Research investigates ginseng for lung disease

RMIT University researchers have begun recruiting volunteers for a groundbreaking study into the use of traditional Chinese herbs for lung disease.

Patients are currently being recruited for the three-year trial investigating whether ginseng can improve lung function for patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), an umbrella term for the inflammatory lung diseases chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

Professor Charlie Xue, Director of the Traditional and Complementary Medicine Research Program at RMIT’s Health Innovations Research Institute, said moderate to severe COPD affected about 1.2 million Australians.

“The challenge with COPD is that there is no cure from any common Western medical treatments,” Professor Xue said.

“Our research is looking at patients in the early stages of COPD to determine whether herbal medicine can increase their lung function, reduce deterioration caused by the disease and improve their quality of life.

“Chinese medicine - and particularly ginseng - has been used for centuries to relieve symptoms of chronic lung disease but this treatment has not been tested through Western clinical trials.

“The exciting thing about ginseng is that pre-clinical laboratory trials have demonstrated it holds great promise, not only for its quality and safety but also its efficacy.”

The research is funded through a $560,000 National Health and Medical Research Council grant and $30,000 from the National Institute of Complementary Medicine.

RMIT is collaborating with two Melbourne hospitals on the research, recruiting 168 patients for the trial over coming weeks.

Professor Xue and his research team have been at the forefront of international development of an evidence base for Chinese medicine practice over many years.

RMIT’s Discipline of Chinese Medicine in the School of Health Sciences is the largest provider of Chinese medicine studies in Australia, and the University has been working with the Chinese Government and the World Health Organisation to develop education and research in the Asia-Pacific region since 1993.

Australia’s first Chinese Medicine Confucius Institute - a collaborative project between RMIT and the Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, supported by the Confucius Institute Headquarters in Beijing - was opened at RMIT’s Bundoora campus this year.

“Our work aims to bring together the best of Eastern and Western approaches to health,” Professor Xue said.

“By applying scientific rigour to our analysis of Chinese medicine treatments, we can share the fruits of the knowledge that has built up over 2,500 years through one of the world’s oldest and longest standing healthcare systems.”

For more information about the COPD trial or to volunteer, contact Johannah Shergis on (03) 9925 6527 or by email.

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