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Page 12
| particularly that of the natural killer cells. An obvious association exists here on a biochemical level between stress, immune function and the herb Siberian ginseng. |
| In these times of pollution and exposure to strange and dangerous chemicals, this fascinating plant may prove of vital help as it also reduces the toxic impact of a number of chemical compounds. In laboratory tests Siberian ginseng was shown to decrease the sensitivity of mice and rats to the toxicity of a range of chemicals. When the animals were treated with cytotoxic drugs combined with Siberian ginseng, they lost less weight and their white blood count was higher than in the animals treated with the drugs alone. The implications for using this herb as support in anticancer chemotherapy are clear and exciting. |
| A fundamental problem with the use of cytotoxic drugs in cancer therapy is that not only do they destroy cancer cells, but healthy ones as well. In the test, lethal doses of the drugs resulted in the animals' death, but when Siberian ginseng, and drugs were used in combination, the death rate dropped. In a group of mice given thiophosphamide in a dose of 16 mg/kg. 53 percent of the animals died. After administering combined Siberian ginseng and thiophosphamide only 15 percent of the animals died. Similar results were obtained in a group of animals given ethymidin in a dose of 1.5 mg/kg. Thirty percent so treated died, while all those receiving both herb and drug remained alive. |
| Siberian ginseng also appears able to reduce the narcotic effects of a number of drugs. For example it shortens the duration of sleep induced by sedatives. It may also prove useful for prophylactic and therapeutic applications in acute and chronic poisoning with some insecticides and industrial poisons. This ability of Siberian ginseng is linked with its ability to activate the body's own metabolic system for inactivating toxins. Therefore, Russian pharmacologists advise the use of the extract in different drug formulae to reduce their inherent toxicity. |
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