Panax Ginseng—Nature’s Cold and Flu Remedy

You may have heard recently in the news that North America’s first human cases of the H7N9 bird flu have been confirmed in British Columbia. A couple from the Lower Mainland had recently been on a trip to China where it is believed they have contracted the flu-like illness. As with most influenza, these harmful respiratory diseases should always be taken seriously. They can cause a number of symptoms, including coughing, fatigue, muscle soreness, headache, and fever. And in some cases, the flu can lead to death.   

 

Your First Line of Defense

Whether you are at home or abroad, it can be a challenge to stay healthy during cold and flu season. During this time of year, people tend to gather indoors and stay in close contact with others, making it easier for viruses to spread from person to person. People are doing their best to fight colds and flu with vaccinations or whatever they can find in their “medicine chest”. When it comes to winning the battle on seasonal viruses, however, prevention really is your first line of defense, especially when it comes to contracting a potentially devastating flu.   

 

Keep Colds and Flu at Bay

One of the most commonly used and researched herbal remedies worldwide, Panax Ginseng has been playing an important role in Chinese medicine for thousands of years. This incredible preventative and curative natural remedy has long been revered for its many health benefits, including the treatment of anemia, cancer, depression, diabetes, fatigue, hypertension, insomnia, as well as to promote endurance, increase life expectancy, encourage proper hormonal functions, and increase resistance to disease—not to mention its legendary medicinal use to help keep colds and flu at bay. The active compounds— helpful plant saponins, specifically ginsenosides—in Panax ginseng have been proven time and again to support immune function. Furthermore, ginseng has been shown to increase the effectiveness of antibiotics and vaccines, making it an extremely effective complementary medicine. Studies have also demonstrated that healthy people who regularly take ginseng are more likely to have a stronger immune system in comparison to individuals who don’t use it.

 

Bing Han Panax Ginseng

For a convenient way to take ginseng, Bing Han offers a high quality powdered or capsulated Panax ginseng that is processed using methods that make it uniquely safe to take daily for optimal ongoing immune boosting.

Seasonal colds and flu can spread quickly this time of year. Using Bing Han Panax ginseng will provide a valuable immune boost that will help you stay healthy.

 

More Information about Panax Ginseng:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/456676-scientific-facts-about-ginseng-the-immune-system/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17978487

 

Source

Dr. Melissa Carr is a registered Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine with a B.Sc. in Kinesiology. In practice since 2001, Dr. Carr has a passion for sharing health information. She has been a nutrition instructor and a health consultant, lecturer, and writer for 24 Hours Vancouver newspaper, Fraser Health Authority, UBC, and the David Suzuki Foundation, amongst others. www.activetcm.com

 

Anticarcinogenic Effect of Panax ginseng

For the past 50 years, the main weapons in the war against cancer have been early detection and surgical removal, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and attempts to develop gene therapy. However, the results so far are less than ideal. One strategy now is to switch from therapeutic approaches to prevention of cancer by improving lifestyle and by identifying effective natural products as chemopreventive agents. One promising candidate with cancer-preventive effects that are not specific to any organ is Panax ginseng C A Meyer, a herb with a long medicinal history. Its protective influence against cancer has been shown by extensive preclinical and epidemiological studies, but these effects need to be carefully investigated by scientific clinical trials focusing on the major cancer killers stomach, lung, liver, and colorectal cancer.

 

Korean investigators carried out extensive long-term anticarcinogenicity experiments with 2000 newborn mice to investigate whether Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer inhibited carcinogenesis induced by several chemical carcinogens in 1978. There was a 22% decrease (p <0.05) in the inci- dence of urethane induced lung adenoma by the combined use of red ginseng extract. In the group sacrificed at 56 weeks after the treatment with aflatoxin B1, the incidence of hepatoma significantly decreased to 75% by the addition of red ginseng extract (p<0.05). The result showed that natural products can provide hope for human cancer prevention. By the newly established‘9 week medium- term anticarcinogenicity test model of lung tumors in mice’(Yun’s model), we confirmed significant anticarcinogenic effects of powders and extracts of the 6- yr-old dried fresh ginseng, 5- and 6-yr old white ginsengs, and 4-, 5-, and 6-yr old red ginseng.

 

We also demonstrated that the anticarcinogencity of ginseng was more prominent in aged or heat treated extracts of ginseng and red ginseng made by steaming. To investigate the active components for cancer prevention, several fractions of 6-yr old fresh ginseng and red ginseng, four semi-synthetic ginsenoside Rh1, Rh2, Rg3 and Rg5, major saponin components in red ginseng, were prepared.

Among the ginsenosides, Rg3 and Rg5 showed statistically significant reduction of lung tumor incidence and Rh2 had a tendency of decreasing the incidence. Ginsenoside Rg3, Rg5 and Rh2 were found to be active anticar- cinogenic compounds. Rg3, Rg5 and Rh2 are active components in red ginseng, and they prevent cancer either singularly or synergistically. 

 

Source

PubMed Link – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3202204/pdf/11748383.pdf

JournalJ Korean Med Sci 2001; 16(Suppl): S6-18

TitleAnticarcinogenic Effect of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer and Identification of Active Compounds

AuthorsTaik-Koo Yun, Yun-Sil Lee, You Hui Lee, Shin Il Kim, Hyo Yung Yun

InstitutionLaboratory of Experimental Pathology, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Seoul

 

Ginseng Improves Surgical Outcomes

This study was undertaken to demonstrate that gastrointestinal mucosal injury occurs during cardiopulmonary bypass in children, increasing systemic inflammatory responses, and to determine whether shen-fu injection (the major components of which are ginsenosides compound, extract of Panax ginseng shown to have antioxidant properties) could attenuate gastrointestinal mucosal injury and subsequent inflammatory responses. 

