About Herbs and Nutrition
Echinacea
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Ginkgo
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Royal Jelly
Garlic
Ginger
Coenzyme Q10
Lutein
rutin
Ginkgo biloba and Alzheimer's disease
Ginkgo story
About Ginkgo biloba
Ginkgo biloba research abstract and source links
Ginkgo biloba research abstract and source links
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All About Ginkgo:
An Introduction
"Even Dinosaurs knew about Ginkgo trees."
What is Ginkgo biloba ?
Family: Ginkgoaceae
Genus and Species: Ginkgo biloba
The ginkgo tree is the only living descendant of many species in the family Ginkgoaceae that flourished more than 200 million
years ago when dinosaurs were roaming. It is the oldest known plant and earned the name "the living fossile".
The characteristic shape of Ginkgo leaves, fan-shaped, flat, and have an indentation in the middle, gave birth to the
species name "biloba", a Latin word meaning bi-lobed. Ginkgos can live longer than 1,000 years, and have been a beloved
plant in Asian countries as an ornamental tree in the gardens and as a medicinal plant, particularly in China, Korea,
and Japan. Ginkgos were growing everywhere on earth long time ago,
but it became almost extinct during the last ice age, and only the Ginkgo biloba survived in Asian regions.
Ginkgos are deciduous trees, and grow into separate male and female trees, and the male and female trees commonly stand
facing each other at some
distances. Pollens from male flowers are carried by the wind to the female tree, which produces ovules that fertilize and
develops into yellowish seeds about a half to one inch long.
The ginkgo fruits have rancid, unpleasant odor.
Ginkgo was imported from Japan to the Botanical Garden, Utrecht, Holland in 1727, and to the United States in 1784.
Ginkgo biloba is best known for its ability to enhance mental alertness by promoting blood circulation to the brain and
bodily extremities. Ginkgo biloba is one of the most popular herbs in the world.
History
Since gingkgo is one of the oldest living creatures, presumably ginko has been familiarized to many animal species including
our own ancestors for a long time. It is possible that primates in prehistoric time tried and used gingko leaves, fruits,
and seeds for medicinal food.
Ginkgo biloba was recorded in one of the oldest Chinese classical Sheng Nung Ben Cao [The Herbal Classic of the Devine Plowman].
Sheng Nung [the Devine Plowman], a legendary person who started an agrarian society about 5,000 years ago, used Ginkgo biloba
as a medicinal plant to prevent memory loss due to aging, and for various other purposes. Ginkko has been one of the most favored
herbs in Chinese medicine for asthma, coughs, allergies, aging, circulatory disorders, and memory problems. Ginkgo is also
an ingredient of the traditional Hindu medicine called "Soma".
It was 1980s when Ginkgo became widely known and used in the United States for medicinal purposes. Extracts were made from
the bulk of ginkgo leaves in large quantity. Ginkgo is a typical medicinal herb that requires standardization for practical
use. 50:1 extracts of the ginkgo leaves (or 50 fold concentration from original ginkgo leaves) are common used for
manufacturing ginkgo supplement products.
Usage
Ginkgo biloba leaf extract is being widely used for memory improvement and mental alertness, vertigo and tinnitus, allergies
- through ginkgo's ability to antagonize, or inhibit platelet activating factor(PAF), altitude sickness - through improved
blood flow to the brain to compensate for low oxygen levels at high altitude, early stage
Alzheimer's disease, asthma, impotence,
intermittent claudication(lameness), macular degeneration, migraines, to deter aging overall - through anti-oxidant-nature of
chemical compounds in ginkgo, as a mood enhancer, and more.
Dose: Usually 120-240 mg standardized dry extract per day is recommended. 120 mg dose should not be used for prople under the
age 12.
Side Effects: Very seldom cases of stomach or intestinal upsets, headaches, or allergic skin reactions are reported. No harmful
interaction with other drugs have been known. Very seldom cases of stomach or intestinal upsets, headaches, or allergic skin
reactions have been reported. No harmful interaction with other drugs have been known.
DreamPharm's ginkgo products are Double G Super Power and
Ginkgo biloba, a pure leaf powder that works well.
Chemistry and Pharmacology
A rather complete chemical composition list of ginkgo can be found in Dr.
Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases.
