A Possible Role of Ginseng Root for Maintaining a Quality of Life in Womens

Chilliness is a complaint among menopausal women in Japan, but increasing evidence indicates that young women also suffer from chilliness. However, neither diagnostic criteria nor drug therapies exist for treating chilliness. We noticed it and recently elucidated methodological issues related to identifying women with chills. Using a discriminant analysis, we demonstrated that four parameters were important determinants of chilliness. On the other hand, after repeated reports of serious adverse effects with hormone replacement therapy, much attention has been given to the development of new remedies to alleviate menopausal depressive state in women, but methods for their preclinical evaluation have not been clarified. We previously developed a procedure to predict the effect of candidate substance on the menopausal depressive-like state in female mice. Since either chilliness or mood disorder is known to disturb a quality of life in women, in this symposium, the efficacy of Korean red ginseng on chilliness in women and depressive-like state will be discussed.