Clinical Briefs: Ginseng and Hypertension.

Publication: Alternative Medicine Alert

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COPYRIGHT 2006 A Thomson Healthcare Company

Clinical Briefs: Ginseng and Hypertension

Source: Stavro PM, et al. Long-term intake of North American ginseng has no effect on 24-hour blood pressure and renal function. Hypertension 2006;47:791-796. Epub 2006 Mar 6.

Goal: To evaluate the effect of North American ginseng (NAG) on mean 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) and renal function after 12 weeks use in hypertensive subjects.

Design: Randomized, controlled, double-blind crossover trial.

Subjects: Fifty-two people from Toronto with hypertension (data from 37 subjects, 30 men, were included in the main analysis).

Methods: Subjects recruited through newspaper advertisements were randomized to receive, following a four-week open label placebo run-in, 3 g NAG followed by cornstarch placebo, or cornstarch placebo followed by 3 g NAG (identical capsules). Participants ingested the capsules orally in divided doses (bid) during the first 12 weeks (between...

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