Effects of Artemisia supplementation on anorexia in hemodialysis patients: a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trial.

OBJECTIVES One of the most important problems of hemodialysis (HD) patients is anorexia due to the lack of proper treatment for it and on the other hand kidney disease is increasing. We designed a randomized controlled clinical trial to investigate the effects of Artemisia supplementation on anorexia in HD patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was carried out on 58 subjects with HD, aged 55-65 years old. Participants were randomly divided into two groups. One group received 250 mg/day of Artemisia supplement capsule for six weeks (n=26), and the other group was given placebo for the same time duration and dosage (n=32). The serum concentrations of urea, creatinine, albumin and hemoglobin were measured enzymatically using commercial kits. Anorexia score was measured using a Simplified Nutritional Appetite Questionnaire (SNAQ). Independent t-test analysis were applied to evaluate the data. RESULTS The results showed that the Artemisia supplementation significantly improved the anorexia in HD patients, for six weeks (p 0.05). CONCLUSION According to the outcomes of this study, Artemisia supplementation can be effective as an adjunct therapy for improve anorexia in HD patients.