Efficacy of Ginger Supplementation in Relieving Persistent Hypothyroid Symptoms in Patients with Controlled Primary Hypothyroidism: A Pilot Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial.

Hamide Ashraf,Mohammad Mehdi Zarshenas,Mehrab Sayadi,Mojtaba Heydari,Ali Tavakoli,Mesbah Shams,Gianluca Tamagno

doi:10.1155/2022/5456855

Abstract

Primary hypothyroidism is a common disease. Some patients have persistent symptoms despite normal serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels. Ginger is reported to be beneficial in relieving similar symptoms. Our aim was to evaluate the efficacy of ginger supplementation in relieving persistent symptoms in these patients. In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, 60 hypothyroid patients aged 20–60 years with normal serum TSH concentrations were randomly allocated to two equal parallel study groups of ginger (500 mg twice a day) or placebo for 30 days. Hypothyroid symptoms were evaluated as the primary outcome using the Thyroid Symptom Rating Questionnaire (ThySRQ) before and after the intervention. Anthropometric measures and laboratory indices including TSH, triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TChol), and fasting blood sugar (FBS) were considered as secondary outcomes. A significant lower mean total ThySRQ score (8.63 ± 5.47 vs. 15.76 ± 6.09, P < 0.001) was observed in the ginger group compared to the control group. Ginger led to significant improvements in the mean scores of the weight gain, cold intolerance, constipation, dry skin, appetite, memory loss, concentration disturbance, and feeling giddy or dizzy domains (P < 0.001). However, no significant improvements were observed in hair loss, nail fragility, hearing, hoarseness, speech, and depression or feeling down (P > 0.05). Ginger supplementation also led to a significant decrease in body weight, body mass index, waist circumference, serum TSH, FBS, TG, and TChol levels compared to the placebo. In summary according to preliminary results of this study, ginger supplementation can help relieve persistent hypothyroid symptoms. Also, it may have beneficial effects in terms of weight reduction and regulation of the FBS and lipid profile in hypothyroid patients.

Highlights

Primary hypothyroidism is a clinical syndrome in which the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormones.e disease is classified as overt hypothyroidism and subclinical hypothyroidism [1, 2]
Several scientific investigations have confirmed the therapeutic effects of ginger on hyperlipidemia [21, 22], insulin resistance [23, 24], and obesity [22, 25], which are all common comorbidities in hypothyroid patients
Registration and Ethical Issues. e current study was registered in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT; “this trial is registered with https://trialsearch.who.int/? TrialID IRCT20191231045961N1”)

Summary

Introduction

Primary hypothyroidism is a clinical syndrome in which the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormones.e disease is classified as overt hypothyroidism and subclinical hypothyroidism [1, 2]. Overt hypothyroidism is characterized by an increase in the serum level of thyroidstimulating hormone (TSH) and a decrease in the serum level of free thyroxine (T4), whereas the main feature of subclinical hypothyroidism is a normal free T4. After thyroid hormone replacement therapy, approximately 15% of patients remain symptomatic despite achieving normal serum TSH levels [6, 10]. E Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recognizes ginger as a safe dietary supplement [18] It has long been used in traditional medicines as a hot remedy for the treatment of cold temperament symptoms and signs such as tiredness, constipation, obesity, and menstrual irregularities [19, 20]. Recent studies have shown the protective effect of ginger against thyroid damage in animals and humans [16, 26, 27]

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