Ginkgo

Ginkgo

Scientific Name: Ginkgo biloba

Part used: Extract of the leaf

In a Word: The 'Keep Your Marbles' Plant

Uses: Senile dementia, Alzheimer’s, Poor Memory

The Ginkgo tree is the sole surviving species of the family Ginkgoaceae and is the world’s oldest living tree. In fact it is so old that the Ginkgo tree links us to the plant world of over two hundred million years ago. For this reason it is often referred to as a ‘living fossil’. The name Ginkgo comes from the Japanese words gin, "silver", and kyo, "apricot" and refers to its silvery apricot like fruit. Oddly enough, this ancient tree thrives well in polluted environments, like large cities and roadsides. It is a common sight in modern cities because it can take a pollution beating and keep on growing happily. Its incredible adaptability explains why it is still around the dinosaurs are fossils!

When it comes to dementia and memory loss, clinical trials have well established that Ginkgo makes a difference.

Ginkgo was once very common in Northern America and parts of Europe, but after the Ice Age only survived in China. It is found wild in Zhejiang and Guizhou Provinces in central China. It has long been revered as a sacred tree in both China and Japan and has featured for thousands of years in traditional Chinese medicine. Brought back to America at the end of the 18^th Century, the Ginkgo tree can now be found all across America where it is planted as an ornamental tree often in the same soil as previous trees failed to flourish. Ginkgo is probably one of the most resistant trees to environmental pollution, insects and disease.

The leaves of the Ginkgo tree, the part used in herbal medicine, are harvested in early autumn before they start to fall. This is when the active ingredient – ginkgoflavonglycoside – is at its highest concentration. It has to be said that Gingko leaves themselves have not been found to be effective in matters of the brain, it is the concentrated extracts made of the leaves that have been found useful. Going out and picking leaves or buying dried leaves at the health food shop is probably a waste of time!

A flavone glycoside found in gingko leaves has been demonstrated in clinical trails to be of huge benefit in stopping the ageing process. The symptoms addressed by gingko extracts include; short term memory loss, dementia, depression, vascular fragility (bruising easily), intermittent claudication, poor circulation, and tinnitis, and impotence. The key to its activity is in its ability to increase circulation to the tissues. A brain, when it gets the oxygen and the glucose it needs, performs better than one that is starved. This is true for all the tissues in the body. Apart from the symptoms associated with ageing, Ginkgo is also beneficial in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, depression and neuralgia. Again, the key to Ginkgo biloba extract’s (GBE) activity is improved blood flow.

When it comes to dementia and memory loss, clinical trials have well established that Ginkgo makes a difference. It works in the short term and in the long term. Some patients have reported improvement in as few as seven days. In the days of lifestyle drugs, those that are used to prevent problems and increase the quality of life, gingko is coming into its own. Ageing is to a degree natural, but that is not to say a person has to take it sitting down.

Practitioners Advice

Consider taking Ginkgo if you have a family history of senile dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, or if you have senile dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Ginkgo needs to be taken for a minimum of 3 months to experience major benefits, and can be taken long term if necessary. A standardized extract containing 24% ginkgoflavanglycosides and 6% terpene lactones (ginkgolides and similar compounds) should be used daily taken three times a day. If you are already taking a chemical blood thinner, discuss using Ginkgo with your health care practitioner before starting gingko!

On the impotence front, Gingko is seen as an impotence aid because it increases circulation, to the brain and to points further south. If the impotence is built upon the poor circulation of accumulated years, gingko may help!

Tincture (1:5, 25% alcohol): 2.5 ml twice daily