0694 Safety and Efficacy of Ashwagandha for sleep: A Systematic Review
Authors: Ashraf Sahar , Shah Kaushal , Aedma Kapil , Mansuri Zeeshan , Jain Shailesh 
Published: May 2022

Introduction

Ashwagandha has been around for about two thousand years. It is known as Indian Ginseng, winter cherry, and poison gooseberry. In recent years, the benefits of Ashwagandha tohave been explored in various studies due to the popularity of alternative therapeutic options in masses worldwide. Sleep is vital to the rejuvenation of the mind and body by replenishing the energy to carry on life activities. Sleep disorder is a major limitation in living life to full potential and Ashwagandha, known as beneficial for reducing stress and anxiety, is proven to improve the quality of sleep in individuals. In this systematic review, we study the efficacy of Ashwagandha in improving sleep and its safety for its users.

Methods

A literature search was conducted using relevant MeSH keywords, “Withania” and “Aswagandha” in the context of “Sleep,” “Sleep-Wake Disorders,” or “Sleepiness” in PubMed, PubMed Central, Medline, Web of Science, Biosis, and SciELO databases. We identified all published relevant articles from inception until 11/20/2021 and included 8 studies in our final qualitative synthesis review.

Results

Ashwagandha has been shown to have beneficial effects in decreasing time to fallasleep, improving duration, quality of sleep, and mood upon awakening. Many studies demonstrated these beneficial effects with clinical significance using multiple rating scales of assessment. Most studies explored the safety profile of Ashwagandha for the subjects. In most studies, there were no adverse events reported, and its use is termed safe and beneficial. Few studies reported some minor side effects, such as in a randomized clinical trial, RCT, by Deshpande A. et al. (2020), headaches, fever, acid reflux, and allergic dermatitis were reported.1A randomized clinical trial by Langade D. et al. in 2019 showed that Ashwagandha shortens the sleep onset latency significantly (p,0.019) after 10 weeks of with test [29.00(7.14)] compared to placebo [33.94(7.65)]. There was a significant improvement in sleep efficiency, SE scores at 83.48 (2.83) after 10 weeks 75.63(2.70) for the test at the baseline compared to placebo.2 In another pilot study by Sharma H. et al. (2007), there was a significant improvement in sleep duration, sleep quality (91.67%, p&lt;0.001), and mood upon awakening (88.89%, p&lt;0.001).3

Conclusion

The findings support the efficacy of Ashwagandha for improving sleep quality. Due to the limited availability of data and well-designed studies warrants further research through cohort studies and clinical trials to determine the exact mechanism of action and benefits for sleep.

Support (If Any)

References:1. Deshpande, A., Irani, N., Balkrishnan, R., & Benny, I. R. (2020). A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to evaluate the effects of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) extract on sleep quality in healthy adults. Sleep medicine, 72, 28–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2020.03.0122. Langade, D., Kanchi, S., Salve, J., Debnath, K., & Ambegaokar, D. (2019). Efficacy and Safety of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) Root Extract in Insomnia and Anxiety: A Double-blind, Randomized, Placebo-controlled Study. Cureus, 11(9), e5797. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.57973. Sharma, H., Chandola, H. M., Singh, G., & Basisht, G. (2007). Utilization of Ayurveda in health care: an approach for prevention, health promotion, and treatment of disease. Part 2--Ayurveda in primary health care. Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.), 13(10), 1135–1150. https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2007.7017-B