Ginseng’s medicinal properties have been widely studied. Panax ginseng – is a widely researched plant species. Traditionally, ginseng is regarded as both a physical and mental restorant. It improves patients’ cognitive ability, quality of life, and behavior.
Studies conducted on healthy individuals given Panax ginseng doses of 200 mg of extract daily showed increased QTc interval. They decreased diastolic blood pressure two hours after ingestion on the first day of therapy (Caron et al., 2002).
It has also been shown that a dose-dependent improvement in memory quality was seen in experiments conducted on volunteers who were administered Ginkgo biloba and Panax ginseng treatment. The biggest improvement was observed in those given the highest dose (Kennedy et al., 2001). Positive results were also observed when Ginkgo biloba and Panax ginseng were given to the volunteer patients with neurasthenic complaints (Wesnes et al., 1997).
On the other hand, no memory or cognitive improvement was noticed in post-menopausal women volunteers. In the study, volunteers were administered a combination of Ginkgo biloba and Panax ginseng called gincosan over a sustained period (Hartley et al., 2013).
Traditionally, treatment with Panax ginseng has been used to lower blood glucose levels and improve cognitive abilities. A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial confirms that Panax ginseng may possess glucoregulatory properties and can enhance cognitive performance (Reay et al., 2005).
On the other hand, change was observed when the subjective mood and aspects of working memory processes in healthy volunteers were studied following treatment with Panax ginseng (Reay et al., 2010).
Another study indicated that patients’ mental and social functioning improved after four weeks of therapy with Panax ginseng. This improvement attenuates with continued use (Ellis et al., 2002). Similar dose-dependent action of combination therapy with Ginkgo biloba and Panax ginseng was observed in healthy young volunteers (Scholey et al., 2002).
These studies do indicate the role of ginseng in anxiety management. However, most of this work is restricted to small groups of individuals. Extensive clinical trials widely distributed geographically and across a full range of subjects will be required to come to a definitive conclusion on ginseng’s medicinal properties.
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