Title : Effect of rose oil on gastroesophageal reflux disease in comparison with omeprazole: A double-blind controlled trial
Abstract:
Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) is one of the most common gastrointestinal complaints. The disease leads to troublesome symptoms such as heartburn and regurgitation and has a chronic, relapsing disease course.
Among various natural compounds that have been used in this condition, Rose oil, derived from Persian medical manuscripts and produced by maceration of rose petals in sesame oil for 25 days under sunlight, has been newly proposed as an effective treatment in gastric ailments.
The study is a randomized, double-blind controlled trial in which rose oil softgel was compared with omeprazole capsule on GERD.
The study population was 70 outpatients admitted to the GI clinic of Rasoul Akram hospital, Tehran, Iran. A gastroenterologist visited each patient, and GERD was diagnosed clinically.
Inclusion criteria included: Patients between 16 to 80 years old, patients having at least 12 weeks of history of GERD, and no history of peptic ulcer.
Exclusion criteria included: Appearance of adverse drug effects and loss of patient compliance. After achieving the ethical code and registering the trial in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT), GERD patients enrolled in the study filled out the written consent form, and the research conditions were explained.
After that, the patients were randomly divided into two 35-patient groups: Group one: Rose oil softgel (two softgels TDS) + one placebo capsule (once daily). Group two: One 20 mg omeprazole capsule (once daily) + placebo softgel (two softgels TDS).
Three visits were accomplished for each patient; At the First admission, ten days later, and 20 days later. The Mayo gastro-esophageal reflux questionnaire (GERQ) was used to evaluate the manifestations in all three visits. Then, data gathering and analysis with SPSS software were done.
Results showed that Rose oil softgel could significantly improve four important manifestations of GERD, including the number of heartburn episodes and the number and severity of regurgitations, chest pain, and odynophagia (p<0.05). However, it did not indicate any significant difference between the two groups.
According to the results, Rose oil can alleviate cardinal manifestations of GERD. Moreover, as there is no significant difference between Rose oil and omeprazole, Rose oil softgel can be used as a trustable supplementary treatment along with proton pump inhibitors.
Audience Take Away:
- Our research introduces rose oil as a new herbal medicament for the treatment of GERD.
- This achievement could be the subject for future researches in the treatment of GERD.
- Further investigations on rose oil can clarify other aspects of rose oil therapeutic effects.
