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Home > Anti-aging Research > Ginkgo

GinkGold is the EGB 761 Formula (U.S. Patent #5399348), manufactured by Schwabe Company in Germany, and distributed in U.S. under Nature's Way Brand.  It's the patented extract used in most clinical studies.  See Medline search of EGB 761

Ginkgo

Product Suggestions:

• Ginkgo Biloba products at iHerb

General Information:

• Ginkgo - The Natural Pharmacist
• Ginkgo - Compiled by Chad Bradshaw, Pharm.D

Research & News:

• Study questions ginkgo biloba for brain health - Nutra USA, 1/4/10
• Ginkgo biloba does not appear to slow rate of cognitive decline - Science Daily, 12/29/09
• Best Treatment for Erectile Dysfunction? - Dr. Weil, 11/30/09 - "Ginkgo ... Ashwaganda ... Asian ginseng
• Herbal Tonic For Radiotherapy? Gingko Biloba Tree May Protect Cells From Radiation Damage - Science Daily, 10/26/09 - "They found that there was a significant increase in apoptosis in the untreated cells compared with those treated with G. biloba extract. Almost a third of the untreated cells underwent apoptosis compared with approximately one in twenty of the treated cells. Parallel studies with laboratory mice also demonstrated a similar protective effect against radiation poisoning"
• Ginkgo Reduces Neuropathic Pain In Animal Studies - Science Daily, 6/5/09 - "For both cold and pressure stimuli, pain responses were significantly reduced in ginkgo-treated rats. This was so on before-and-after treatment comparisons and on comparison of ginkgo-treated versus placebo-treated animals. The higher the dose of ginkgo extract, the greater the pain-relieving effect. Pain was reduced for at least two hours after ginkgo treatment"
• Ginkgo biloba has no benefits against dementia: Study - Nutra USA, 11/19/08 - "The GEM Study involved 3,069 community volunteers with an average age of 79.1 ... Commenting on the study, Dr Fabricant said the study had two major limitations: “One, it looks exclusively at people almost 80 years old who are far more likely to have Alzheimer’s, while ignoring those in middle ages, where the risk for developing the disease rises quickly and prevention could best be analyzed,” ... Two, it excludes completely any consideration of the strong and established role that family history plays with Alzheimer’s. You can’t do a study on the weather without looking at wind and rain.”"
• Most ginkgo products fail quality testing - Nutra USA, 11/18/08 - "Some companies put less of it in their products than they claim or use ingredient that has been adulterated with inexpensive material that can fool non-specific tests ... companies continued to make products with little to no ginkgo in them, leading Consumerlab to suggest “ginkgo is among the most adulterated herbs.”" - That's why I stay with the top brand names.  They have more to loose with bad  press.  I also think that's why some studies show benefits with certain supplement while other studies don't.  I've been taking Nature's Way, Ginkgold.  I get the paid version of Consumerlab and I thought it was strange that they didn't test that brand. - Ben
• Ginkgo Biloba Does Not Reduce Dementia Risk, Study Shows - Science Daily, 11/18/08 - "The researchers found no statistical difference in dementia or Alzheimer's disease rates between the groups. Among those taking G. biloba, 277 developed dementia. Among those in the placebo group, 246 developed dementia. Mortality rates also were similar" - I read this after the above article and comments but like I said.
• Ginkgo Extract May Reduce Stroke Damage - Medscape, 10/10/08 - "They found that mice pretreated with EGb761 had smaller brain infarcts and less neurologic dysfunction than their untreated counterparts ... Treatment with EGb761 after the stroke (4.5 hours post-reperfusion) was also associated with a significant reduction in infarct size"
