Methods of treating a subject suffering from an ischemic condition and of preventing an ischemia-reperfusion injury in a subject suffering from an ischemic condition, particularly, but not exclusively ischemic heart disease and the subject is in particular a human, includes administering an effective amount of a carbohydrate composition extracted from Panax ginseng to the subject. The carbohydrate composition of the present invention extracted from Panax ginseng shows exceptional cardio-protective effect and, thus, provides a highly advantageous and highly promising treatment option for treatment of ischemic conditions and prevention of ischemia-reperfusion injury. The present invention further provides a method of protecting cells against hypoxia and reoxygenation induced cell death. Still further, the present invention provides a carbohydrate composition extracted from Panax ginseng and a pharmaceutical formulation comprising it.