Taibi Diana M, Landis Carol A, Petry Heidi, Vitiello Michael V
Women's Health Nursing Research Training Grant, Department of Family and Child Nursing, University of Washington, Box 357262, Seattle, WA 98195-7262, USA.
Sleep Med Rev. 2007 Jun;11(3):209-30. doi: 10.1016/j.smrv.2007.03.002.
Valerian is an herb that is widely available in a variety of commercial preparations and is commonly used as a sleep aid. A recent systematic review and meta-analysis of valerian concluded that evidence in support of the effectiveness of the herb was inconclusive. Therefore, in an effort to more closely examine this issue, a systematic review was conducted to examine the evidence on the efficacy of valerian as a sleep aid with specific attention to the type of preparations tested and the characteristics of the subjects studied. A comprehensive search of studies investigating valerian was conducted through computerized databases and hand searches of reference lists. Standardized forms were used to summarize findings and standardized criteria were used to assess study quality. Out of 592 articles initially identified, a total of 36 articles describing 37 separate studies met criteria for review: 29 controlled trials evaluated for both efficacy and safety, and eight open-label trials evaluated for safety only. Most studies found no significant differences between valerian and placebo either in healthy individuals or in persons with general sleep disturbance or insomnia. None of the most recent studies, which were also the most methodologically rigorous, found significant effects of valerian on sleep. Overall, the evidence, while supporting that valerian is a safe herb associated with only rare adverse events, does not support the clinical efficacy of valerian as a sleep aid for insomnia.
缬草是一种草药，在各种商业制剂中广泛可得，常用于辅助睡眠。最近一项关于缬草的系统评价和荟萃分析得出结论，支持该草药有效性的证据尚无定论。因此，为了更深入地研究这个问题，进行了一项系统评价，以检验缬草作为助眠剂有效性的证据，特别关注所测试制剂的类型和所研究受试者的特征。通过计算机数据库全面检索了调查缬草的研究，并人工检索了参考文献列表。使用标准化表格总结研究结果，并使用标准化标准评估研究质量。在最初识别的592篇文章中，共有36篇描述37项独立研究的文章符合纳入综述的标准：29项对照试验同时评估了疗效和安全性，8项开放标签试验仅评估了安全性。大多数研究发现，在健康个体、一般睡眠障碍者或失眠者中，缬草与安慰剂之间没有显著差异。最近的研究也是方法学上最严谨的研究，均未发现缬草对睡眠有显著影响。总体而言，证据虽然支持缬草是一种安全的草药，仅伴有罕见的不良事件，但不支持缬草作为失眠助眠剂的临床疗效。
