Written by Jessica Patella, ND. Twenty-six weeks of chamomile supplementation significantly reduced anxiety, body weight, and blood pressure in the 46 study participants compared to the control group.
An estimated 9 million adults suffer from Generalized Anxiety Disorder, a disorder of excessive worry daily with fatigue, restlessness, difficulty concentrating, muscle tension and difficultly sleeping 1,2. Generalized Anxiety Disorder is the second most frequent panic disorder that primary care physicians treat 3. A recent study found that long-term supplementation of chamomile extract significantly reduced moderate-to-severe generalized anxiety disorder 1.
Chamomile is a small daisy-like plant with a white flower and is one of the most widely used herbal remedies 1. It is most commonly used for calming, such as an upset stomach or to help with sleep 4.
The recent research that included 179 participants was divided into two phases:
- Phase One – All the participants received pharmaceutical grade chamomile extract (500 mg 3 times daily, 1500 mg total) for 12 weeks.
- Phase Two – The participants who responded to chamomile were randomly divided to either continue chamomile (1500 mg total) or a placebo group for 26-weeks 1.
A total of 93 participants (51.9%) in Phase One responded positively to chamomile extract and agreed to continue to Phase Two. Response was defined as a reduction in the Generalized Anxiety Score (GAD-7) of at least 50% from baseline 1.
In Phase Two, 46 participants were randomized to continue chamomile extract and 47 participants were randomly placed in the placebo group for an additional 26 weeks 1.
After 26 weeks, the chamomile participants had significantly lower Generalized Anxiety Disorder scores compared to the placebo group (p=0.0032), as well as significant reductions in body weight (p=0.046) and blood pressure (p=0.0063) compared to placebo 1.
There were also fewer relapses in the chamomile group (15.2%) compared to the placebo group (25.5%) over the 26-week Phase Two period. Of those who did relapse, the time to relapse also occurred sooner in the placebo group, with an average time to relapse of 6.3 +/- 3.9 weeks compared to 11.4 +/- 8.4 weeks in the chamomile group 1 (p=0.16).
In conclusion, chamomile was shown to be effective in participants with moderate-to-severe Generalized Anxiety Disorder. This was the first long-term placebo controlled trial on chamomile in humans 1. Future research should be conducted to confirm these results in a larger trial 1.
Source: Mao, Jun J., Sharon X. Xie, John R. Keefe, Irene Soeller, Qing S. Li, and Jay D. Amsterdam. “Long-term chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) treatment for generalized anxiety disorder: A randomized clinical trial.” Phytomedicine 23, no. 14 (2016): 1735-1742.
©2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
Posted October 9, 2017.
References:
- Mao JJ, Xie SX, Keefe JR, Soeller I, Li QS, Amsterdam JD. Long-term chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) treatment for generalized anxiety disorder: A randomized clinical trial. Phytomedicine. 2016;23(14):1735-1742.
- Andrews G, Hobbs MJ, Borkovec TD, et al. Generalized worry disorder: a review of DSM‐IV generalized anxiety disorder and options for DSM‐V. Depression and anxiety. 2010;27(2):134-147.
- Kessler RC, DuPont RL, Berglund P, Wittchen H-U. Impairment in pure and comorbid generalized anxiety disorder and major depression at 12 months in two national surveys. American journal of psychiatry. 1999;156(12):1915-1923.
- WebMD. Chamomile – Topic Overview. 2017; Overview of chamomile. Available at: https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/tc/chamomile-topic-overview. Accessed October 6, 2017, 2017.
