Ginseng’s nourishing and strengthening effects are known to almost everyone, but the toxicity and side effects of ginseng are often ignored. With the improvement of people’s living standard, more and more people take ginseng or ginseng preparations for tonic, and some of them blindly use ginseng in large quantities, which often results in a series of undesirable consequences. Generally speaking, the acute toxicity of ginseng is relatively low, and the research confirms that: mice ingesting 5 grams of ginseng powder per kilogram of body weight by mouth can only cause half of the deaths. And people usually take ginseng preparation is 3-9 grams each time, generally does not cause acute poisoning, but there are some people who are more sensitive to ginseng, after taking a larger dose of ginseng or ginseng preparation, may appear acute poisoning symptoms, manifested as a generalized rose rash, fever, headache, vertigo, blurred vision, irritability, chest tightness and shortness of breath, severe cases can be seen in convulsions, convulsions, or hemorrhagic death. Bleeding is a typical symptom of ginseng poisoning, which can be manifested as bleeding gums, nosebleed, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, and even cerebral hemorrhage. It is worth noting that newborns and infants are often particularly sensitive to ginseng, and an oral dose of 0.5 grams may cause acute poisoning. It has been reported that in a certain place, the custom is to let newborns take ginseng orally to promote the growth and development of children, as a result, there are 3 cases of oral red ginseng 0.5-1.5 grams of half an hour to several hours after the emergence of irritability, crying and refusing to breastfeed, convulsions, convulsions, and slowing of the heart rate, in which 1 case could not be rescued and died. Ginseng, as a tonic drug, can enhance the body’s non-specific resistance, many important physiological activities of the human body have a two-way regulatory effect, but the use must be in moderation, overdose is often counterproductive. For example, a small dose of ginseng extract can enhance myocardial contractility, enhance cardiac output, and can dilate the peripheral vasculature, improve blood circulation. However, large doses of ginseng can lead to myocardial paralysis and control of vasomotor nerve center paralysis, circulatory failure. Ginsenoside is the main component of ginseng, which is structurally similar to corticosteroids and can stimulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical system. Long-term use of ginseng or ginseng preparations in large doses can cause symptoms similar to cortisol poisoning, which is called “ginseng abuse syndrome”, mainly manifested as high blood pressure, nervousness, agitation, insomnia, rash, morning sickness, etc., and in severe cases, insanity can occur. In addition, large doses of ginseng can also cause depression, loss of appetite, edema, low blood pressure, amenorrhea, abdominal distension and other complex and varied side effects. Another adverse effect of taking ginseng is precocious puberty in children. Some children, after taking ginseng or ginseng tonic, have early menarche of girls, early beard growth of boys, penis enlargement and even gynecomastia, etc. These are due to ginseng’s gonadotropin-like effect, which can make children’s gonads develop and secrete sex hormones in advance, resulting in precocious puberty, which has an adverse effect on the physiological and psychological health of children, and deserves the attention of parents and children’s health care specialists. Xu Dachun, a famous doctor in the Qing Dynasty, pointed out in the “Treatise on the use of medicines as in the use of soldiers” that “although licorice and ginseng, misuse of ginseng can cause harm, they are all poisons and so on.” From the above, we can know that ginseng has its certain indications, not for everyone, more is better, but under the guidance of physicians, reasonable and appropriate amount. Once acute ginseng poisoning or “ginseng abuse syndrome” occurs, it should be stopped immediately and go to the hospital for treatment. Newborns and infants should not use ginseng (unless the condition requires) to avoid acute poisoning. In addition, ginseng also has the problem of “taboo”. Generally speaking, ginseng should not be consumed during the period of drinking tea and eating radish, and should not be taken with medicines containing veratrum, saponaria and wulin, and should not be decocted in iron pots, while casserole is preferred. It should not be taken by people with cold or fever.