• Gingko may boost memory - if you remember to take it - Nutra USA, 2/28/08 - "The new study involved 118 people age 85 and older with no memory problems. The elderly subjects were randomly assigned to receive either a ginkgo biloba extract (240 mg daily, provided by Thorne Research) or placebo for three years. The extracts were independently verified to contain at least six per cent terpene lactones and 24 per cent flavone glycosides ... when the researchers considered only people who followed the directions in taking the study pills, they found that people took at least 84 per cent of the supplements as directed had a 68 per cent lower risk of developing mild memory problems"
• A randomized placebo-controlled trial of ginkgo biloba for the prevention of cognitive decline - Neurology. 2008 Feb 27 - "In the secondary analysis, where we controlled the medication adherence level, the GBE group had a lower risk of progression from CDR = 0 to CDR = 0.5 (HR = 0.33, p = 0.02), and a smaller decline in memory scores"
• Ginkgo Biloba Less Effective for Raynaud's Disease Than Nifedipine - Medscape, 10/8/07 - "According to the poster, the percentage change of attack rate after 8 weeks of treatment was 50.1% in the group N and 31% in the group ... If the patient felt strongly about not using the nifedipine, I probably would tell them [gingko] is something you could use, but it's not as effective"
• Determining The Quality Of Ginkgo - Science Daily, 8/16/07
• Ginseng, Ginko Biloba Do Not Interfere With Drug Absorption If Taken At Recommended Doses - Science Daily, 5/1/07 - "found daily use of ginseng or ginkgo biloba supplements at the recommended doses, or the combination of both supplements, are unlikely to alter the pharmacokinetics - by which drugs are absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and eliminated by the body - of the majority of prescription or over-the counter drugs"
• Ginkgo's brain benefits questioned - Nutra USA, 3/16/07
• Ginkgo Biloba Extract: More Than Just For Memory? - Science Daily, 2/24/06 - "treating mice with an extract of leaves of Ginkgo biloba both before and after implanting human breast or brain (glioma) tumors decreased expression of a cell receptor associated with invasive cancer. This decreased expression slowed the growth of the breast tumors by 80 percent as long as the extract was used, compared to untreated mice"
• Ginkgo Biloba and Huperzine A -- Memory Enhancers - ConsumerLab.com, 12/5/05 - "CL found significant amounts of lead in supplements made with a form of ginkgo, while those made with another form did not"
• Cortisol, Stress, and Health - Life Extension Magazine, 12/05 - "Supplements to reduce high cortisol levels secondary to stress ... Vitamin C: 1000-3000 mg/day ... Fish oil (omega-3 fatty acids):1-4 gm/day ... Phosphatidylserine: 300-800 mg/day ... Rhodiola rosea: 100-200 mg/day, standardized extract ... Ginseng: 100-300 mg/day, standardized extract ... Ginkgo biloba: 100-200 mg/day, standardized extract ... DHEA: 25-50 mg/day (any hormone supplementation should be monitored by your physician)"
• Gingko biloba may reduce ovarian cancer risk - Nutra USA, 11/2/05 - "Women who took gingko supplements for six months or longer were shown to have a 60 per cent lower risk for ovarian cancer"
• Complementary and Integrative Approaches to Dementia - Medscape, 7/5/05 - "Ginkgo biloba, an herbal product long used in traditional Chinese medicine, has been studied extensively and found to be well tolerated with mild benefit, approximating that of the 2nd generation cholinesterase inhibitors"
• Ginkgo May Ease Some Attention Problems in MS - WebMD, 5/6/05 - "they were assigned to take a placebo or ginkgo biloba (120 milligrams twice daily) for three months ... The ginkgo group shaved four seconds off their time on the Stroop test, a 13% decrease compared with their performance prior to starting ginkgo. The placebo group's time remained unchanged"
