Rosemary often steals the headlines when it comes to strengthening hair health and stimulating hair growth. For decades, this aromatic herb has received praise for its ability to thicken hair and ward off thinning. And while rosemary certainly gets its due, there may be another herb that stands a better chance of improving hair health: ginseng. This age-old root is prized for its widespread benefits for health but has become part of the hair care regimen as a result of its strong influences on encouraging hair growth and scalp wellness.
For ages, ginseng is used as an effective adaptogen: this plant enhances general wellness, decreases stress, and boosts mental functioning. Newer research has shown another excellent advantage of ginseng: its promotion of hair growth. Most people have heard of ginseng in the Chinese traditional healing practices, but only over the last decade have researchers started to analyze it on a deeper level and look into its hair-related impacts. As it turns out, this humble root may hold the key to not just healthier hair, but more voluminous, thicker locks.
While genetics undeniably play a significant role in hair loss and thinning, factors such as stress, diet, scalp health, and circulation are all contributing elements that can exacerbate these conditions. This is where ginseng comes into play. It enhances the circulation of blood on its scalp, hence becomes fundamental in hair development and stimulating healthy growth in nourishing the scalp. That more blood flows into it thus enables the strong transport nutrients to the follicle site.
Recent studies have proven that ginseng is a potent herb that promotes hair growth. Red ginseng extract may significantly enhance hair growth, according to a study conducted in the Journal of Medicinal Food. It is crucial for those individuals who experience hair thinning or alopecia because such a discovery opens up a new window of possibilities through natural, herbal interventions.
Active ingredients of ginseng, especially ginsenosides, are considered to play a crucial role in this process. Ginsenosides enhance blood circulation towards the scalp, thereby stimulating hair follicles and increasing keratin production. The latter is a protein responsible for hair strength and structure. Moreover, the mentioned compounds inhibit the action of 5-alpha reductase, which causes male pattern baldness and female pattern hair loss. This helps ginseng in reducing the conversion of testosterone into dihydrotestosterone, a hormone that is responsible for hair loss.
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Aside from promoting hair growth, ginseng also offers a variety of other benefits that can help in creating a healthier scalp and stronger hair. Here are some reasons why ginseng should be part of your hair care routine:
Ginseng is full of antioxidants, which protect your hair from free radicals with harmful oxidative effects. In other words, these little molecules bring about oxidative damage, hair breakage and thinning, and unnatural aging of hair. All these problems are neutralized by powerful antioxidants in Ginseng from the inside hair cells outwards.
Ginseng has natural antimicrobial properties that keep the scalp clean and healthy. This is important in keeping conditions such as dandruff, seborrheic dermatitis, and folliculitis away from the scalp, thus impeding hair growth. A clean and balanced scalp ensures that hair follicles are not obstructed to create an optimal environment for hair to grow.
Another property that is being provided by ginseng is to balance the scalp's natural oils. With fatty acids, it hydrates the scalp without getting greasy, making it ideal for people with both dry and oily scalps. This moisture balance will prevent hair breakage and split ends.
Stress is one of the most significant causes of hair loss, and ginseng is known to have an adaptogenic property. That is, it will make your body capable of resisting the effects of stress much more effectively. Ginseng would indirectly lead to a healthy scalp, as less stress would impact the body. This indirectly minimizes the chances of hair thinning due to the effect of stress factors.
If you want to add ginseng to your hair care process, then there are different ways through which you can do that. Many companies now create hair care products with added ginseng extract: shampoos, conditioners, hair masks- all of it. Thus, you'll be using ginseng without doing much.
Others prefer direct application of the ginseng-infused oils right on the scalp. However, pure ginseng oil can be quite strong, and blending it with a carrier oil like coconut or jojoba oil is suggested for the best results. Just apply this mixture to the scalp and massage it very gently to stimulate blood circulation and nourish the roots of the hair. The oil should be kept for an hour before it should be washed off the oily hair.
Another option is to create a nourishing ginseng hair mask. Combine ginseng powder with olive oil to create a mask that you can apply to your scalp. Leave it on for 20-30 minutes before rinsing thoroughly. This mask not only nourishes the scalp but also helps to repair damaged strands and improve overall hair health.