 

Methods:

Twenty-four children undergoing heart surgery for congenital heart defects were randomly assigned to groups C (placebo control, n=12) and G (1.35 mg/kg ginsenosides compound intravenously before and throughout the course of cardiopulmonary bypass, n=12). Central venous blood samples were taken before cardiopulmonary bypass and at 60 and 120 minutes after aortic declamping (reperfusion). Gastric intramucosal pH was measured by perioperative tonometry. Plasma lipid peroxidation product malondialdehyde, myocardium-specific creatine kinase isoenzyme MB activity, diamine oxidase, lipopolysaccharide, and interleukin 6 were all measured.

 

Results:

Significant decrease in gastric intramucosal pH and increase in plasma diamine oxidase were seen during reperfusion in group C, accompanied by increases in plasma levels of malondialdehyde, lipopolysaccharide, interleukin 6, and creatine kinase isoenzyme MB (P < .01 vs before cardiopulmonary bypass). Shen-fu injection significantly attenuated these changes (P < .05). Consequently, fewer patients in group G (2/12) than in group C (7/12) needed postoperative inotropic support. Postoperative intensive care unit stay was shorter in group G than in group C. A tight positive correlation was seen between diamine oxidase and interleukin 6 at 60 minutes after aortic declamping and between diamine oxidase and lipopolysaccharide at 120 minutes after aortic declamping (r=0.79, P < .0001).

 

Conclusion:

Ginsenosides compound may attenuate gastrointestinal injury and inhibit inflammatory response after cardiopulmonary bypass in patients with congenital heart disease.

 

Source

PubMed Link – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16077384

JournalJournal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. 2005 Aug; 130(2):258-64

TitleGinsenosides compound (shen-fu) attenuates gastrointestinal injury and inhibits inflammatory response after cardiopulmonary bypass in patients with congenital heart disease

AuthorsXia ZY, Liu XY, Zhan LY, He YH, Luo T, Xia Z

InstitutionAnesthesiology Research Laboratory, Renmin Hospital, Wuhan University, China

 

Radioprotective Potential of Ginseng

Ionizing radiations produce deleterious effects in the living organisms and the rapid technological advancement has increased human exposure to ionizing radiations enormously. There is a need to protect humans against such effects of ionizing radiation. Attempts to protect against the deleterious effects of ionizing radiations by pharmacological intervention were made as early as 1949 and efforts are continued to search radioprotectors, which may be of great help for human application. This review mainly dwells on the radioprotective potential of plant and herbal extracts. 

 

The results obtained from in vitro and in vivo studies indicate that several botanicals such as Gingko biloba, Centella asiatica, Hippophae rhamnoides, Ocimum sanctum, Panax ginseng, Podophyllum hexandrum, Amaranthus paniculatus, Emblica officinalis, Phyllanthus amarus, Piper longum, Tinospora cordifoila, Mentha arvensis, Mentha piperita, Syzygium cumini, Zingiber officinale, Ageratum conyzoides, Aegle marmelos and Aphanamixis polystachya protect against radiation-induced lethality, lipid peroxidation and DNA damage. The fractionation-guided evaluation may help to develop new radioprotectors of desired activities.

 

Source

 

PubMed Link – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18188408

JournalJournal of Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition. 2007 Mar; 40(2):74-81.

TitleRadioprotective Potential of Plants and Herbs against the Effects of Ionizing Radiation

AuthorsC Jagetia G

InstitutionDepartment of Radiobiology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal-576 104, India

 

Ginseng Reduces Allergy Symptoms

Ginseng (the root of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer, Araliaceae) has been reported to possess various biological activities, including anti-inflammatory and antitumor actions. In this study, we investigated the antiallergic activity of ginsenosides isolated from ginseng. 

 

Methods:

We isolated ginsenosides by silica gel column chromatography and examined their in vitro and in vivo antiallergic effect on rat peritoneal mast cells and on IgE-induced passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA) in mice. The in vitro anti-inflammatory activity of ginsenoside Rh1 (Rh1) in RAW264.7 cells was investigated.

 

Results:

Rh1 potently inhibited histamine release from rat peritoneal mast cells and the IgE-mediated PCA reaction in mice. The inhibitory activity of Rh1 (87% inhibition at 25 mg/kg) on the PCA reaction was found to be more potent than that of disodium cromoglycate (31% inhibition at 25 mg/kg); Rh1 was also found to have a membrane-stabilizing action as revealed by differential scanning calorimetry. It also inhibited inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) protein expression in RAW 264.7 cells, and the activation of the transcription factor, NF-kappaB, in nuclear fractions.

 

Conclusion:

The antiallergic action of Rh1 may originate from its cell membrane-stabilizing and anti-inflammatory activities, and can improve the inflammation caused by allergies. Copyright 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel

 

Source

PubMed Link – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14739579

JournalInternational Archives of Allergy and Immunology. 2004 Feb; 133(2):113-20. Epub 2004 Jan 21

TitleGinsenoside Rh1 possesses antiallergic and anti-inflammatory activities

AuthorsPark EK, Choo MK, Han MJ, Kim DH

InstitutionCollege of Pharmacy, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea