Kava treatment in patients with anxiety

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Abstract
In several clinical trials, mainly conducted with a dose of 300 mg kava extract per day, kava has been employed successfully for the treatment of anxiety disorders. The goal of the placebo‐controlled double‐blind outpatient trial was to obtain more information on the dosage range and efficacy of a kava special extract WS 1490 in patients with non‐psychotic anxiety. 50 patients were treated with a daily dose of 3 × 50 mg WS 1490 during a 4‐week treatment period followed by a 2‐week safety observation phase. In the active treatment group, the total score of the Hamilton anxiety scale (primary efficacy variable), showed a therapeutically relevant reduction in anxiety versus placebo (more than 4 points). In the secondary variables studied, HAMA ‘somatic and psychic anxiety’ subscales, the Erlangen anxiety, tension and aggression scale (EAAS), the brief personality structure scale (KEPS), the adjective checklist (EWL 60‐S) and clinical global impressions scale (CGI), a trend in favour of the active treatment was detectable. WS 1490 was well tolerated and showed a safety profile with no drug‐related adverse events or post‐study withdrawal symptoms. It can be concluded that the applied 150 mg WS 1490 per day is an effective and safe treatment of non‐psychotic anxiety syndromes in the described population. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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