[Fwd: Ginseng shows favorable results in limited diabetes study]

[Guest guest]

" Mitchell B. Stargrove, N.D., L.Ac. " wrote:

 

> copied here for fair use educational purpose.

> --

> Ginseng shows favorable results in limited diabetes study

>

> April 12, 2000

>

> ATLANTA (CNN) -- In a study of diabetes, patients who took ginseng

> had a notable reduction in blood-sugar response after consuming a

> simulated meal, an American Medical Association journal reported this

> week.

>

> The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Toronto,

> involved nine people with non-insulin-dependent diabetes (also called

> Type 2 diabetes) and 10 people without diabetes. The scientists

> acknowledged that the sampling was small for a medical comparison.

>

> Over several weeks, each test participant received four treatments of

> three grams of American ginseng or of harmless placebo capsules. Then

> a test meal of 25 grams of the sugar glucose was given in water.

>

> The amount of glucose was similar to a " small breakfast, " said the

> research-team leader, Vladimir Vuksan, Ph.D., department of

> nutritional sciences, faculty of medicine at the University of

> Toronto.

>

> Blood samples were taken from test participants for two hours after

> the treatments. The results were " a 20 percent reduction -- a

> moderate reduction of blood glucose, " Vuksan said.

>

> A goal of diabetes treatment is to keep blood glucose levels within a

> normal range, according to the American Diabetes Association. The

> disease allows blood glucose to rise well above normal and, over many

> years, to damage eyes, kidneys, nerves, heart and other organs.

>

> Dr. Suzanne Gebhart, a diabetes specialist at the Emory University

> School of Medicine, Atlanta, said she was pleased to see scientific

> studies conducted on nontraditional approaches to controlling the

> disease.

>

> Ginseng, because it is plant material, may slow the rate that food is

> moved from the stomach and is digested in the small intestines, she

> said.

>

> The Toronto study would have been more meaningful if insulin levels

> had been tested in the participants and if the test meal had been

> more representative of what people eat, she added.

>

> " Ginseng is interesting. There's a lot to try to understand about

> it, " said Dr. Gebhart, adding that to date there is insufficient

> information to rely on ginseng for treatment of diabetes.

>

> Vuksan called his study, which used American ginseng (Panax

> quinquefolius L), " a good first step. " Long-term research is under

> way to learn whether ginseng treatment produces any liver or kidney

> damage, headaches or sleepliness and any other side effects, he said.

>

> Work by Vuksan and his associates was partially sponsored by

> Chai-Na-Ta Corp., which markets ginseng. The report in Archives of

> Internal Medicine, an AMA journal, was peer reviewed.