American Ginseng Study
By Andrew Gaeddert
A few years ago, Dr. Judy Gale was feeling severe abdominal pain. “I was admitted to the hospital and they diagnosed the pancreatic cancer,” she said. Four out of five pancreatic cancer patients do not survive past a year after diagnosis, but Dr. Gale did.
However, she was weakened by the disease as well as radiation and chemotherapy treatments. “It was hard for me to make it through a whole day of work,” she added. Luckily, Dr. Gale was able to enroll in a 258 patient study conducted by the Missouri Valley Cancer Consortium studying American ginseng.
Dr. Gale was in the highest dosage group at 2,000 milligrams a day. “I could get through the day much easier,” Gale said. “I didn’t fall asleep as often during meetings and things, which I used to do. I could do my walks after work. I wasn’t so tired from work that I couldn’t do something else.” “This may be a major advance in helping fatigue in cancer patients,” said Peter Todd Silberstein, MD one of the investigators of the study. The study showed that one out of four patients on ginseng recorded a significant improvement from the ginseng, and one out of 10 recorded an improvement from just a placebo. Species of ginseng other than American ginseng were not tested.1
American ginseng has long been recommended by TCM doctors as a complementary treatment for cancer patients. American ginseng not only improves energy and digestive function, but also treats dryness and yin deficiency. A number of studies have also shown that American ginseng helps modulate immune response, and recently a proprietary extract has been shown effective in preventing acute respiratory illness in institutionalized seniors.2, 3
CordySeng™ contains American ginseng which is also used by chemo and radiation therapy patients.4
Notes
- 1. KETV.com. http://www.ketv.com/health/15047318/detail.htm.
- 2. McElhaney JE, Goel V, Toane B, Hooten J, Shan JJ. 2006. Efficacy of COLD-fx in the prevention of respiratory symptoms in community-dwelling adults: a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial. J Altern Complement Med 12:153-7.
- 3. McElhaney JE, Gravenstein S, Cole SK, Davidson E, O’Neil D, Petitjean S, Rumble B, Shan JJ. 2004 A placebo controlled trial of a proprietary extract of North American ginseng (CVT-E002) to prevent acute respiratory illness in institutionalized older adults.
- 4. http://www.ketv.com/health/15047318/detail.htm.
Isatis, Chemo and Radiotherapy
By Andrew Gaeddert
Recently, The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine published a trial evaluating isatis root (ba len gen) on acute mucositis induced by radiation. Mucositis is the painful inflammation and ulceration of the mucous membranes lining the digestive tract. It is a common adverse effect of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The pain is often described as a burning sensation and may lead to difficulty speaking, eating, or even opening the mouth. Taste may also be altered, and sometimes only a partial recovery occurs. In the trial, isatis root reduced the severity of radiation mucositis, anorexia, and swallowing difficulty.1 Isatis root is commonly incorporated into formulas for the treatment of upper respiratory infection, hepatitis, and viral infection of the skin. In clinical practice, isatis root is often combined with isatis leaf (da qing ye) such as in the herbal formula Isatis Gold™ and Health Concerns’ Clear Heat™. For patients unable to swallow, these potent formulas can be ground into powders and taken with hot water as teas. Whereas, Clear Heat contains many potent anti-viral Chinese herbs such as lonicera (jin yin hua), andrographis (chuan xin lian), and viola (zi hua di ding), Isatis Gold is an East-West blend containing goldenseal root, which has been traditionally used to soothe inflamed mucus membranes.
Reference
- 1 The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 2009. Vol. 15(7): pp 1-8.