A study found men with erectile dysfunction managed to improve their performance in the bedroom after taking the tablets for just a few weeks.
Although some previous studies have suggested ginseng can help tackle impotence, many have been conducted in mice. The latest research, carried out in South Korea, involved more than 100 men who had been diagnosed with erection problems.
Impotence affects one in 10 men in the UK at some point in their lives. Although drugs such as Viagra, Cialis and Levitra have revolutionised treatment in the last 10 years, around 30 per cent of men who take them see no improvement.
While herbal remedies like ginseng have been touted as alternative treatments, the evidence to support their use has been lacking. Ginseng is a plant that has been used for thousands of years to bolster overall health. The root contains several active substances, called either ginsenosides or panaxosides, that are thought to be responsible for the medicinal effects of the herb.
Scientists at the Yonsei University College of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea, recruited 119 men with mild to moderate erectile dysfunction. The group was split into two and while half took four tablets a day containing extracts of Korean ginseng berry, the rest took identical dummy pills. After eight weeks, researchers measured improvements by using a recognised scale called the International Index of Erectile Dysfunction. The results, published in the International Journal of Impotence Research, showed a small but significant improvement in sexual function in the ginseng group compared to those on the dummy tablets. In a report on their findings the researchers said: "Korean ginseng berry extract improved all domains of sexual function. It can be used as an alternative to medicine to improve sexual life in men."
