Holistic Health Articles and Research Related to Herbal Medicines, Foods and Phytochemicals : Chinese Herbs– Hua Qi Shen ( Radix Panacis Quinquefolii)

Thursday 7 November 2013

Chinese Herbs– Hua Qi Shen ( Radix Panacis Quinquefolii)

Hua Qi Shen or Xi Yang Shen is also known as American Ginseng. The sweet, slightly bitter and cool herb has been used in TCM to treat chronic cough, loss of blood, dry mouth and thirst, tiredness and unrest, chronic fever, enhance the CNS and immune functions, improve blood circulation, etc., as it tonifies lungs yin, clears, promote saliva, quench thirst, etc., by enhancing the functions of Heart, Lung and Kidney channels.

Ingredients

1. Ginseng Saponins
2. Caproic acid
3. Heptanoic acid
4. Caprylic acid
5. Nonanoic acid
6. Palmitic acid
7. Octanol, hexanoic acid, u
8. Undecane,
9. Pinocarveol
10. Octanoic acid
11. Dodecane
12. 3-phenylhexane
14. Etc.

Health Benefits
1. Colorectal cancer
In the investigation of American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L., Araliaceae) and its anti-cancer potential found that three genes were up-regulated (AKAPA8L, PMPCB and PDE5A) and three were down-regulated (PITPNA, DUS2L and RIC8A). Although further studies are needed to elucidate the mechanisms of action, our findings should expand the understanding of the molecular framework of American ginseng as an anti-cancer agent, according to “Characterization of gene expression regulated by American ginseng and ginsenoside Rg3 in human colorectal cancer cells” by Luo X, Wang CZ, Chen J, Song WX, Luo J, Tang N, He BC, Kang Q, Wang Y, Du W, He TC, Yuan CS.(1) 2. Cardiovascular disease
In the demonstration of emerging evidence suggests ginseng has therapeutic potential in cardiovascular disease found that ginseng treatment significantly decreased infarct size and myocardial apoptosis following I/R in WT mice, but not in either eNOS(-/-) mice or WT mice treated with LY294002. We conclude that ginseng treatment protects the heart from I/R injury via upregulation of eNOS expression. Our study suggests that ginseng may serve as a potential therapeutic agent to limit myocardial I/R injury, according to “North American ginseng protects the heart from ischemia and reperfusion injury via upregulation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase” by Wu Y, Lu X, Xiang FL, Lui EM, Feng Q.(2)
3. Pediatric upper respiratory tract infection
In the evaluation of Panax quinquefolius (American ginseng root extract) standardized to contain 80% poly-furanosyl-pyranosyl-saccharides and theirs effect on upper respiratory tract infections in childdren found that standard doses of ginseng were well tolerated and merit additional evaluation with regard to treatment of pediatric upper respiratory tract infection, according to “Safety and tolerability of North American ginseng extract in the treatment of pediatric upper respiratory tract infection: a phase II randomized, controlled trial of 2 dosing schedules” by Vohra S, Johnston BC, Laycock KL, Midodzi WK, Dhunnoo I, Harris E, Baydala L.(3)
4. Glycemia and insulinemia
In the assessment the evidence indicates that the glycemia-lowering effect of American ginseng root may be batch dependent. found that American ginseng decreased postprandial glycemia and insulinemia; however, 40% of the batches did not reduce glycemia with the anticipated magnitude, irrespective of their saponin composition, according to “Five batches representative of Ontario-grown American ginseng root produce comparable reductions of postprandial glycemia in healthy individuals” by
Dascalu A, Sievenpiper JL, Jenkins AL, Stavro MP, Leiter LA, Arnason JT, Vuksan V.(4)
5. Diabetes
In the to evaluation of the preventive effects of North American ginseng on diabetic nephropathy (DN) and the underlying mechanisms, showed that dysmetabolic state in the diabetic mice was significantly improved by ginseng treatment. In the kidneys of diabetic animals, ginseng significantly prevented oxidative stress and reduced the NF-κB (p65) levels. Diabetes-induced up-regulations of ECM proteins and vasoactive factors in the kidneys were significantly diminished by ginseng administration, according to “Preventive effects of North American ginseng (Panax quinquefolium) on diabetic nephropathy” by Sen S, Chen S, Feng B, Wu Y, Lui E, Chakrabarti S(5)
6. Neurocognitive function
In the investigation of the neurocognitive properties of Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng), found that there was a significant improvement of working memory (WM) performance associated with P. quinquefolius. Corsi block performance was improved by all doses at all testing times. There were differential effects of all doses on other WM tasks which were maintained across the testing day. Choice reaction time accuracy and ‘calmness’ were significantly improved by 100 mg, according to “Effects of American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) on neurocognitive function: an acute, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study” by Scholey A, Ossoukhova A, Owen L, Ibarra A, Pipingas A, He K, Roller M, Stough C.(6)
7. Candida albicans
In the evaluation of the efficacy of an ingested extract of ginseng against Candida albicans infection in DBA/2J mice, found that assessment of morbidity, mortality, inflammatory markers, and renal titers after spontaneous ingestion of ginseng by susceptible hosts represents a comprehensive approach to characterizations of therapeutic efficacy against infectious agents. Our findings extend previous reports of the efficacy of ginseng against Candida albicans by demonstrating significant reductions in infectious load and some markers of inflammation in susceptible mice, according to “Evaluation of an extract of North American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) in Candida albicans-infected complement-deficient mice” by Trammell RA, Cox L, Pikora J, Murphy LL, Toth LA.(7)
(8) Etc.

Side effects

1. American Ginseng may cause allergic effects to certain people

2. Do not the herb in case of yang and Qi deficiency or spleen deficiency

3. 2. Do not use the Hua Qi Shen in newborn, children or if you are pregnant or breast feeding with out approval first with the related field specialist

4. Etc.