Xiong XJ, Wang PQ, Li SJ, Li XK, Zhang YQ, Wang J. Garlic for hypertension: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
PHYTOMEDICINE : INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHYTOTHERAPY AND PHYTOPHARMACOLOGY 2015;
22:352-361. [PMID:
25837272 DOI:
10.1016/j.phymed.2014.12.013]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2014] [Revised: 12/26/2014] [Accepted: 12/30/2014] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND
In the past decade, garlic has become one of the most popular complementary therapies for blood pressure (BP) control used by hypertensive patients. Numerous clinical studies have focused on the BP-lowering effect of garlic, but results have been inconsistent. Overall, there is a dearth of information available to guide the clinical community on the efficacy of garlic in hypertensive patients.
AIM
To systematically review the medical literature to investigate the current evidence of garlic for the treatment of hypertension.
METHODS
PubMed, the Cochrane Library and EMBASE were searched for appropriate articles from their respective inceptions until August 2014. Randomized, placebo-controlled trials comparing garlic vs. a placebo in patients with hypertension were considered. Papers were independently reviewed by two reviewers and were analyzed using Cochrane software Revman 5.2.
RESULTS
A total of seven randomized, placebo-controlled trials were identified. Compared with the placebo, this meta-analysis revealed a significant lowering effect of garlic on both systolic BP (WMD: -6.71 mmHg; 95% CI: -12.44 to -0.99; P = 0.02) and diastolic BP (WMD: -4.79 mmHg; 95% CI: -6.60 to -2.99; P < 0.00001). No serious adverse events were reported in any of the trials.
CONCLUSION
The present review suggests that garlic is an effective and safe approach for hypertension. However, more rigorously designed randomized controlled trials focusing on primary endpoints with long-term follow-up are still warranted before garlic can be recommended to treat hypertensive patients.
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