Vermeulen Synoptic 2\GinsengGINSENG


Gins.


<Signs>
Panax ginseng. Aralia quinquefolia. Panax quinquefolia. N.O. Araliaceae.

With 55 genera and 700 species, the Araliaceae plant family is relatively large. It mainly involves trees and shrubs, often prickly or climbing. They are chiefly tropical in distribution. A well known genus is Hedera [Ivy].

The name 'Panax' is derived from Gr. pan, all, and akos, a remedy, in allusion to the root of this herb to which miraculous virtues have been ascribed [panacea]. The American variety, called Panax quinquefolia, is a native plant of the cool woods of eastern North America. The Asiatic ginseng is native to Manchuria, Korea, and Japan. From time immemorial, the Chinese have believed that ginseng is a cure for all diseases and infirmities. The word 'ginseng' is said to mean 'the wonder of the world'. Because of its slow growth, it takes about five to seven years for the ginseng plant to mature from seed to the full plant. The older the plant, the more valuable.

"The reason wild ginseng sells for a much higher prices than cultivated ginseng is that it is more potent and more difficult to secure. The belief that radioactive substances from the earth are more potent in ground where the ginseng grows wild also brings a better price for the wild plant.

However, wild ginseng is more difficult to find, for it is believed that the ginseng plant is so sensitive that it will, at the slightest sound, fold its flowers and make itself look like other plants." [Twitchell]

In Tibet, the herb is gathered during the early season of the year, right after the snow has left the ground. It must be searched for in the dark hollows of the hills where it hides itself from human eyes.

This has a simple explanation. Ginseng grows naturally in shaded forests where no direct sunlight comes through. This should be remembered when cultivating the plant. Sunlight must be avoided; therefore, the plant is treated and harvested in clear moonlight.

During the Second World War, the Russians carried out much research into the plant, which led to the discovery that the roots contained many radioactive properties.

In the Orient, ginseng is prized as an elixir for 'staying young,' whereas in the Far East it is highly valued as a sex rejuvenant. Chinese healers insist that ginseng does not stimulate the sex glands into unnatural activity but that it is a restorer of the normally healthy sexual function that has become 'weary.' Russian scientists claim to have found substances in ginseng that stimulate endocrine secretions and act as a tonic to the cardiovascular system.

One doesn't need a great deal of imagination to see in the unusually shaped root a human form with head, torso, arms and legs. This partly explains the belief that ginseng root affect the entire human being. Mandragora, 'the dragon which resembles man,' has gathered similar mysteries and myths around itself.

A lot of research has been carried out into the plant's constituents. It is definite that ginseng contains a lot of saponins, as well as vitamins B1, B2, B12 and C, and a large number of minerals and trace elements, such as magnesium, aluminium, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, vanadium, manganese, iron, cobalt, copper, germanium, arsenic and especially sulphur.

Oestrogen-like substances are only found in wild species.

Ginseng root has the following effects: 1 It has a stimulating effect on the central nervous system without, however, evoking a subjective feeling of excitement as do amphetamines.

2.It protects the organism against external factors such as cold, warmth, ultraviolet radiation.

3.It lowers the blood pressure. This effect, however, only lasts for about 5 to 15 minutes.

4. It lowers the blood sugar level and activates insulin activity.

5. In chronic gastritis it improves the appetite.

6. It stimulates the adrenal cortex, which probably explains the herbs capacity to resist infection and its gonadotropic characteristics.

Due to the plants low toxicity level, no poisoning symptoms are known.

Proved by Jouve in 1836 [number of provers unknown] and by Lembke on 3 persons in 1848.


<Compare>
Gelsemium. Phosphoricum acidum. China. Aralia racemosa. Agnus castus. Zincum.

Onosmodium.


<Region>
Lumbar region. Central nervous system. Genitals. Mucous membranes. * Right side.


<Leading Symptoms>
M Mind generally calm; still there are impatient impulses and fear of accidents, with, at times, disposition to weep, or to be anxious about the future. [Allen]

M Mental and nervous exhaustion from overwork.

G Neurasthenia after debilitating diseases.

G General prostration + stiffness of lumbar region.

amel Continued motion [stiffness].

agg Continued motion [prostration].

G Great sensitiveness to cold.

G Great drowsiness.

Awakens with difficulty or else with a start.

G Sexual weakness.

+ Rheumatic pains in hips, groins and back.

G Sensitiveness to light.

"Sensation of fatigue in eyes when exposed to the light; objects appear double when looked at fixedly; in reading, the characters become confused." [Clarke]

G Tight clothes intolerable [stomach and abdomen].

G Great dryness of mouth, tongue, lips, and palate.

"Swallowing of saliva very difficult; a swallow of water moistens only for a moment." [Clarke]

"The extremely distressing dryness of the lips, which are rough, and the mouth and fauces, is aggravated by the open air and by talking; at the same time there is a very scraping sore sensation in the fauces, aggravated by empty swallowing and by drawing the air in through the nose, which is dry." [Allen]

"All the parts of the mouth stick together; no collection of saliva is possible; he can speak only with difficulty." [Allen]

Dryness agg open air and on slight physical exertion.

G Vertigo on going down winding stairs.

While standing, the ground seems to waver.

Reeling sensation in occiput, + grey spots before the eyes.

P Heaviness and falling of upper eyelids.

Inward pressure on eyes.

P Face alternately pale and red.

P Indigestion + Hiccough.

P Lumbago, sciatica and chronic rheumatism.

+ Frequent desire to urinate.

+ Sexual excitement.

P Rheumatism.

"Bruised pain affects the lower back and thighs, associated with burning, stiffness, numbness, heaviness. The joints feel stiff and contracted and crackle on movement. The hands feel swollen and the skin seems tight.

Coldness is felt in the region of the spine. The fingertips burn." [Gibson]

P Coldness, trembling, and numbness of hands, with deadness of fingers.


<RUBRICS>
Mind: Full of cares [1]. Hurry in movements [1].

Vertigo: Sensation of falling backward, while sitting [1]. Occipital [1]. With obscuration of vision [1].

Head: Pain, headache from mental exertion [1]; headache in forehead, alternating sides [1]. Pulsating from exertion [1]. Swollen feeling [1].

Eye: Sensation of coldness on surface of eyeball [1]. Itching and biting in margins of lids [1]. Pupils alternately large and small, but frequently enlarged [1].

Vision: Diplopia on looking steadily at objects [1].

Nose: Sensitive to inhaled air [1]. Pain on inhaling air [1].

Mouth: Bitter taste after drinking [2].

Abdomen: Pain in right hypogastrium extending to groins [2]; colic commencing on the right side and extending to the left, and then rising to the region of the heart [1/1].

Respiration: Difficult respiration while sitting [1], amel walking [1].

Chest: Oppression amel walking [1].

Back: Sensation of great coldness, extending into vertebrae, + cold hands and blue nails [1/1]. Cracking in upper cervical vertebrae on moving head [1]. Heat after wine [1]. Lancinating pain between scapulae when straightening himself up [2], + difficult breathing [1].

EXTREMITIES: White discolouration of fingers during coldness [1]; blueness of fingernails [1]. Sensation of lightness and flexibility of limbs, in morning [1/1]. Sen-sation of swelling of hands, on closing them [1].

Sensation of internal trembling [1].

Sleep: Sleepiness during headache [1].

Food

Desire: Alcohol [1]; stimulants [1].

Worse: Wine [1; heat of whole body, esp. of back, with distended veins].

__________________
RSHom - Registered Homeopath