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Pooled review (meta-analysis)

Pooled review of 29 herb trials: lower anxiety scores with ashwagandha in small trials

Zhang and colleagues · Pharmacological research · 2022

Original title: Medicinal herbs for the treatment of anxiety: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Under review. A person has not yet checked this summary against the paper. It is written from the PubMed abstract. Until a person checks it, search engines are asked not to list this page.

What the study found

Points to benefit

For Withania somnifera, anxiety score (HAMA) was lower (MD: -4.90, 95% CrI: -9.70 to -0.17), but the trials were small. Authors call all results preliminary.

The study at a glance

Type of study
Pooled review (meta-analysis)
Who or what was studied
29 studies · adults with diagnosed or mild anxiety in 29 trials of 12 herbs
What was tested
Many herbs compared with placebo or standard treatment, including Withania somnifera
What it measured
The question itself: stress, anxiety and cortisol
Who has a stake
No disclosure in PubMed
No disclosure in PubMed.
Journal
Pharmacological research, 2022
Source
PubMed record 35378276. This page is based on the abstract only.

How much this study counts

  • ✓Pools the results of 29 studies.
  • •A pooled review is only as strong as the studies it pools.
  • ✓Measured the question itself: stress, anxiety and cortisol.
  • •The PubMed record has no conflict-of-interest statement.
  • •Summarized from the PubMed abstract only. The full paper may hold details the abstract leaves out.

✓ Strength– Limit• Note

These points come from fixed rules about the type of study, its size and length, what it measured, and who has a stake. Every study on Digestery gets the same rules.

Where this study sits

This paper is not on the ladder. It is a pooled review (meta-analysis), and reviews and opinion pieces discuss studies that are already counted on the steps below.

↑ Stronger evidence

  1. Trials in people: stress and anxiety

    9

    7 benefit, 2 no difference

  2. Trials in people: other measures

    6

    3 benefit, 1 mixed, 1 no difference, 1 no direction

  3. Trials in people: lab tests or safety

    1

    1 benefit

  4. Population studies

    1

    1 benefit

  5. Blood levels and genes

    0

    None among the papers we read.

↓ Weaker evidence

  • Points to benefit
  • Mixed
  • No difference
  • No direction
  • Points to harm

How it fits with the other research

The short answer to “Does ashwagandha reduce stress and anxiety?”

Possibly, but the evidence is weak.

Confidence: low. Based on 24 on-topic papers.

Read the full answer

Other reviews on this question

See all 24 studies on this question

How this page was made

Label

First read of the abstract
Claude Sonnet
Independent second read
Claude Haiku
Differences settled
The reviewer corrected 1 field after reading the abstract. Claude Opus 5.5.
Headline
Claude Sonnet, from the checked study record. A script checked its numbers and wording.
Numbers
Checked against the abstract by a script
“How much this study counts”
Fixed rules, the same for every study
Source check by a person
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