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Page 101
| flavonoids that have been demonstrated to protect and strengthen immune response. They also maintain and strengthen the vital force within us and act as biological response modifiers in host defense mechanisms against cancer. These plants strengthen the immune system as well as protect the bone marrow, adrenal glands, liver, and other vital organs during chemotherapy and radiation. |
| Ginseng (Panax) |
| Ginseng has been used as a traditional medicine in Asian countries for more than five thousand years. More than five hundred scientific papers have been published on ginseng throughout the world. In China and Korea, ginseng is taken as both a medicine and a power food. Ginseng is most often classified as an adaptogen, which means that it enhances the ability to withstand a variety of stresses, including workload, pollution, physical and mental stresses, radiation, and exercise exhaustion. Ginseng is most noted for its antifatigue and antiaging effects. This has been attributed to a group of compounds in ginseng called ginsenosides. Saponins, yet another group of compounds found in ginseng, have been shown to inhibit proliferation of tumors induced by various chemicals and have demonstrated some antitumor activity. |
| Ginseng has been shown to enhance the overall activity of the immune system, including antibody response, natural killer-cell activity, interferon production, and the proliferate and phagocytic ability of the immune system. Red ginseng, which is produced from a steaming process, contains a ginsenoside (RH-2) and an acetylene alcohol, panaxytriol, that have proven to be the most active antitumor compounds found in ginseng. A large controlled study on ginseng done at one of the major cancer hospitals in Korea showed the potent preventive effect of ginseng against cancer. Those who took ginseng in extract form, as opposed to pills, powders, or teas, showed the lowest risk (0.14 percent) of getting cancer. 7 |
| I always recommend ginseng to those undergoing radiation therapy and feel it helps immensely to hasten the recovery and reduce the chance of scar tissue damage. In animal studies, panax ginseng has been shown to inhibit metastases to the lung and liver and to reduce elevated platelet and fibrinogen levels caused by the tumor cell lines. When panax ginseng extract was used with the chemotherapeutic agent mitomycin, it produced a much |
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