de Oliveira Campos, M. P., Riechelmann, R., Martins, L. C., Hassan, B. J., Casa, F. B., & Del Giglio, A. (2011). Guarana (Paullinia cupana) improves fatigue in breast cancer patients undergoing systemic chemotherapy. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 17, 505–512.
To determine whether the average decrease in fatigue from days 1 (baseline) to 21 and from days 21 to 49 was greater in patients who received guarana versus placebo, as measured by Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy–Fatigue (FACIT-F) scores.
Patients received baseline evaluations with questionnaires, then 50 mg of guarana or placebo twice daily, study questionnaires 21 days later, and a seven-day washout of the drug. Patients were then crossed over to the opposite group for 21 days of the drug, followed by questionnaire completion and toxicity assessment.
The study took place in two public and academic hospitals in São Paulo, Brazil.
Patients were undergoing the active treatment phase of care.
This was a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, crossover trial.
More patients showed improvement in FACIT-F in the guarana group at day 21 (p = 0.01) and day 49 (p = 0.02). Chalder Fatigue Scale scores decreased by 4.6 points on day 21 (p < 0.01), with no significance for day 49 compared to placebo. Sleep improvement was seen at day 49 (p = 0.05). Four patients discontinued guarana use because of tachycardia. Analysis was conducted between groups on specific days of the study, rather than analyzing the intervention condition and control condition as a whole between groups.
Guarana showed a superior effect to placebo in improving fatigue in patients with breast cancer undergoing treatment.
Guarana may be an option to treat fatigue in this population, but additional research is needed to provide support for its clinical use. Patients should be cautioned on its use if they have angina, other cardiovascular disease, uncontrolled hypertension, or neurologic disorders.