Ginger: an ancient remedy and modern miracle drug.

Ginger has been used safely for thousands of years in cooking, and medicinally in folk and home remedies. Advanced technology enables the validation of these traditional experiences. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) has evaluated the results of the available studies, rating the reports from "suggestive" (for short-term use of Ginger for safe relief from pregnancy related nausea and vomiting), to "mixed" (when used for nausea caused by motion sickness, chemotherapy, or surgery), and to "unclear" for treating rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, or joint and muscle pain). NCCAM has funded investigators to study interactions of ginger with drugs (immunosuppressants), its effect of reducing nausea in patients receiving chemotherapy, and the safety and effectiveness of its use for health purposes, as well as its impact on inflammation. Upon completion of these studies, the scope of ginger's use will be clearly identified and incorporated into mainstream therapeutic options, thereby integrating east and west, old with new, to render ginger as a true "Universal Remedy".