For the past fifteen years ginkgo has
been prescribed widely in Europe to treat
age related organic brain impairment,
auditory and visual difficulties, and for
cerebral and peripheral circulatory
disorders. Ginkgo protects small blood
vessels against spasm and loss of tone,
has a relaxing effect on the vessel wall
and protects capillaries against becoming
fragile or leaking blood into the tissues.
Ginkgo also protects circulating blood
from pooling and forming clots through
its antagonism of any tendency of
circulating blood platelets to aggregate
abnormally. This platelet normalizing
action of ginkgo is related to its
ability to block the action of platelet
activating factor (PAF).
The clinical uses of ginkgo have
included treating early stroke and
senility and radiation induced brain
edema. Other disorders that have
benefited from ginkgo include vertigo,
tinnitus, deafness, embolism and some eye
disorders including dry macular
degeneration and diabetic vascular
disease.
Ginkgo has brought about statistically
significant increases in alertness and
mental responsiveness in healthy people,
especially at higher doses.
The earliest publications about ginkgo
dealt with its beneficial effects on
cerebral and peripheral vascular
conditions. Ginkgo is the most widely
used plant extract in modern medicine. It
is prescribed in Europe primarily to
improve memory and other cognitive
functions as well as for the treatment of
peripheral vascular diseases.
Aging causes thickening in the brain's
arterial network that increases the risk
of stroke and vascular senile dementia.
Numerous studies show that ginkgo
prevents this cerebrovascular
pathology. Animal studies show that when
blood flow to the brain is reduced,
ginkgo protects against arterial spasm
that can result in complete blockade of
blood flow. Ginkgo also protects brain
cells against the effects of partial and
complete cessation of blood flow to the
brain. The new studies on ginkgo and
coronary artery blockade show that ginkgo
provides the same benefits in the heart
as have been documented in the brain.
In a recent double-blind study, in
which 320 mg of ginkgo per day was
administered prior to open-heart surgery,
there was significant protection against
complications. The researchers attributed
ginkgo's strong antioxidant function as
the mechanism that protected patients
against the free radical damage that's
occurs during all surgical procedures.
Ever since ginkgo was introduced in
Europe, it has been prescribed primarily
for neurological disturbances involving
impairment in cognitive function, memory
loss, vertigo, tinnitus, and headache, as
well as for peripheral arterial occlusive
disease. At least 40 controlled trials
have been conducted to assess the
efficacy of ginkgo in treating "disturbances
of the brain". Collectively, the
results indicate that chronic
administration of ginkgo produces
beneficial effects. Here are the results
of some of these studies:
One study showed that ginkgo (150 mg a
day) administered for 12 weeks decreased
the symptoms of cerebral insufficiency by
72% compared to 8% in the placebo group.
Vascular insufficiency showed that
ginkgo (120 mg a day) taken for 12 weeks
significantly improved cognitive test
scores.
A large multicenter trial to assess
the efficacy of ginkgo (112-160 mg per
day) on 303 outpatients with
cerebrovascular insufficiency showed that
improvement occurred in 8 of 12 symptoms
and that the overall assessment of the
patient's complaints was 83% better in
the ginkgo treated group.
Other studies on ginkgo for the
treatment of cerebrovascular disease have
provided similar results.
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