• Newly Discovered Anti-Aging Effects of Ginkgo Biloba - Life Extension Magazine, 4/4/05 - "Not only can it improve memory and help relieve the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, but recent evidence also suggests that it can improve mental health in healthy older adults and has uses in treating conditions as various as diabetic retinopathy, intermittent claudication, erectile dysfunction, ulcers, and arthritis"
• Natural Sex Boosters Gaining Ground - WebMD, 5/5/04
• Ginkgo Does Not Cause Bleeding - Healthwell Exchange Daily News, 11/13/03
• Ginkgo Extract Effective Treatment for Vitiligo - New Hope Natural Media, 8/21/03
• Ginkgo Improves Some Glaucoma - New Hope Natural Media, 5/16/03 - "27 people with normal tension glaucoma and visual field losses were randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group received 40 mg of Ginkgo biloba extract three times per day for four weeks, followed by eight weeks with no treatment and finally four weeks of placebo. The other group received placebo for four weeks, followed by the same eight weeks with no treatment and ending with four weeks of Ginkgo biloba. Both groups experienced significant improvement (approximately 24%) in indices used to evaluate visual fields after treatment with Ginkgo biloba. There were no improvements for either group during placebo phases ... Ginkgo biloba extract has several properties that might have contributed to the beneficial effects observed in this trial. Its antioxidant activity might have protected the optic nerve from oxidative damage, and its ability to increase blood flow and oxygen utilization might have protected the optic nerve from damage due to lack of oxygen"
• Ginkgo Biloba Analysis: Few Pills Pass Quality Test - WebMD, 4/21/03 - "Brands that flunked random quality tests include ginkgo biloba products sold under the labels of Rite Aid and Longs drug stores. Only two of nine randomly tested products passed -- Maxi Ginkgo Biloba and Nature's Way Ginkgold.  Nutrilite Ginkgo Biloba, whose manufacturer paid for quality assurance, also passed the tests ... Many people taking ginkgo are not getting the effect they expected. This may be why ... ConsumerLab also tested four off-the-shelf brands of huperzine A ... One of these products -- Solaray Dietary Supplement -- contained unacceptably high levels of lead"
• Ginkgo for Alzheimer's Disease - Clinical Psychiatry News, 12/02 - "A 4-point gain on the ADAS-Cog is roughly equivalent to a 6-month delay in disease progression. “It is noteworthy that 29% of the patients with Alzheimer's disease treated with EGb for at least 26 weeks improved by 4 or more points, compared with 13% treated with the placebo,” ... In a German multicenter study, 156 patients with Alzheimer's or multi-infarct dementia were randomized to 240 mg/day of EGb 761 or placebo; efficacy was assessed by three validated scales. By the end of the 24-week study, 28% of patients in the ginkgo group were classified as responders, compared with 10% in the placebo group, a significant difference" - There are many different extracts of ginkgo.  Note that they specify the EGb 761 extract.
• Ginkgo Studies Find Conflicting Results on Cognition - Clinical Psychiatry News, 12/02
• Ginkgo Extract May Reduce Severity of Altitude Sickness - New Hope Natural Media, 10/31/02
• Ginkgo Supplements Useful for SSRI-Related Sexual Dysfunction - Clinical Psychiatry News, 9/02 - "Ginkgo has multiple systemic effects. It acts as a free-radical scavenger, inhibits platelet aggregation, causes vasodilation, and allows more efficient cellular uptake of oxygen and glucose. The effects of ginkgo on sexual arousal are thought to result from increased blood circulation to the genital area ... The proprietary multi-ingredient ginkgo preparation ArginMax (Daily Wellness Co.) is “one of the best things I've ever seen for SSRI sexual dysfunction,”" - See ArginMax at drugstore.com
• The Bias is Overwhelming - Vitacost, 8/21/02 - "It is rather appalling that the news media has been giving so much attention to this ridiculously short term negative study on ginkgo. It is even more appalling that some media sources come up with catchy phrases like “Forget the ginkgo”. Six weeks is not enough time for any supplement or drug to work when it comes to memory"
