Common Names
- Xi yang shen
- Western ginseng
- Five-fingers
For Patients & Caregivers
Tell your healthcare providers about any dietary supplements you’re taking, such as herbs, vitamins, minerals, and natural or home remedies. This will help them manage your care and keep you safe.
What is it?
What is it used for?
American ginseng is used to:
- Treat diabetes
- Reduce fatigue related to cancer
- Improve strength
- Boost your immune system
- Treat the common cold
- Improve memory
American ginseng also has other uses that haven’t been studied by doctors to see if they work.
Talk with your healthcare providers before taking American ginseng supplements. They can interact with some medications and affect how they work. For more information, read the “What else do I need to know?” section below.
What else do I need to know?
For Healthcare Professionals
Clinical Summary
A popular herb often confused with Asian or Panax ginseng, American ginseng has unique medicinal properties. It is frequently used in Chinese medicine to nourish “Yin” (1). American ginseng is also used in supplemental form to improve athletic performance, strength, and stamina, and to treat diabetes and cancer. The saponin glycosides, also known as ginsenosides or panaxosides, are thought responsible for the herb’s biological effects. In lab studies, ginsenosides have both stimulatory and inhibitory CNS effects (4), can alter cardiovascular tone, enhance humoral and cellular-dependent immunity, and exert anticancer effects (15) (16) (28). Other lab studies suggest enhanced anticancer activities when combined with antioxidants (14), synergistic effects with 5-fluorouracil (17), and protection against oxidative stress in irradiated human lymphocytes (18).
Studies in humans are limited. Current data suggest that American ginseng may help improve glucose control in diabetics (2) (6) (29) (30) and that it is safe for long-term use (25). It had a modest effect in reducing number and severity of colds (12), and enhanced working memory in young (21) and middle-aged (27) healthy adults, and patients with schizophrenia (24).
Findings from clinical trials on whether American ginseng can improve cancer-related fatigue are mixed (23) (31) (32), although the larger multisite trial suggests benefit (23). Epidemiological data suggest it may improve survival and quality of life in breast cancer patients (13), but more studies are needed.
Mechanism of Action
Ginsenosides are thought responsible for American ginseng’s activity, although the exact mechanism of action is unknown. Related species, such as Panax ginseng, have been the focus of most laboratory and clinical research. Experiments using extracts from these species indicate that ginsenosides stimulate and inhibit the central nervous system (4). The extracts also stimulate TNF alpha production by alveolar macrophages (10).
The Rg1 ginsenoside present in American ginseng is associated with improvements in humoral and cell-mediated immune response and increases in T helper cells, T lymphocytes, and NK cells in mice (5). American ginseng was also shown to lower serum glucose and may affect carbohydrate metabolism (2) (6).
Several ginsenosides have demonstrated anticancer properties in vitro (3). Current data suggest that antiproliferative effects of American ginseng are due to compound K, a metabolite of the ginsenoside Rb1, but not Rb1 as previously thought (22). In a rodent study, the herb significantly attenuated colon carcinogenesis by reducing tumor number and load, and was associated with suppression of proinflammatory cytokine activation (26).
Contraindications
Breast cancer patients should use this product with caution as American ginseng may stimulate the growth of breast cancer cells (9).