Chamomile Is Effective in Calming Anxiety

Ancient Egyptians grew chamomile to treat a variety of ills, chiefly gastrointestinal or ‘women’s ailments’.  It’s use received a boost when The Tale of Peter Rabbit was published in 1902; it contains a passage in which Peter is given chamomile tea by his mother after an adventurous day.  Surprisingly, there has never been a published study of its safety and effectiveness – until now.  The Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology rectifies this with a report of a study of chamomile in people with anxiety (generalized anxiety disorder, or GAD, to be precise).

Fifty-seven subjects with mild to moderate GAD were randomly assigned to take chamomile extract or a matching placebo, for 8 weeks.  The Hamilton Anxiety Rating (HAM-A) scale was used to grade their GAD. 

There was a significantly greater reduction in the average total HAM-A score in the chamomile vs. the placebo subjects.   One patient in each group dropped out because of an adverse event.  However, the proportion of subjects experiencing adverse events was the same in both treatment groups.

The authors of the study say the results show that chamomile may have moderate activity in patients with mild to moderate GAD and may potentially be used in those who are averse to traditional pharmacotherapy.  And now there’s evidence to show that an herbal tea is an effective remedy – something for the advocates of alternative medicine to crow about.