Antiemetic activity of ginger in childrenreceiving cancer chemotherapy

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the antiemetic effect of ginger versus metoclopramide in children receiving cancer chemotherapy. Methods: A sample of 50 patients aged 6 -14 years attending the Haematooncology unit in Ibn Al -Atheer Children's Teaching Hospital in Mosul city and receiving chemotherapy for their malignancies were included. They were randomly subdivided into 2 groups and received different types of treatment including ginger and metoclopramide. Results: The study showed that cancer was more common in female than in male with male to female ratio 0.85/1. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia was the most common type of cancer and constituted 60% of the cases and it revealed that response rate was higher in those treated by ginger compared to metoclopramide (72% and 32% respectively); response was found to be higher in males than in females (86.6% and 50% respectively). Conclusions: Nausea and vomiting are common problems in children receiving chemotherapy. Ginger (Zingiber officinale) appears to be promising in controlling these problems.