The name "ginseng" is collectively used to describe several plant species, including Panax ginseng (Asian/Oriental ginseng), P. quinquefolius (American ginseng), P. pseudoginseng (Pseudoginseng) and Eleutherococcus senticosus (Siberian ginseng), each with different applications in traditional medicine practices. The use of a generic name may lead to the interchangeable use or substitution of ra...

Actoprotectors are preparations that increase the mental performance and enhance body stability against physical loads without increasing oxygen consumption. Actoprotectors are regarded as a subclass of adaptogens that hold a significant capacity to increase physical performance. The focus of this article is studying adaptogen herbs of genus Panax (P. ginseng in particular) and their capabiliti...

In the absence of effective pharmacotherapy for diabetes there has been an increase in the use of, and research into, alternative treatment strategies. These include exercise, dietary interventions and the use of supplements including extracts of ginseng. Two separate, placebo-controlled, double-blind, cross-over studies investigating the effects of chronic ingestion of Panax ginseng (study 1 u...

BACKGROUND Standardized ginseng extract has become the best-selling cold and flu remedy in Canada, yet much controversy regarding the efficacy of ginseng in preventing common colds remains. OBJECTIVE To assess the efficacy of ginseng preparations for the prevention of common colds in healthy adults. METHODS Comprehensive bibliographic database, trial registry and grey literature searches we...

The consumption of herbal medicines is increasing rapidly worldwide. Ginseng is one of the most widely used herbal medicines in the world, for its physical, mental and sexual effects. It is one of the best-selling herbs in the United States [1]. The recent report that ginseng may paradoxically decrease the anticoagulant effect of warfarin [1] was the third such report, the first two being publi...

The mechanism of the beneficial effects of Panax quinquefolius (Xiyangshen, American ginseng) on diabetes is yet to be elucidated. Recent studies show that Panax quinquefolius increases insulin production and reduces the death of pancreatic beta cells. Mechanism studies indicate that Panax quinquefolius improves cell's immuno-reactivity and mitochondrial function through various factors. Clinic...

aceae), is one of the most widely prescribed and intensively studied herbal medicines. Ginsenosides, the secondary metabolites and unique constituents in the Panax plants, are the pharmacologically active ingredients of ginseng. There are two traditional preparations of ginseng, white ginseng (WG) and red ginseng (RG), the dried root of ginseng and the steamed/dried root of ginseng, respectivel...

BACKGROUND Panax ginseng is a famous traditional medicine in Korea for its beneficial effect on obesity, cardiac and liver associated diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the metabolite in Panax ginseng (P. ginseng, Aralicaceae) berries depending on the ripen stages and evaluate its potential inhibition on adipocyte differentiation in 3 T3-L1 cells. METHODS Different ripening st...

The root of the ginseng plants has been used as herbal medicine in Asia for over two thousand years. It is purported to possess antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, antihypertensive and anti-diabetic properties. The pharmacologically active compounds behind the claims of ginseng's efficacy are ginsenosides; their underlying mechanism of action, although not entirely elucidated, app...

BACKGROUND Ginseng, the root of Panax ginseng (PG), is used widely as a herbal medicine to prevent and treat various diseases. Panax ginseng has pharmacological effects on neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). The present study evaluated the neuroprotective effects of PG and its possible neuroprotective mechanisms in advanced glycation end product (AGE)-induced AD in a ra...