Cancer-related fatigue was reduced for patients taking high doses of pure American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) over the course of 2 months, a Mayo Clinic–led study found.
Researchers studied 340 patients who had completed cancer treatment or were being treated for cancer at 1 of 40 community medical centers. Of the patients studied, 60% had breast cancer. Participants received either a placebo or capsules containing 2000 mg of pure, ground American ginseng root daily.
According to researcher Debra Barton, PhD, of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, “Off-the-shelf ginseng is sometimes processed using ethanol, which can give it estrogen-like properties that may be harmful to breast cancer patients.”
After 4 weeks, the pure, American ginseng delivered only a small improvement in exhaustion symptoms. However, at 8 weeks, cancer patients receiving ginseng presented significant improvement in general fatigue compared to the placebo group.
“After 8 weeks, we saw a 20-point improvement in fatigue in cancer patients, measured on a 100-point, standardized fatigue scale,” Barton says. The herb had no apparent side effects, she adds.
Until now, ginseng and its effects had not been tested extensively against the draining fatigue that 90% of cancer patients experience. Barton’s next study will look closely at ginseng’s effects on the specific biomarkers for fatigue. “Cancer is a prolonged chronic stress experience, and the effects can last 10 years beyond diagnosis and treatment,” she says. “If we can help the body be better modulated throughout treatment with the use of ginseng, we may be able to prevent severe long-term fatigue.”
Source: Mayo Clinic.