Association between ginseng intake and mortality: Kangwha cohort study.
OBJECTIVE
Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer is a well-known medicinal herb in North America and Europe. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between ginseng intake and mortality among members of the Korean population.


METHODS
We followed 6282 subjects who were 55 years of age or older in March 1985 until December 31, 2003. The Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to evaluate effects of ginseng intake on mortality.


RESULTS
Adjusting for age, education, occupation, drinking, smoking, self-reported chronic disease, body mass index, and blood pressure, all-cause mortality for male ginseng users was significantly lower than that for male nonusers (Hazard ratio [HR] = 0.90; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.81-0.99). However, such an association was not observed in women (HR = 1.03; 95% CI, 0.94-1.13). Cancer-specific mortality was lower in female ginseng users than female nonusers after adjustment of relevant covariates (HR = 0.80; 95% CI, 0.60-1.08). Compared to nonusers, the HR for cancer-specific mortality in women was 0.84 in infrequent users (95% CI, 0.62-1.15) and 0.61 in frequent users (95% CI, 0.32-1.14) (p for trend, 0.09), which is not statistically significant. The cancer-specific mortality was not associated with ginseng intake in male subjects (HR = 0.95; 95% CI, 0.76-1.20). Mortality caused by cardiovascular diseases was not related to ginseng intake in both men and women.


CONCLUSIONS
The 18.8-year progressive cohort study showed that ginseng intake decreased all-cause mortality in older males, but such life prolongation effect was not shown in women.
Yi
Sang-Wook
SW
Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Kwandong University College of Medicine, Gangneung, Republic of Korea.
Sull
Jae Woong
JW
Hong
Jae Seok
JS
Linton
John Alderman
JA
Ohrr
Heechoul
H
D000368:Aged; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000401:mortality; D002423:Cause of Death; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008136:Longevity / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality; D005894:Panax; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012737:Sex Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis
D010936:Plant Extracts