title: An open-label trial of Korean red ginseng as an adjuvant treatment for cognitive impairment in patients with Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Ginseng is one of the most popular herbs worldwide. Ginseng has various medical applications, and it seems to have significant effects as a cognition-enhancing drug. In this study, we examined the efficacy of Korean red ginseng (KRG) as an adjuvant therapy to conventional anti-dementia medications in patients with Alzheimer's disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  The trial was designed as a 12-week randomized study. Sixty-one patients (24 males and 37 females) with Alzheimer's disease were randomly assigned to one of the following treatment groups: low-dose KRG (4.5 g/day, n = 15), high-dose KRG (9 g/day, n = 15) or control (n = 31). The Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale (ADAS), Korean version of the Mini-Mental Status Examination (K-MMSE) and Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale were used to assess the change in cognitive and functional performance at the end of the 12-week study period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The patients in the high-dose KRG group showed significant improvement on the ADAS and CDR after 12 weeks of KRG therapy when compared with those in the control group (P = 0.032 and 0.006 respectively). The KRG treatment groups showed improvement from baseline MMSE when compared with the control group (1.42 vs. -0.48), but this improvement was not statistically significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  KRG showed good efficacy for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease; however, further studies with larger samples of patients and a longer efficacy trial should be conducted to confirm the efficacy of KRG.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Seoul Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: J-H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Heo
authors.forename: S-T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: H-J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: J-Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Shim
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D005894:Panax; D008517:Phytotherapy; D010865:Pilot Projects