AIDS patients survive on red ginseng for 20 years: doctor

SEOUL, July 19 (Yonhap) -- A Seoul-based hospital said Sunday that many of the
country's AIDS patients have remained healthy for more than 20 years after taking
no medicinal materials other than Korean red ginseng.
Asan Medical Center said that its research team, led by Cho Young-keol, has
regularly administered Korean red ginseng to a group of patients infected with
the HIV virus, which causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome, in clinical
trials since 1991 and some of the patients have maintained their health for two
decades.
"Some AIDS patients who didn't take any AIDS treatment and depended on red
ginseng alone have survived and have been in a healthy condition for over 20
years," said Cho, who also teaches at the University of Ulsan's medical college.
Cho said the results of his research were published in an international journal,
titled "AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses," and presented to an international
antivirals conference now under way in Beijing.
He said long-term intake of Korean red ginseng has helped AIDS patients slow the
phenomena of immune cell reduction and destroyed the so-called "nef" genes
associated with the outbreak of AIDS.
"Interestingly, a patient diagnosed with AIDS in 1988 has witnessed the number of
his immune cells returning to normal as a result of having regularly taken red
ginseng since then," said Cho.
ycm@yna.co.kr
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