales de calcio, serotoninérgicos, hemorreológicos, antiagregantes plaquetarios y diuréticos) útiles en diversos padecimientos vertiginosos. Se advirtió la necesidad de un método objetivo y cuantitativo para valorar resultados de ensayos clínicos en humanos. Mientra esto no ocurra, tendremos que usar los medicamentos en base de una información veraz, confiable y basada sólidamente en la farmacología estudiada en experimentos con animales y en la valoración cuidadosa de los efectos -buenos y malos- observados en nuestros pacientes.