Valerian:Efficacy in Stress/Anxiety Reduction and as a Sleep Aide

1
ValerianEfficacy in Stress/Anxiety Reduction and
as a Sleep Aide
2
Valerian and Stress/Anxiety Reduction

• Why should valerian work to reduce stress and
  anxiety?
• Valerian contains several compounds that act to
  effectively relax the Central Nervous System
  (CNS)
• Flavanoids such as valepotriates, valereneic
  acid, and glutamine are purported to increase
  realease and decrease the uptake of GABA
  (gamma-amino butyric acid), a neurotransmitter in
  the CNS.
• GABA acts to relieve anxiety, promoting a cool,
  calm attitude

3
Case Studies Supporting Valerian

• Department of Psychology, University of Surrey
• Psychopharmacology Research Group
• Department of Pharmacology, Federal University of
  Parana

4
Case Study on Healthy Volunteers

• 54 participants, separated into three groups
• 18 subjects taking valerian for 7 days
• 18 subjects taking kava for 7 days
• 18 subjects as a control
• Two mental stress tests were given one week apart
• One test before valerian and one after the week
• Heart rate, and Blood Pressure were recorded.

5
Did it Work?

• Comparing Test One and Test Two in Valerian Group
• Systolic Blood pressure decreased
• Heart rate in relation to mental stress was said
  to decrease
• Subjects stated feeling less pressure during test
  two
• This study proposes that Valerian may benefit
  health by reducing physiological harm caused from
  stress

6
Study Problems

• Subjects reported feeling less pressure during
  Test two but
• It was their second time taking the test
• The study did not report if there was any change
  in the Tests form
• This may not have only influence the pressure the
  individuals felt but also the physiological
  results

7
Study on Stress Patients

• Nineteen subjects suffering from stressed-
  induced insomnia
• First, subjects received six weeks of kava
• Then a two week wash-out period
• Subjects then received 600mg of valerian daily
  for another six weeks
• Another washout period
• Followed by six more weeks of both valerian and
  kava
• Results were measured in relation to social,
  life, and personal situations

8
Did it Work?

• The study reported that the result of taking each
  compound by itself resulted in a lowering in the
  level of the subjects overall stress.
• The study declared that this experiment showed
  promising results for further research

9
Study Problems

• This studies sample size wasnt very big
• There was no control in this experiment
• There wasnt much information on how the
  subjects life, personal, and social event stress
  level were measured.

10
Study with Anxiety Patients

• This study had 36 outpatient subjects who were
  diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder
• There was a two week wash-out period
• Subjects were randomly put into one of three
  treatments for a four week period
• Valepotriates- 81.3 mg per day
• Diazepam- 6.5 mg per day
• Placebo group
• The study was described as having a, parallel,
  double-blind, flexible-dose, placebo-controlled
  design

11
Did it Work?

• All three groups showed a significant decrease in
  the Hamilton anxiety inventory
• The overall result was that there is a
  possibility that the valepotriates may have an
  effect on stress, and further studies are
  warranted

12
Study Problems

• One main source of question was that the results
  state that there was a significant decrease in
  the total Hamilton anxiety scores represented all
  three groups, including the placebo group
• This suggests other, possibly psychological,
  factors could have played a role in the results

13
Valerian Efficacy as a Sleep Aide
14
Methods

• Placebo controlled, single-blinded study
• Gathered 7 days of baseline information regarding
  sleep quality
• Followed by 7 days of supplementation (The BLUE
  pill) taken approximately a half-hour before
  subjects went to sleep
• Results were gathered utilizing a Sleep Survey
  to measure any effects the supplement may have
  had.

15
Results
16
Results Continued

• For questions 1-9 No major differences between
  supplementation period and baseline period
• Question 10 Feel physically awake during the
  day?
• -Appears to be a difference between
  supplementation period
• and baseline period.
• -Value was lower for the supplementation
  period
• - Most likely due to one subject
  taking a codeine cough
• medicine during supplementation
  period
• no adverse side effects reported by subjects
  taking the supplement

17
Even More Results

• For the next graph, we changed the scoring system
  used in the survey so that a recorded score of 5
  is desirable for each question. Example
• So, we did this for all the questions, therefore,
  the ideal nights sleep score adds up to 50

No 5 4 Somewhat 3 2 Yes 1
Have trouble falling asleep
Wake up during the night and have difficulty getting back to sleep
Wake up too early in the morning and have difficulty getting back to sleep
Feel excessively sleepy during the day
18
Last Results Slide, I Promise!
19
Conclusions

• There was no day to day change in overall sleep
  quality during the supplementation period.
• There was no difference in the average scores
  reported on the survey between the
  supplementation period and baseline period (the
  one question where they did differ can be
  explained by a subject using codeine)
• Therefore, we conclude that whatever we did have
  (valerian or placebo) did not work to improve
  sleep quality.

20
Limitations

• There are several confounding variables that
  could very likely have had an impact on our
  results. These would include
• Having a cold or illness, these can often make us
  tired, such as mono, or effect our sleep pattern
  and mood
• Taking other drugs or dietary supplements could
  possible decrease the absorption rate of the
  pill, some people could even be on prescription
  sleep aids or sedatives that would change the
  result of our supplement.
• We did not control the time we went to bed, the
  time we awoke, and how long we slept. Many of us
  could have had an early class or work and
  regardless of how good the sleep was, it just
  wasnt enough hours
• The population was not randomly chosen. College
  kids are known for outrageous sleeping patterns
  and irregular schedules. Our bodies are not
  adjusted to a certain schedule,so any kind of
  activity could alter our response
• The dosage was also small, and the trial time was
  limited. An ideal study would have been four to
  six weeks long to allow our bodies to adjust to
  the drug, and each person would get a dose that
  would be proportionate to their body size.
• Physical activity, other sedatives or stimulants
  could have altered the effect of the drug since
  exercise is known for increasing hormones that
  keep you awake and drinking alcohol puts many
  people to sleep

21
Suggestions for Future Research

• Make a baseline for what was a long time to get
  to sleep, and what was short. For some people,
  not falling asleep in ten minutes is long for
  them while for others it may be at least an hour.
• Another good question would be how long it took
  to get out of bed in the morning, and how many
  total hours of sleep each person got. Being able
  to compare how many hours a person got before and
  during use of the supplement would make a much
  clearer case.
• Also, each time a person takes a nap, that alters
  their sleep schedule and can have a huge effect
  on how they feel and answer the survey at the end
  of the day. An additional question on the survey
  of many naps, and for how long would greatly
  improve the validity of the study.
• The most obvious change we could make though
  would be for each participant to keep a journal
  before and during the supplement use, recording
  their food intake, activity patterns and other
  medications or supplements being used. There are
  so many confounding variables that could effect
  the results, a journal would be a good start to
  monitoring each participant individually.

22
Thanks for Listening!