Abstract
We studied influences of acute administration of Korean red ginseng (RG) on cardiac autonomic nerve activities (CANA) and circulatory parameters in 38 outpatients with chronic cardiovascular diseases through orthostatic load test. Simultaneously, we examined the change that was elicited by RG administration in white blood cell count and differential white blood cell counts to estimate a relation of autonomic nerve change and cell immunity. In this study, patients were classified into two types : sympathetic dominant (S) and vagal dominant type (V). We examined and compared the efficacy of RG in each type. After RG administration, CANA of S was tending to move to V and that of V was tending to move to S. The influences of CANA change on circulatory parameters were more remarkable in S than V. By administration of RG to S, the total white blood cell and granulocytes were increased, but lymphocytes were decreased. On the other hand, in V, only lymphocytes showed significant decrease. G/L (ratio) was significantly increased in total and in each type of CANA. These effects of RG were thought to be useful to prevent infection in early phase, and also to suppress early cancer through enhancement of NK activity. Thus efficacies of RG are different in S or V in CANA type. So, we thought to examine types of CANA is one useful means to determine diathesis of the patient.
