Atkins, Tiffany, Manger, Sam, and Albarqouni, Loai (2026) Ginger for the treatment and prevention of migraine headaches: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine. (In Press)

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Abstract

Objective: To determine the efficacy of ginger (either stand-alone or as an adjunct treatment) for the treatment and management of migraine headaches.

Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Epistemonikos and Cochrane CENTRAL from inception to 26 March 2025 which was updated on 16 April 2026 and conducted a backwards and forwards citation search of included studies. We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that compared the effect of ginger (either stand-alone or as an adjunct) to placebo or usual active control (such as Depakine (valproic acid), amitriptyline or sumatriptan). Two authors independently screened articles, extracted data, assessed risk of bias using the Cochrane Risk of Bias 2 Tool (ROB-2) tool. Primary outcomes included headache severity or pain scores post-treatment, proportion of patients pain free or with pain relief post-treatment, frequency and duration of migraine attacks and migraine-associated symptoms. Random-effects meta-analyses were done and the certainty of evidence was assessed using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology.

Results: Eight RCTs involving 594 patients were included. For acute treatments, ginger with ketoprofen compared with placebo with ketoprofen may have little to no difference on headache severity at 2 hours post (mean difference (MD) 1.27 lower, 95% CI 1.46 lower to 1.08 lower; 1 study, 60 participants; low certainty evidence). It was very uncertain if ginger combined with feverfew versus placebo or ginger alone compared with sumatriptan improved proportions of those with pain relief, pain free or the mean headache severity at 2 hours post. For preventative treatment, ginger in addition to an active drug compared with the same active drug with or without placebo, may result in an important reduction in headache pain severity at 3 months (pooled MD −3.18, 95% CI −3.94 to −2.42; 2 studies, 183 participants; low certainty evidence). However, it was very uncertain if ginger combined with herbs compared with active drugs of both Depakine and amitriptyline lowered headache frequency, duration or headache severity at 3 months. The overall certainty of evidence for all outcome measures ranged from low to very low.

Conclusions: The volume of the existing evidence is limited and combined with either a low or very low certainty of evidence, it is currently too uncertain if ginger is effective either as an acute or preventative treatment. Therefore, additional acute and preventative trials are required to help raise the certainty of evidence

Item ID:	93831
Item Type:	Article (Refereed Research - C1)
ISSN:	2515-4478
Copyright Information:	© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2026. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ Group.
Funders:	National Health Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
Projects and Grants:	NHMRC 2008379
Date Deposited:	28 Aug 2026 02:23
FoR Codes:	42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4203 Health services and systems > 420319 Primary health care @ 50% 42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4206 Public health > 420699 Public health not elsewhere classified @ 50%
SEO Codes:	20 HEALTH > 2001 Clinical health > 200199 Clinical health not elsewhere classified @ 50% 20 HEALTH > 2004 Public health (excl. specific population health) > 200407 Health status (incl. wellbeing) @ 50%
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