As with any hair care regimen, consistency is key when using ginseng for hair growth. To see the best results, these ginseng-based products should be used two or three times a week. One must be patient while using ginseng; hair growth is slow and gradual. If one suffers from hair thinning and scalp problems even after consuming ginseng, a visit to a dermatologist or trichologist to determine the underlying conditions will be advisable.
Whereas rosemary has long been the darling of herb enthusiasts claiming to help your hair grow, ginseng has emerged as one of the most powerful tools in the quest for healthy, thick hair. Through its properties of enhancing circulation, feeding the scalp with nutrients, and stimulating growth, ginseng proves to be an excellent remedy for people looking to get healthier-looking hair. Whether you use a commercially available product or make your own DIY treatments, you can enjoy great long-term benefits from ginseng when added to your hair care routine. The good news? It's completely natural and very effective as it supports the overall health of your scalp while fostering thicker, fuller hair.
Active ginseng components in cognitive impairment. Oncotarget. 2018
Antifatigue effects of Panax ginseng. PLoS One. 2013
Credit: iStock
India has approximately 101 million people living with diabetes, one of the largest such populations in the world. Blood sugar levels, HbA1c targets, and medication compliance tend to dominate the clinical conversation around the condition. What receives considerably less attention, from both doctors and patients, is what diabetes does to the feet, and what the consequences of that neglect look like over time.
Diabetic foot ulcers develop when nerve damage caused by prolonged high blood sugar, referred to as diabetic neuropathy, reduces sensation in the feet. A small cut, blister, or pressure sore that a person without neuropathy would notice and address goes unfelt. In the absence of pain as a warning signal, the injury progresses. Infection sets in. By the time the patient presents for medical attention, the wound has often reached a stage where conservative management is no longer sufficient.
The clinical outcomes associated with delayed presentation are sobering. A 2024 study published in Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome, drawing on real-world data from a tertiary care facility in India, found that amputation was required in 43.4 percent of diabetic foot ulcer patients. Ten-year mortality among those who underwent amputation reached 30.9 percent, compared to 24.5 percent among those who achieved primary healing.
A 2025 cross-sectional study published in Cureus found a significant disparity in mortality rates between individuals with diabetic foot ulcers and those with diabetes alone, at 231 deaths per 1,000 person-years compared to 182. Globally, 18.6 million individuals develop diabetic foot ulcers annually.
The gap between the clinical evidence on diabetic foot complications and the attention the condition receives in routine diabetes management is where the preventable harm accumulates. Most patients presenting with advanced diabetic foot disease describe a history of minor symptoms that were attributed to something else, ignored, or left unaddressed because they were painless.
Regular foot inspection, appropriate footwear, avoidance of barefoot walking, and early medical review of even minor foot injuries are the practices that interrupt this progression before it reaches the point of irreversibility. Dedicated foot care clinics are built around exactly this philosophy, bringing together the multidisciplinary expertise needed to catch complications early and treat them before the window for limb salvage closes.
Eastern India carries a significant share of this burden, with patients across West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, and the Northeast frequently facing limited access to the multidisciplinary care that diabetic foot management requires. Diabetologists, vascular specialists, wound care experts, reconstructive surgeons, and rehabilitation teams working in coordination produce outcomes that sequential, single-specialty care cannot consistently achieve. Where such integrated care is available and accessed early, limb salvage rates improve, and amputations are reduced.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s recent advisory on diabetic foot care reinforces that foot health in diabetes management warrants systematic attention, not as an afterthought to glycemic control, but alongside it.
(Dr. Anupam Golash, Consultant - Plastic Reconstructive Surgery, CK Birla Hospitals, CMRI)
Credit: Washington University
A small implanted device that stimulates the vagus nerve may offer substantial and lasting relief for people with severe treatment-resistant depression, according to a large multicenter clinical trial.
The findings, published in the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, showed that improvements in depressive symptoms, quality of life, and daily functioning were sustained for at least two years in most patients who responded to treatment.
Notably, more than 20% of treated participants (39 patients) were in remission after two years, meaning their depressive symptoms had improved enough for them to function normally in daily life.
"We were shocked that one in five patients was effectively without depressive symptoms at the end of two years," said lead author Charles Conway, professor of psychiatry and director of Washington University's Treatment Resistant Mood Disorders Center.
