Is Valerian effective for anxiety?

Anxiety disorders are quite common in our society. Anxiety can vary in intensity and can severely affect one’s lifestyle. There are many medications available to treat anxiety but none is ideal and all of them have side effects. For this reason, many individuals with anxiety have now been turning to alternative health care for treatment of anxiety. One of the natural substances high highly recommended by the herbalist for anxiety is valerian.

Valerian is a herb sold as a dietary supplement in health food stores. It is a common ingredient in natural products recommended for sleep, tension, and stress relief. As far as clinical evidence about its sedating ability is concerned, most of the data are inconclusive and not supportive. Nevertheless, the herb is found to be safe when ingested for a short time, but there are no long-term data.

As far as anxiety is concerned, the effectiveness of Valerian is a puzzle. To date, all reports about valerian for treatment of anxiety are anecdotal and most are made by the vendors of this product. Individuals who take valerian seem to indicate that it does not work all the time. Other individuals have tried out different brand names of the same herb and found no difference in the anxiety symptoms.

As far as clinical evidence is concerned, there is very little data. However, recently Cochrane reviews looked at one randomized study involving 36 patients with generalized anxiety. This 4-week study compared valerian to diazepam and a placebo. The patient population was homogenous and various scales were used to measure anxiety symptoms. At the end of 4 weeks, valerian was no different from the sugar pill when it came to relief of anxiety symptoms. Diazepam was more effective than valerian when it came to symptom relief for anxiety. The only good news about valerian was that no patients reported side effects.

So what about the consumer with anxiety?

This was only one small study but again, despite all the hype about valerian, it did nothing for relief of symptoms of anxiety. Even though benzodiazepines have side effects and are addictive, these drugs still remain effective for anxiety. The other negative about benzodiazepines is that they are expensive and often interact adversely with other drugs. For the individual with anxiety, the choice of how to treat anxiety is difficult. Should one take a herb which is useless and moderately expensive or take a drug which is very expensive, has side effects but works?

The answer- neither. Try Buspirone. This non-addictive drug does not impair mechanical performance such as driving. Response to Buspirone occurs approximately in two weeks, as compared to the more rapid onset associated with benzodiazepines. The only negative- individuals who have previously taken benzodiazepines for the treatment of anxiety generally do not respond well to Buspirone.


http://www.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab004515.html

Herbs and Anxiety

Anxiety can be a troublesome disorder often associated with both physiological and psychological changes in the body. The emotional and behavioural symptoms can be very unpleasant and typically include apprehension, excessive worry or a feeling of impending doom. In most people, anxiety is a typical response to stress and helps one cope with a difficult situation. However, in some individuals the symptoms do become excessive and start to dictate behavior.

The majority of individuals who have chronic anxiety are referred to a psychiatrist or a psychologist. The treatment of anxiety is often a combination of drug therapy and cognitive behavior counseling. However, a number of individuals do poor with conventional medical therapies and have started to seek out alternative health care remedies. One of these therapies is the use of herbs.

There have been a number of herbs which have been evaluated for their role in treating anxiety. The most common herbs used to treat anxiety are kava, passion flower, valerian and theanine.

Kava has been the most studied and is probably the one which is the most sold in health food stores. Several short term studies have shown that it can reduce anxiety in within a few days after starting the herb. The majority of individuals who have taken kava are now unwilling to take any conventional medications.

However, recently there have been reports of Kava and liver damage. There are reports in the literature that after short term use Kava can induce a form of hepatitis and liver failure. In Europe, Kava has been banned from health food stores. In the USA, the FDA has issued warnings to health stores about this herb. Kava is currently widely available in the USA and the FDA is still deciding on its future.
Passion flower, valerian and theanine have also been shown to reduce anxiety and are considered safe. So far the side effects reported have been mild and of a short duration.

One of the major problem with herbs is that the quality and quantity is variable in each formulation. Herbs are sold as dietary supplements and thus often do not undergo the strict quality control required of a drug. Recent reports also indicate that many herbal products from the orient have contaminants; and fake products are not unheard of.

So if you are considering taking a herbal supplement for your anxiety, discuss this with your health care provider. Even though herbs are cheaper than pharmaceutical medications, you do not want to end up paying more to treat complications of these natural remedies.