Nutraceuticals and nootropics for anti-aging

Ginseng extract — flu protection without vaccination

With the 2004 flu season now starting, and the U.S. supply of flu vaccine cut in half, it would be nice to have a good influenza preventative that didn’t require an expensive, inconvenient visit to a physician’s office. Residents of Canada and Hong Kong have such a preventative. In Canada, at least, it is available in retail stores without a prescription. It seems to be unavailable in the U.S., however, except when ordered on-line from Canada.

Cold-Fx is an extract from North American ginseng (Panax quinquefolium). Recent clinical testing in nursing home patients during the flu season showed that it reduced the incidence of acute respiratory illness by 89%. The product appears to work by stimulating specific elements of the immune system that are needed for eliminating viruses such as those responsible for influenza and the common cold.

Why is Cold-Fx easily available in Canada? For one thing, it is made by a Canadian company. But why isn’t it also sold in the U.S., especially now, when it is so sorely needed? Tens of thousands of lives are at stake here.

Such questions lead to more general questions: Why do U.S. citizens typically have to wait years longer for drugs to be approved than do the citizens of other countries? And then, when a drug finally does get approved, why is its price in the U.S. several times the price in other countries? Why do we continually get the impression that governments in other countries, such as Canada, do far more to promote the health of their citizens than does the U.S. government? It may be true that our government is too inept to create and manage an efficient health-care system, but we should at least demand that it not obstruct its citizens’ access to their chosen health-care technologies.

Link to news article about Cold-Fx:

Interest grows for alternatives as flu vaccine supply is scarce

Link to research reports:

Immunomodulating activity of CVT-E002, a proprietary extract from North American ginseng

Extract from North American ginseng enhances immune system components.

A placebo-controlled trial of CVT-E002 to prevent acute respiratory illness

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LifeLink carries powdered ginseng root in 648 mg tablets. Note that this is not the same product as CVT-E002. Powdered ginseng is probably significantly less potent than CFT-E002 for fighting flu and colds, but it might nevertheless have some value for this purpose.