Author(s)

Juris Pokrotnieks, Aleksey Derovs, Elena Derova, Diana Zandere, Alexei Odinets, Vladimir Mishailov

Department of Endoscopy, Latvian Maritime Medicine Centre, Riga, Latvia.
Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition Centre, Pauls Stradins Clinical University Hospital, Riga, Latvia.
Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition Centre, Pauls Stradins Clinical University Hospital, Riga, Latvia;.
Institute for Biomedical Problems of Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.
Russian Scientific Centre of Rehabilitation Medicine & Health Resorts, Moscow, Russia..

Despite the common nature of dyspeptic complaints, the treatment is still a problem. There is very little research done on the impact of dietary nutrition on the general health of the patients with dyspeptic complaints and overall nutritional safety. Study Objective: To evaluate the clinical effectiveness of the brown seaweed dietary product “Vitamarine” for the treatment of dyspepsia, as well as product safety. Material and Methods: An open, uncontrolled pilot study with questionnaires before and after the vitamarine course with the patient’s self-perception reports. Data were processed with multivariate analysis. Results: The study included 46 patients with 45 valid end result questionnaires for data processing. After 8 to 10 days use of vitamarine, 33 (76.8%) patients noted symptom disappearance or significant improvement, no improvement of symptoms or their increase was noted by 10 patients (23.2%). Complaints about weakness, fatigue and rapid tiredness significantly decreased or disappeared entirely (p = 0.04), including months long epi-gastric pain (p = 0.02) and constipation (p = 0.01). Conclusions: 1) Use of the dietetic food product “Vitamarine” with a dose of 50 - 60 g per day in two cases out of three improve the general well-being of the patients: months long dyspeptic abdominal pain and constipation disappear or significantly decrease. 2) In the first 8 - 10 days of the vitamarine course clinical effectiveness already can be noted. 3) Use of vitamarine is safe, including patients with a history of allergies to medications, elderly and patients with concomitant diseases.

Dyspeptic Complaints; Seaweed Dietary Products; Laminaria; Vitamarine

J. Pokrotnieks, A. Derovs, E. Derova, D. Zandere, A. Odinets and V. Mishailov, "Seaweed Dietetic Food for the Functional Gastrointestinal Complaint Treatment," Food and Nutrition Sciences, Vol. 4 No. 9, 2013, pp. 893-907. doi: 10.4236/fns.2013.49117.