CARDIOVASCULAR IMPACT Until recently, Chinese dogma held that ginseng was to be reserved for those who were ill and for those who are showing the effects of aging. Korean and Japanese experience, however, suggests that ginseng can be taken everyday as a preventive health tonic. Now, research shows clearly that one need not be ill to use ginseng; even the healthiest among us may have cause to use it. Athletes, whether beginning joggers or Olympic contenders, agree that ginseng helps them overcome the strain and drain of exercise. A recent Swiss study conducted by Dr. Anton Kirchdorfer shows how ginseng helps. Thirty athletes were given exercise tests on a programmed exercycle to assure a specific level of muscle work. The heart and lactate concentration in the blood was measured before, immediately after, and for several minutes following the exercise. Strong exertion for eight minutes raised the athletes heart rate from an average value of about 70 to 155. During recuperation, their heart rate slowly returned to normal over a period of about 20 minutes; their heart rates fell below 100 after 4-5 minutes. The athletes were then given ginseng daily for 9 weeks. The material used was a standardized extract of active constituents called "ginsenosides." The tests were conducted again, using the same amount of exercise. Their pulse rates this time increased to only 140, and during recuperation their heart rates fell below 100 within just 3 minutes, and were back to normal in 5 minutes. Lactate (the by-product of muscular oxygen utilization that causes pain following exercise) was measured during the same tests. Before using ginseng, the lactate levels of the athletes increased from 2.0 before exercise to 10.5 afterwards, without returning to normal levels even after 20 minutes. Following 9 weeks of ginseng administration, lactic acid levels only reached 6.2 at their highest point, and decreased to normal in about twenty minutes. The lower heart rate and quicker return to normal suggests improved oxygen utilization and faster clearance of lactate. Additional measurements taken during this same research program demonstrated that reaction time was improved and pulmonary function was greatly enhanced. The effects of ginseng given for 9 weeks persisted for about three weeks after ginseng use was ceased. This persistence of herbal effects following long-term administration has been shown with other herb products. Traditionally, herbalists recommend a short break of one to two weeks when patients are using herbs for an extended period of time. This may be one way of getting the maximum advantage of the herbs used. The findings in this Swiss research are consistent with a previous double-blind study using the same ginseng extracts with 120 members of sports clubs. In that study, conducted by I. Forgo in Switzerland, significant improvements in pulmonary function, reaction time, and overall vitality (as self-evaluated) were found. These effects were especially noted in the 40-60 age group, less so in the 30-40 age group. The study lasted 12 weeks. The results obtained with athletes confirm laboratory animal studies that have been conducted in the past. Animals forced to perform vigorous exercise utilized less of their stored glycogen, fatigued less quickly, and generally performed better if they were first administered ginseng. Ginseng has been shown to increase the time which animals could keep up vigorous exercise by as much as 100%. Athletic-oriented research was conducted in China with tien-chi ginseng. Tien-chi ginseng is a close relative to ordinary ginseng, but it grows in a different climate, produces a harder root, and has somewhat different active constituents. The following is a summary of findings: 1. Under usual circumstances, pulse rates of weight lifters the morning after a day of intensive weight lifting did not return to normal levels. If they took tien-chi ginseng, on the other hand, their morning pulse did return to normal. I . The pulse rate of swimmers following a medium-load training session was about 170, and after 2-3 minutes rest, it was reduced to about 120. But if tien-chi ginseng was taken, the pulse right after swimming only reached about 125, and returned to normal rates (about 70) after 2-3 minutes. 1. Differences between those not taking tien-chi ginseng and those taking tien-chi ginseng increased as use of the ginseng was continued over a longer period of time. The experiments were continued for 7 weeks (compared to 9 and 12 weeks for the Swiss studies). The study results with Panax ginseng and tien-chi ginseng are clearly similar to each other; further, they are similar to those obtained by Soviet researchers with eleuthero ginseng. Eleuthero ginseng is a distant relative of these plants; it is a woody shrub, with significantly different chemical constituents, but is used in much the game way as Panax ginseng. Soviet athletes regularly use eleuthero ginseng extract as a health tonic. With regard to oxygen consumption, these three types of ginseng have all been successfully tested in the treatment of oxygen deficit among Chinese workers transferred to the high plateau of Tibet (average altitude: 14,000 feet). This application follows up laboratory animal studies measuring response and survival rate of animals subjected to very low pressure atmosphere. Thus, it does not seem to be a critical concern as to which kind of ginseng is used for this purpose. Some athletes prefer to use several types of ginseng at once. Tien-chi ginseng has the advantage of resolving bruises and other injuries that often occur during sports activities, so it may be especially useful to those just starting an exercise program and those involved in more vigorous sports for that reason. It is gratifying for researchers to see human trials yielding results similar to those obtained during laboratory animal tests; this suggests that the models used in the laboratory were properly chosen. INTRODUCTION | IMMUNE SYSTEM STUDIES | THE HORMONAL SYSTEM | CARDIOVASCULAR IMPACT | THE ACTIVE CONSTITUENTS OF GINSENG | IN CONCLUSION | BIBLIOGRAPHY | APPENDIX