Safety and Efficacy of Ya-That-Ban-Job in Flatulence Reduction

Abstract

Ya-That-Ban-Job is an anti-diarrheal preparation on the Thai National List of Herbal Medicinal Products A.D. 2011. It is also used for balancing GI symptoms such as dyspepsia, diarrhea, and flatulence. This prospective observational study aimed to study the safety and efficacy of Ya-That-Ban-Job in flatulence reduction. Forty-nine subjects, who were having dyspepsia without serious complications and met the inclusion criteria, participated in the study. They were treated with Ya-That-Ban-Job: four capsules of 250 mg, three times a day before breakfast, lunch, and dinner, for 7 consecutive days. Data were collected on the levels of flatulence (numeric rating scale:
NRS), bowel movement (beats/min), belch (times/day), fart (times/day) and waist circumference (cm) before treatment (day 0) and after taking the evening meal of each day (days 1–7) as well as adverse drug reactions, between 1 July and 31 December 2017. Data analysis was undertaken using paired t- test and repeated measures ANOVA. The results showed that the level of flatulence  significantly decreased from 7.67 ± 1.61 on day 0 (beginning medication) to 0.06 ± 0.24 on day 7 (p < 0.001). On day 7, the mean level of burping was 5.00 ± 5.66 times/day and farting was 2.51 ± 2.87 times/day – a significant increase (p < 0.001), the mean level of bowel movements was 9.29 ± 3.71 times/min, and the mean waist circumference significantly decreased to 82.47 ± 8.35 cm (p < 0.001). The patients’ abdominal pain scores improved significantly by more than 50% after 2 days of medication (5.06 ± 1.57; p < 0.001). No adverse drug events were observed. Thus, Ya-That-Ban-Job can reduce flatulence as it can probably help release gas from the digestive system via belching and farting, resulting in obvious changes after taking the drug for 2–3 days.