Ginger vs Vitamin B6 for Treating Nausea and Vomiting during Pregnancy: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Abstract

Introduction: Up to 85% of pregnant women experience nausea and vomiting (NV), which has a number of negative repercussions for the pregnancy's prognosis. The real cause of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy (NVP) remains unknown. Ginger is being used to treat NVP, despite the possibility of pharmaceutical drugs being teratogenic to the fetus. Ginger has been shown in certain trials to mitigate the intensity of NV when compared to vitamin B6, while the results are inconsistent. As a result, the purpose of this meta-analysis is to compare ginger with vitamin B6 for treating nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. Methods: Through November 2021, studies were obtained by doing a systematic search of the electronic databases PubMed, Embase, SCOPUS, and gray literature. Meta-analysis was carried out using Review Manager (Version 5.3) software. In addition, leave-one-out analysis was used to investigate the source of heterogeneity, and Funnel plots were used to examine publication bias; significance level was set at p 0.05. Results: This meta-analysis comprised seven trials with a total of 819 participants. The results established that ginger has no discernible influence on the intensity of nausea scores (SMD -0.15, 95% CI -0.35, 0.05; I 2 50.0%; p = 0.14), decreasing vomiting scores (SMD 0.05, 95% CI: -0.11, 0.21; I 2 0%; p = 0.57) compared with vitamin B6. But, when compared to ginger, vitamin B6 intervention had a substantial influence on improving total NVP results [SMD 0.36, 95% CI (0.06, 0.65), I 2 17%, p = 0.02]. Conclusions: Women who are experiencing nausea and vomiting during pregnancy can utilize ginger to alleviate their symptoms to the same amount as vitamin B6. Additionally, thorough RCTs with more number of participants are necessary to validate the effect of ginger supplement against vitamin B6 supplement for NVP therapy.

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