Indication: Fatigue (due to cancer)

Source: 43rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Chicago, IL (June)

Research: In a pilot study of 282 patients, researchers randomly assigned them to take either a placebo or one of three daily doses of ginseng: 750 mg, 1000 mg or 2000 mg. The product used in the study was 4-year-old American ginseng root, which was assayed by an independent company. The study tested the three doses of ginseng in patients with a variety of cancers and a life-expectancy of at least 6 months. About half of the patients were receiving chemotherapy.

Results: After 8 weeks, responses on the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI) and on the vitality subscale of the SF-36 quality-of-life questionnaire showed an improvement over placebo for the two higher doses of ginseng. In addition, 25% of patients taking 1000 mg of ginseng and 27% of patients taking 2000 mg reported feeling “moderately better” or “much better,” compared with only 10% of patients in both the placebo and the 750 mg ginseng groups.