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Ginger is as effective as a migraine drug without side effects

by Stepy — August 7, 2017

Ginger is as effective as a migraine drug without side effects, according to research conducted in Iran. Learn more about this important study.

Migraines cause intense throbbing and pain in the head, and are usually followed with nausea, vomiting, and extreme sensitivity to light.

The traditional treatment is to use over the counter and prescription drugs to help relieve pain. Most drugs are some combination of acetaminophen, aspirin and caffeine.

Traditional drug can provide quick relief, but they also come with side effects, including nausea, dizziness, drowsiness and muscle weakness. Also, more serious side effects can occur, including coronary artery spasms, heart attacks, stroke, abnormal heart beats, and seizures.

The Iranian researchers set out to discover if ginger could provide any relief for migraines.

GreenMedInfo reports:

In a study conducted in Iran, a team of neurologists compared ginger and sumatriptan in 100 men and women who had suffered migraines for an average of seven years. The patients were randomly assigned to either the ginger group or the sumatriptan group. They were given a box of 5 caplets containing their test medication (250 mg caplet of dried ginger powder or an identically looking caplet containing 50 mg of sumatriptan in a double-blind fashion. Neither the participants nor the observers knew which caplets the patient was taking until the study was completed. Patients were instructed to take a caplet as soon as a migraine started.

For each headache that occurred during that month, participants recorded the time the headache began, headache severity before taking the medication and degree of pain relief at 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes as well as 24 hours after taking it.

The study results showed that ginger was equally as effective as one of the leading drugs – sumatriptan.

The study authors concluded: “The effectiveness of ginger powder in the treatment of common migraine attacks is statistically comparable to sumatriptan. Ginger also poses a better side effect profile than sumatriptan.”

The study showing that ginger is as effective as a migraine drug without side effects was published in the journal Phytotherapy Research.

Note: None of the information in our website is intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any illness or disease. The content on our website is for educational purposes only.

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