Earlier this week, Republican Tom Kean Jr. revealed that he had been diagnosed with depression, explaining his absence from public life for more than 100 days.
He is far from alone. About 20% of U.S. adults experience major depression during their lifetime. While most people improve after antidepressants or psychotherapy, up to one-third develop treatment-resistant depression, in which standard treatments fail to provide adequate relief.
The RECOVER trial, led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, enrolled nearly 500 patients across 84 sites in the US. On average, participants had:
"We believe the sample in this trial represents the sickest treatment-resistant depressed patient sample ever studied in a clinical trial," Conway said.
"There is a dire need to find effective treatments for these patients, who often have no other options. With this kind of chronic, disabling illness, even a partial response to treatment is life-altering, and with vagus nerve stimulation, we're seeing that benefit is lasting," he added.
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The VNS Therapy System, manufactured by LivaNova USA, Inc., involves implanting a small device beneath the skin of the chest. The device delivers carefully calibrated electrical pulses to the left vagus nerve, which serves as a major communication pathway between the brain and internal organs.
Although every participant received an implant, only half had their devices activated during the first year, allowing researchers to compare outcomes.
The latest analysis focused on 214 patients whose devices were activated from the beginning of the study.
Among them:
Conway noted that even a 30% improvement can dramatically change the lives of patients with severe depression, who often struggle to carry out basic daily activities and face a higher risk of hospitalization or early death.
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The study also found that recovery may take longer for some people.
Nearly one-third of participants who had not responded after the first year reported meaningful improvements by the end of the second year, suggesting prolonged stimulation may continue to produce benefits.
Researchers also observed consistently low relapse rates among patients who improved, particularly among those with the strongest responses.
Credit: Instagram
In the last few years, biohacker and longevity entrepreneur Bryan Johnson has become famous for maintaining a picture-perfect health in order to defy the norms of aging.
But this week, Johnson shared a shocking health update with his followers. He said that he has been diagnosed with Autoimmune Gastritis (AIG), a chronic autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the stomach lining. He said, “My stomach is eating itself.”
Despite years of optimizing his body, Bryan’s Johnson Autoimmune Gastritis diagnosis shocked the internet. While his strict routines, meticulous diet, and million-dollar anti-ageing protocol continue to inspire millions, they also receive equal amounts of skepticism and criticism.
Johnson recently revealed that he had struggled with persistently low iron stores for nearly 11 years, despite taking supplements.
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He said that a detailed evaluation confirmed Autoimmune Gastritis, an illness that damages the acid-producing cells of the stomach. The condition can impair absorption of iron and vitamin B12 and may increase the long-term risk of gastric cancer.
He also disclosed that he has autoimmune thyroid disease, suggesting that multiple autoimmune conditions may be interconnected in his case.
Amid his diagnosis, Johnson's journey raises a practical question: Which of his longevity habits are genuinely backed by science and worth adopting, and which remains experimental?
Among all longevity interventions, sleep has the strongest scientific backing. Johnson consistently aims for a regular sleep schedule and treats sleep as a primary health priority. Unlike expensive biohacks, sleeping 7 to 9 hours consistently benefits almost everyone.
Research has linked quality sleep with:
Johnson follows a predominantly plant-based diet rich in vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, and healthy fats.
While optimal health is not connected with veganism, evidence supports that diets including vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, and nuts are associated with lower risks of heart disease, diabetes, and several cancers.
Johnson combines strength training, cardiovascular exercises, mobility exercises, and walking throughout the day to stay healthy and fit.
Research, too, recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week to enhance longevity.
One of Johnson's greatest takeaways from his blueprint is tracking basic health markers. His long-standing low ferritin eventually prompted further investigation that disclosed his autoimmune gastritis.
It reminds us that routine health check-ups often identify silent diseases before symptoms appear. For most people, daily monitoring should include:
Bryan avoids alcohol and tobacco completely. Research consistently suggests that avoiding smoking and limiting alcohol significantly reduce risks of cancer, liver disease, heart disease, stroke and other chronic lifestyle disorders.
Many of these approaches have not been proven to extend lifespan in humans, and experts caution against assuming that more testing or consuming supplements automatically leads to better health.
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