Ginseng 'could improve memory'
The herbal remedy ginseng can help improve memory in stroke patients suffering from dementia, researchers have found.
Stroke patients can experience a form of memory loss called moderate vascular dementia, which is caused by damage to the blood vessels leading to the brain.
Chinese researchers found taking a ginseng compound meant people who had experienced a stroke scored more highly on memory tests than those who did not take the herb.
But UK experts said the findings had to be treated with caution.
Forty patients, with an average age of 67, who had mild or moderate vascular dementia took part in the study.
Twenty-five were given a tablet of ginseng extracted from Chinese ginseng roots, leaves and an herb known as panax notoginseng three times daily.
The rest were given a Duxil, (almitrine + raubasine), a drug which increases oxygen use in brain tissue. It has previously been shown to improve the memory of elderly patients with dementia.
All 40 were given memory tests which focused on how well they could recall stories, words and other verbal and visual memory tests before and after the 12-week study.
Those given the ginseng significantly improved their average memory function after 12 weeks.
It was found ginseng increased the activities of the brain chemicals acetylcholine and choline acetyltransferase in elderly mice.
Source BBC News
Stroke patients can experience a form of memory loss called moderate vascular dementia, which is caused by damage to the blood vessels leading to the brain.
Chinese researchers found taking a ginseng compound meant people who had experienced a stroke scored more highly on memory tests than those who did not take the herb.
But UK experts said the findings had to be treated with caution.
Forty patients, with an average age of 67, who had mild or moderate vascular dementia took part in the study.
Twenty-five were given a tablet of ginseng extracted from Chinese ginseng roots, leaves and an herb known as panax notoginseng three times daily.
The rest were given a Duxil, (almitrine + raubasine), a drug which increases oxygen use in brain tissue. It has previously been shown to improve the memory of elderly patients with dementia.
All 40 were given memory tests which focused on how well they could recall stories, words and other verbal and visual memory tests before and after the 12-week study.
Those given the ginseng significantly improved their average memory function after 12 weeks.
It was found ginseng increased the activities of the brain chemicals acetylcholine and choline acetyltransferase in elderly mice.
Source BBC News
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