Ginger root´s latin name is Zingiber officinalis, with the term Zingerberaceae also used to describe ginger root.

Research Development History of Zingiber Offincinalis

In addition to its most common use as a flavouring, ginger root has been used in traditional medicine for many centuries. Ginger is very widely used in traditional Chinese herbal medicine and is specifically indicated for the prevention of vomiting and abdominal distension (1).

Since its introduction to Western Europe in the Dark Ages, ginger has been used as a remedy for nausea and as a carminative. Although the folk usage of ginger as an anti-emetic still persists to this day the official monograph in the current British Pharmacopoeia and European Pharmacopoeia no longer recognise this indication and ginger is classified only as a flavouring agent (2).

Despite this official neglect, interest in ginger as an anti-emetic agent has revived in recent years with clinical trials yielding favourable results. The modern re-examination of ginger as an anti-emetic commenced with the work of Mowrey and Clayson (3) who found that 1 gram of powdered ginger was more effective in the prevention of motion sickness than the standard anti-histamine treatment diemenhydrinate. These findings were confirmed by the positive result of a clinical trial utilising ginger to control seasickness (4) .Ginger was also found to be effective in reducing the incidence of deliberately induced vertigo in a further laboratory study (5). The efficacy of ginger as an anti-emetic agent was further supported by a double blind, crossover study conducted in Denmark which indicated that 1gram of ginger per day was superior to placebo in relieving symptoms of nausea and vomiting in pregnant women (hyperemesis gravidum) (6).

A laboratory study by Holtmann et al (7) revealed that ginger did not produce the effects on CNS response during experimentally induced nausea that are common to most conventional anti-emetics such a dimenhydrinate. They therefore proposed that ginger must produce its anti-emetic effect locally by acting on the gastrointestinal system rather than by acting centrally. There is good experimental evidence from both in-vivo and in-vitro studies of the effect of ginger to support the hypothesis that the mechanism of action of ginger is indeed a local effect in the gastrointestinal tract.

Yamahara et al (8) demonstrated that acetone fractions of ginger, which are essentially equivalent to the oleoresin which is widely used as a flavouring agent, exerted a cholagogic action. Such fractions are rich in gingerols which are amount the primary pungent principles in ginger.

Suekawa et al (9) demonstrated that 6-gingerol and its closely related degradation product 6-shogaol both inhibited the passage through the gastrointestinal tract of experimental animals of a charcoal meal and also exerted an effect on the spontaneous activity of rodent ileum.

Convincing evidence that the gingerols, particularly 6-gingerol, do produce the anti-emetic action of ginger was provided by further animal studies also carried out by Yamahara and co-workers (10). Both an acetone extract (again equivalent to ginger oleoresin) and purified 6-gingerol could provide complete protection against emesis induced by the cytotoxic drug cyclophosphamide. Thus the efficacy of the ginger extract and the gingerol was found to be comparable to the established anti-emetic drug metoclopramide which was employed as a control in the experiment.

A later study by Kawai et al (11) which demonstrated the effectiveness of a range of gingerol isomers and the related shoagol degradation products against copper sulphate induced emesis in frogs provided support to the findings of Yamahara.

Thus the state of knowledge relating to the anti-emetic actions of ginger can be summarised as the material having fairly well established efficacy in the treatment of both motion sickness and nausea during pregnancy via a mechanism not involving the CNS. The activity is probably associated with the pungent principles, particularly gingerol, and lack of standardisation on these activities may explain the lack of efficacy observed in earlier trials.

Thus the state of knowledge relating to the anti-emetic actions of ginger can be summarised as thematerial having fairly well established efficacy in the treatment of both motion sickness and nausea during pregnancy via a mechanism not involving the CNS.

Composition of Ginger-MRL

Ginger-MRL contains as the active ingredient a highly concentrated extract of ginger produced in Europe and approved for food use. It is particularly rich in 6-gingerol contain 150 mg per gram of extract. The product is standardised to contain an amount of extract per tablet equivalent to 1 g of whole ginger.

Manufacturing Process of Ginger-MRL

In Essential Nutrition Ltd., a UK licensed pharmaceutical manufacturer, the Zingiber offinicalis is processed under the same rigorously controlled conditions that are applied to the manufacture of a conventional pharmaceutical. This ensures that each tablet contains standardised Zingiber offinicalis.

The tablets are film coated to protect them from moisture, thus preserving the quality of the product and ensuring a long shelf life.

After passing quality control testing the tablets are released for use. The choice of additives used in manufacture renders these tablets suitable for Kosher or vegetarian use.

Comentários e Sugestões para East West Herbs Lda
Realização Tinta Invisível