Effect of chamomile infusion as anti-emetic treatment in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy in the INCAN

Abstract

The present work was carried out with the objective of evaluating the use of chamomile infusion (Matricaria chamomilla), as an alternative antiemetic treatment in patients who consumed the infusion compared to a control group, which was carried out in the chemotherapy department of the Instituto National Cancerology, -INCAN-.

To achieve the objective of the work, a placebo (linden tea) chamomile infusion was administered to patients who arrived at the chemotherapy department for a month (189 patients), who were divided into two groups; a control group and an experimental group, these in turn were subdivided into two groups, one that was given the infusion before treatment and another group that was given before and after it. The infusion was administered to each of the groups half an hour before treatment and half an hour later, depending on the case. each infusion was prepared with 4 grams of chamomile or linden in a cup of boiling water, no sweetener was added to any infusion. The type of chemotherapy treatment received by the patients who participated in the study was heterogeneous, since they had different types of drugs for suffering from different types of cancer. Approximately six hours after the application of the treatment, they were asked how they had felt, if they had had nausea and how often, the results were recorded on the results tabulation sheet.

The results obtained show that the frequency of post-chemotherapy nausea in patients who consumed chamomile infusion before and after was lower, in a proportion of 27% in relation to those who only consumed it before treatment; and in comparison with the placebo (Tilo tea), it was found that the frequency of nausea in the two groups was higher, so the hypotheses proposed are accepted since a better response was obtained with the patients who received the chamomile infusion , so it can be concluded that the infusion of chamomile in the concentration of four grams per 250 ml of water helps reduce nausea in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy treatment.