Heart health

Panax notoginseng is the Chinese species of ginseng, sold as sanqi, tianqi or three seven root. It is a different plant from Korean ginseng (Panax ginseng) and American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius), with its own chemistry and its own trials; the three Panax species sets the three side by side. People take it for circulation, the heart, and bruises and bleeding, and that is where its trials sit.

Most of the evidence comes from standardised saponin products used in Chinese hospitals, such as Xuesaitong soft capsules and Xuesaitong or Xueshuantong injections, taken on top of standard treatment. Each section below says which product was tested, so you can tell the hospital results from the powder in your cupboard.

Notoginseng's cholesterol evidence comes from one setting: people with diabetic kidney disease in Chinese hospitals, taking a notoginseng preparation on top of their usual medicines. In that setting the pooled results show lower total cholesterol, LDL and triglycerides. This guide gives the exact numbers, the kidney findings from the same review, the lipid note in the angina trials, the one trial where lipids did not move, and who all of this covers.

Circulation is the job notoginseng is known for. In Chinese medicine the raw root "moves blood", and the modern trials test that idea by measuring platelets, clotting proteins and how thick the blood is. Nearly every trial used a standardised saponin product in a Chinese hospital, most often Xuesaitong capsules or an injection, taken on top of the person's usual medicines. This guide reads those trials in plain words and says what each one used.

Notoginseng, called sanqi in China, has the deepest trial record in heart and stroke medicine of the three Panax species. Nearly all of it comes from Chinese hospitals, where the root is given as a saponin extract sold as Xuesaitong or Xueshuantong, in capsules or as an injection into a vein. Every trial on this page added that extract to standard care. The results below are sorted by condition and by form.

Notoginseng (Panax notoginseng), the Chinese species called sanqi or tianqi, and American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) share a genus and little else. Notoginseng is the root people take for circulation, platelets, bruises and recovery after a stroke. American ginseng is the root people take for after meal blood sugar, working memory and winter colds. This page sets the two side by side from the notoginseng side. Our sister site tells it from the American side in American ginseng vs notoginseng and covers that species at quinquefolius.com. The three way picture is in the three Panax species.