Safety and Efficacy of Ferula asafoetida in Functional Dyspepsia: A Randomized, Double‐Blinded, Placebo‐Controlled Study

Abstract

Despite the availability of various synthetic drugs for the treatment of functional dyspepsia (FD), the side effects and their cost have always created a great interest in the search for novel natural alternatives for the management of gut disorders. The present contribution reports the safety and efficacy of the kitchen spice asafoetida (Ferula asafoetida) in FD for the first time. In the double-blinded, placebo-controlled study, 43 subjects diagnosed to have moderate to severe discomforts of nonulcer FD were randomized to receive hard-shell capsules (250 mg × 2/day) of either placebo (n=22) or a food-grade formulation of asafoetida (Asafin) (n=21) for 30 days. When evaluated by a set of validated indexing tools (GSRS, GDSS, and NDI), almost 81% in the Asafin group showed significant (p < 0.01) improvement in the overall score and quality of life as compared to the placebo. At the end of the study, 66% of subjects in the Asafin group remained symptoms-free. Although the symptoms score improved significantly in both the groups (from -5.67 to -25.29 in Asafin group versus -1.55 to -6.0 in the placebo; p ≤ 0.001), the relative percentage of subjects in the Asafin group with more than 80% reduction in various symptoms were: bloating (58%), appetite (69%), postprandial fullness (74%) motion sickness (75%), and digestion (77%) as compared to less than 10% nonspecific improvement in the placebo group. All the subjects remained safe with no adverse events or variations in haematological and biochemical parameters. The study was registered at http://ctri.nic.in/ (CTRI/2018/ 01/011149).

The Possible Therapeutic Effects of Some Medicinal Plants for Chronic Cough in Children

“…The safety and efficacy of F. assa-foetida on treatment of functional dyspepsia (FD) in a double-blinded, placebo-controlled study showed that treatment with F. assa-foetida (250 mg × 2/day) ( n = 21) for 30 days significantly improved the overall score and quality of life compared to the placebo group. In addition, treatment with F. assa-foetida eliminates and improve the symptoms, including bloating (58%), appetite (69%), postprandial fullness (74%), motion sickness (75%), and indigestion (77%) as compared to less than 10% improvement of symptoms in the placebo group [ 105 ]. The effects of F. assa-foetida mouthwash (10%) twice daily for a period of 7 days compared to chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) mouthwash (15 ml) were also studied.…”

AsdamarinTM relieves functional dyspepsia in healthy adults in only 7 days: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study

“…The association of the asafetida in luence on food transit time [22] and the liver health bene its of milk thistle [23] came out to be a natural prokinetic agent. By improving gastric emptying, gastrointestinal transit time and by regenerating liver intrinsic capacities, the stomach and the liver were treated simultaneously in a way that permit to relieve functional dyspepsia in only 7 days, when other studies with other asafetida formulation without liver active ingredient, obtained signi icant relief in 30 days [24].…”

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