Kava and Valerian in the treatment of stress‐induced insomnia

Abstract

Kava and valerian are herbal remedies, claimed to have anxiolytic and sedative properties respectively, without dependence potential or any appreciable side-effects. In this pilot study, 24 patients suffering from stress-induced insomnia were treated for 6 weeks with kava 120 mg daily. This was followed by 2 weeks off treatment and then, 5 having dropped out, 19 received valerian 600 mg daily for another 6 weeks. Stress was measured in three areas: social, personal and life-events; insomnia in three areas also: time to fall asleep, hours slept and waking mood. Total stress severity was significantly relieved by both compounds (p < 0.01) with no significant differences between them; as was also insomnia (p < 0.01). The proportion of patients with no side-effects was 58% with each drug respectively and the 'commonest' effect was vivid dreams with valerian (16%), followed by dizziness with kava (12% ). These compounds may be useful in the treatment of stress and insomnia but further studies are required to determine their relative roles for such indications.

Acute Pharmacological Effects of Temazepam, Diphenhydramine, and Valerian in Healthy Elderly Subjects

“…Wheatley (2001) found that 600-mg of valerian before bed for 6 weeks improved stress-induced sleep deficit in adult insomniacs.~* in contrast, 0 t h studies report no improvement of subjective sleep quality.176 248 Objective measures of sleep (Le. EEG and activity recordings) show no effect on total sleep time or number of awakenings aftervaierian treaîment in young volunteers 176. ls4 or elderly poor sleepersla6, despite reporteci increases in slow wave sleep and decreased activity in the last third of an 8- Therefore, insomniacs may not be as healthy as the subjects in this study were, andlor may be more tikely to be taking more concomitant medicatious.…”

Influence of kavain on hepatic ultrastructure

“…Various preparations of kava have been marketed since the 1980s, especially in Europe and North America to manage mild anxiety, tension, and restlessness. Some reports also indicate that kava preparations may have analgesic, spasmolytic, neuroprotective, and antimitotic activities [5][6][7][8] .…”

Desmethoxyyangonin and Dihydromethysticin Are Two Major Pharmacological Kavalactones With Marked Activity on the Induction of Cyp3a23

“…In addition to being used to treat mild or moderate anxiety, kava preparations are used for insomnia, stress, menopause, and muscle fatigue. Experiments with animal models and epidemiological data have shown that kava has a wide spectrum of therapeutic properties, such as sedative, anxiolytic, analgesic, and neuroprotective effects (Jamieson and Duffield, 1990;Martin et al, 2000;Wheatley, 2001;Singh and Singh, 2002;Cagnacci et al, 2003). It has been postulated that these activities are achieved through multiple mechanisms, such as blockade of voltage-gated sodium channels (Schirrmacher et al, 1999), enhanced interactions between ligand and corresponding receptors (e.g., aminobutyric acid type A receptor) (Davies et al, 1992), modulation on neurotransmitter release (Baum et al, 1998), inhibition of enzyme activity (e.g., cyclooxygenase-2) (Wu et al, 2002), and decrease in cytokine release (e.g., tumor necrosis factor-␣; TNF-␣) (Hashimoto et al, 2003).…”