Ginkgo biloba leaf contains diterpenes including ginkgolide A, ginkgolide B, ginkgolide C, and ginkgolide J, and sesquiterpene
bilobalide; flavonols, including kaempferol, quercetin, and isorhamnetin; flavones, including luteolin and tricetin;
biflavones, mainly bilobetin, ginkgetin, isoginkgetin, and sciadopitysin; catechins; proanthocyanidines; sterols; and
6-hydroxykynurenic acid (6-HKA). Following pharmacological effects have been experimentally established: [Herbal Medicine - Expanded
Commission E monographs, by Mark Blumenthal, Alicia Goldberg, and Josef Brinckmann, first edition, 2000].
Other Notes
Because ginkgo enhances blood supply to the brain as well as other parts of the body, and fights cellular damages caused by
free redicals, it is believed to be very helpful for problems with visual and hearing systems.
Healthy eyes are the basis for good vision, and many of the eye problems are associated with poor blood supply to the eyes.
Unlike skin cells, eye and optic nerve cells hardly repair or regenerate. Age we age, or expose our eyes to
environmental contaminants or UV irradiation, or due to infections, our eyes deteriorate inevitably. About a person goes blind
every 11 minutes in the US. Every minute, more than a person goes blind in the world.
Approximately 9 million Americans have trouble in hearing, and more than 300,000 of these people are completely, or nearly
deaf. The majority of them lost their hearing due to the cumulative effects of noise during life time. The ear is a highly
sensitive organ, and like the vision, hearing gradually deteriorates as we age. The process called prebycusis [meaning old hearing,
like presbyopia means old vision] starts sometime in the age 20's.
Ginkgo Research:
Anecdotal Evidences?
There are overwhelming number of anecdotal evidences on the safety and medicinal effects of gilkgo biloba, especially in
China and other Asian countries. Since the introduction to Europe and the US, ginkgo has gained a tremendous popularity for
its fabulous medicinal properties. This living fossile could have helped so many herbivores with its medicinal abilities since
the Jurassic era, but unfortunately this is just a pure speculation.
Scientific and Clinical Research
More than 400 scientific studies have been conducted on standardized ginkgo biloba extracts in the past three decades.
Very few scientific data or clinical reports are available for the health benefit of non-standardized, crude ginkgo leaf.
Clinical studies demonstrate that daily doses of 120-240 mg of standardized ginkgo biloba extract can lead to an improvement
in the following medical conditions: circulatory problems in the elderly, especially cerebral insufficiency and the
consequent cognitive effects, peripheral circulatory impairment, perticularly, intermittent claudication (poor circulation
to the lower legs), vertigo and tinnitus, altitude sickness, and erectile dysfunction in males. Improvement in the
memory loss, depression, and tinnitus could be achieved within 8-12 weeks.
Herbal marketers were often criticized for claiming ginkgo biloba in relation to Alzheimer's disease, which were believed
to be unfounded. However, recent studies have suggested that ginkgo biloba indeed have therapeutic potential in slowing
early stages of Alzheimer development [Kanowski, S., W.M. Hermann, K. Stephan, W. Wierich, R. Horr. (1997) Proof of
efficacy of the Ginkgo billoba special extract EGb761 in outpatients suffering from mild to moderate dimentia of
the Alzheimer's type or multi-infarct dementia. Phytomedicine 4(1):3-13.].
Outlook
Ginkgo biloba is arguably the most interesting medicianl tree in the world. Those who have taken ginkgo biloba supplements
mostly agree to the power of this botanical. Ginkgo leaf helps our brain and elderly people remember the past; ginkgo
root and seed are used for safe bodily tonic and astringent in Chinese medicine.
Ginkgo biloba Links
www.xs4all.nl/~kwanten/thetree.htm: Beautiful Ginkgo Tree.
www.rehabtrials.org/Trials/trial_list.shtml: Rehabilitation - Clinical Trials.
sres.anu.edu.au/associated/fpt/nwfp/gingko/gingko.html: Medicinal Use of Ginkgo biloba.
healthlink.mcw.edu/article/980547889.html: Alzheimer's Disease. Memory Loss, and Aging.
www.cochrane.org/cochrane/revabstr/ab001775.htm: Ginkgo biloba leaf for age related macular degeneration.
www.xs4all.nl/~kwanten/links.htm: The Ginkgo page.
www.herbs.org/current/science.html: Herbs.com Herbal Research Page.
www.i-care.net/eyeresearch.html: Eye Research Page.
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