title: Improvement of cognitive deficit in Alzheimer's disease patients by long term treatment with korean red ginseng.
abstract: A 24-week randomized open-label study with Korean red ginseng (KRG) showed cognitive benefits in patients with Alzheimer's disease. To further determine long-term effect of KRG, the subjects were recruited to be followed up to 2 yr. Cognitive function was evaluated every 12 wk using the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale (ADAS) and the Korean version of the Mini Mental Status Examination (K-MMSE) with the maintaining dose of 4.5 g or 9.0 g KRG per d. At 24 wk, there had been a significant improvement in KRG-treated groups. In the long-term evaluation of the efficacy of KRG after 24 wk, the improved MMSE score remained without significant decline at the 48th and 96th wk. ADAS-cog showed similar findings. Maximum improvement was found around week 24. In conclusion, the effect of KRG on cognitive functions was sustained for 2 yr follow-up, indicating feasible efficacies of long-term follow-up for Alzheimer's disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Seoul Medical Center, Seoul 131-130, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Hyeok
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Heo
authors.forename: Soon-Tae
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Min Jung
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Hyun-Jung
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Ji-Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Shim
authors.forename: Kon
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: Manho
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Alzheimer disease; Korean red ginseng; Long term effect; Panax ginseng