The Calming Power Of Chamomile

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The Calming Power Of Chamomile

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/178685.php

Feeling stressed? Try chamomile! This 'traditional' remedy has been around for

years, but how much truth is there behind this old wives' tale?

In an evaluation for Faculty of 1000, Van Ameringen and Beth

draw attention to the first randomized controlled trial of chamomile for the

treatment of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).

The study, recently published in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology,

reports that " chamomile extract therapy was found to be efficacious for

mild-moderate GAD " .

Patients with mild-moderate GAD were included in the study and received either

chamomile or placebo. Those that received the chamomile treatment were found to

have a significant change in the severity of their GAD.

Van Amerigen and comment on the results of the study, saying that they

" suggest that chamomile may have modest [anti-panic] activity in patients with

mild-moderate GAD and may potentially be used in those who are averse to

traditional pharmacotherapy " .

These findings are important " because many individuals who suffer from GAD do

not view their anxiety as a medical condition, [and, therefore,] self-diagnosis

and self-medicating with alternative, over-the-counter remedies is common " .

Van Amerigen and said " a big strength of this paper is that the

authors took a herbal remedy and subjected it to scientific rigor unlike many

'natural' remedies which have associated claims of efficacy with no supportive

data. "