In a trial led by the Mayo Clinic, the herb commonly known as American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius), showed good results in helping cancer patients with fatigue, when compared with a placebo.
The findings, which will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting, looked at 340 patients who were either in the post treatment phase or under going cancer treatment. 60% of the patients had breast cancer. Each day, the patients who were being treated at one of 40 different community medical centers were given 2,000 milligrams of pure American ginseng root in a capsule.
Researcher Debra Barton, Ph.D., of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center is quick to point out that quality of the herb is very important and people shouldn’t necessarily rush to their health food store and start taking any old ginseng. She goes on to say: “Off-the-shelf ginseng is sometimes processed using ethanol, which can give it estrogen-like properties that may be harmful to breast cancer patients.”
There wasn’t a great improvement after four weeks, obviously the herb took some time to work its magic, but at the eight week mark there was a sudden jump in the general energy levels reported by the group on ginseng when compared to the placebo group. General exhaustion diminished rapidly in those taking the Ginseng supplement.
Dr. Barton says the herb had no apparent side effects in the patients taking it, and comments: “After eight weeks, we saw a 20-point improvement in fatigue in cancer patients, measured on a 100-point, standardized fatigue scale.”
For more details please see https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/246262#1
Comments