Korean Ginseng Prevents Various Human Cancers, Study Shows

Korean ginseng has a preventive effect against most types of cancers, and even reduces the risk of cancers associated with smoking, a study revealed.

Greater Dose, Greater Protection
“All ginseng products such as fresh ginseng extract, white ginseng extract, white ginseng powder and red ginseng products, except fresh ginseng slice, juice and white ginseng tea, showed preventive effects with a dose-response relationship,” the authors stated.
The study was published in the June 1995 issue of the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, and was done by Korean medical researchers Taik-Koo Yun and Soo-Yong Choi. Yun is with the Laboratory of Cancer Pathology and Choi with the Laboratory of Cancer Epidemiology, both at the Korea Cancer Center Hospital, in Seoul, Korea.

The Study’s Structure
The two scientists began their study by choosing 1,987 cancer patients admitted to their hospital, and an additional 1,987 people (serving as controls) with non-cancer ailments that could be matched up organ by organ with the cancer patients’ affected organs. This so-called case-control study took, for example, lung cancer cases and paired each one with emphysema or pneumonia sufferers (controls) – or, as another example, took stomach cancer cases and paired each one with peptic ulcer patients.
Then, using a questionnaire, the researchers determined how many of the patients had used Korean ginseng for what length of time, or did not use it at all. They further identified each person’s frequency of use (three times a year or less, four to 11 times a year, or 12 or more times a year) and the type of Korean ginseng preparation each used.

Ways Ginseng Is Taken
Regarding the various preparations, ginseng was found to be taken in one form as so called fresh ginseng (in which the plant has been growing for less than four years and can be consumed as is). In this case, the root is thinly sliced and taken with or without honey. Or fresh extract is made by boiling the root for more than three hours . Or boiled young fresh ginseng root is eaten with chicken.
Ginseng was also found be taken as white ginseng (in which the plant has been growing for four to six years, and is then peeled and dried to reduce the water content to 12 percent or less). This is made into a powder, an extract (with the root being boiled for more than three hours), or a tea.
Red ginseng is the final type of Korean ginseng. This is ginseng that has been growing for more than six years, and is then steamed and dried. It was found to be used as an extract (from boiled roots) or a powder.

Korean Ginseng’s Cancer-Preventive Effect
Adjusted for age, sex, marital status, education, smoking and alcohol consumption, the study’s results showed that Korean ginseng seemed to shield users against most kinds of cancer (lip, mouth, esophagus, stomach, colon, liver, larynx, lung, pancreas and ovary), but not against cancers of the female breast, uterine cervix, urinary bladder and thyroid gland. Ginseng also lowered the risk of cancers connected with smoking.
The two researchers observed ginseng’s cancer-preventive effect in almost all types of ginseng products, including fresh ginseng extract, white ginseng extract and white ginseng powder, with a particularly strong benefit from red ginseng products. But the scientists didn’t observe this effect in sliced fresh ginseng, fresh ginseng juice and white ginseng tea.
All of these results are consistent with a previous clinical study by Yun and Choi, and with several of their studies on the effects of Korean ginseng on cancer in animals.

The More Often, the Better
Moreover, in the most recent study, they found that ginseng’s cancer-preventive effect increased as the frequency of ginseng intake increased.
“The [cancer risk] began to decrease after one year of ginseng intake, and progressively declined until after five years of intake,” they wrote. “The [risk] in those who consumed ginseng for six-10 and 11-12 years gradually decreased further.”

Same Benefit, Regardless of Age
The scientists also analyzed the effect on risk for cancers of the age when subjects first began taking ginseng. “There was no significant difference in the [cancer risk] between those who began to use ginseng between the ages of 30-39 and after age 60,” they found. “In both groups, the preventive effect appeared one year after the first ginseng intake and increased with the duration of consumption.”
Yun and Choi referred to the work of I.I. Breckman, who in 1969 proposed the presence in Korean ginseng of a compound (or compounds acting collaboratively) that he called adaptogen. He used this term to mean a biochemical that protects the body against the ravages of aging, maintains a healthy homeostatic balance and increases nonspecific resistance against toxic environmental agents and stress. The concept of adaptogen suggests that ginseng can be used not so much as a cancer fighter as a cancer preventer.

Click do download "Preventive Effect of Ginseng Intake against Various Human Cancers" Case Study