Ginseng may modify the progression of degenerative cerebellar ataxia: A report of two case

ABSTRACT

Cerebellar degeneration is a group of diseases that manifests as progressive ataxia, that finally led to death without specific treatment. We report here two patients with cerebellar degeneration, who had shown an improvement and less progressive course, which is associated with panax ginseng intake. Patient 1 was a 60-year-old woman with multisystem atrophy (MSA) type C with 5 year history of ginseng ingestion. Patient 2 was a 54-year-old woman with spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) type 6, who had a history of ginseng intake for 30 months. Both the patients showed atrophic change in the cerebellum by brain magnetic resonance imaging. Cerebellar functions had been semi-quantified by International Cooperative Ataxia Rating Scale (ICARS) and monitored before and after the ginseng ingestion every 6 to 12 months. In Patient 1 with MSA type C, ICARS had improved from 21 to 17.5 ± 1.8 in the following 5 years. In Patient 2 with SCA, ICARS also showed an improvement from 22 to 6.0 ± 1.0 over 30 months. However, when she stopped taking ginseng, it progressed up to 13 points in two years. These observations provide a potential disease-modifying effect of ginseng on patients with cerebellar degeneration.