• Ginkgo Doesn't Help Memory - WebMD, 8/20/02 - "Ginkgo was found to have no impact on memory or learning in a group of healthy older adults who took it for six weeks" - Ginkgo is an antioxidant.  If you're link me and believe that memory loss is partially do to free radical damage, it would make sense that ginkgo might help prevent memory loss long term.  It would also make sense that if memory loss was partially caused by free radical damage, ginkgo or anything else would not reverse that damage.  The media always seems to report things in black and white.  See the following article, which I feel the media should have mentioned:
  • Ginkgo Extract Efficacious for Alzheimer's/Dementia - Medscape, 8/3/00 - "New analysis of the breakthrough study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) shows that a patented Ginkgo biloba extract, EGb 761, effectively improves the mental function of patients with Alzheimer's disease and multi-infarct dementia within the first 26 weeks of treatment"
• Colchicine Found in Ginkgo Was a Case of Mistaken Identity - New Hope Natural Media, 7/18/02
• Ginkgo May Boost Mental Function in MS - WebMD, 4/18/02 - "Millions of people take the herbal supplement ginkgo biloba in the belief that it boosts brain power, and several studies suggest it improves mental function in some patients with Alzheimer's disease. New research now shows that it may do the same thing for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS)."
• Basic Science Research: Effects of Ginkgo biloba Extract on Collagen-Induced Aggregation and Thromboxane B2 Synthesis in Platelets - Medscape, 4/02
• Sustain the Brain - Nutrition Science News, 2/01
• Study: Supplement Can Help Take the 'Dys' Out of Female Sexual Dysfunction, Researchers Promote Idea of 'Sexual Wellness' - WebMD, 6/5/01 - "ArginMax -- a dietary cocktail consisting of ginseng, ginkgo, B vitamins, calcium, folic acid, and other vitamins and minerals -- is being heralded as one component of a lifestyle that improves sexual performance and helps prevent problems associated with intimacy"
• Ginkgo Extract Efficacious for Alzheimer's/Dementia - Medscape, 8/3/00 - "New analysis of the breakthrough study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) shows that a patented Ginkgo biloba extract, EGb 761, effectively improves the mental function of patients with Alzheimer's disease and multi-infarct dementia within the first 26 weeks of treatment"
• What is the best dosage of ginkgo I can recommend to my customers? - Nutrition Science News, 8/00
• Ginkgo Biloba A Treasure from the Past - Life Extension Magazine, 5/00
• Want a love potion? What to know before you try - CNN, 6/15/00
• Natural Alternatives to Viagra with Ellen Kamhi - WebMD, 5/26/00
• Animal Tests Show Ginkgo Reduces Stroke Damage - WebMD, 5/2/00
• Ginkgo may protect brain from stroke damage - Vitacost, 5/2/00
• Ginkgo Biloba May Help Some With Painful Leg Cramps - WebMD, 3/30/00
• Ginkgo biloba, a potential to treat heart disease - CNN, 8/6/99
• Be All That You Can Be - Life Enhancement Magazine, 7/99
• Gingko Extends Life Span - Life Extension Magazine, 4/99
• Sidestep Heart Disease - Nutrition Science News, 3/99
• Natural Remedies for Depression - Nutrition Science News, 2/99
• Anti-Cortisols May Offer New Hope For Retinitis Pigmentosa - Doctor's Guide, 11/17/97 - "According to Sapse, RP can be treated initially with a cocktail of anti-cortisol nutritional compounds including vitamin A, zinc, ginkgo biloba and acetyl-L-carnitine . . ."
• Study: 'Memory herb' helped some Alzheimer's patients - CNN, 10/21/97
• Ginkgo biloba touted as herb for the absent-minded - CNN, 2/12/97

Abstracts:

• Chronic Administration of Cardanol (Ginkgol) Extracted from Ginkgo biloba Leaves and Cashew Nutshell Liquid Improves Working Memory-Related Learning in Rats - Biol Pharm Bull. 2012;35(1):127-9 - "These findings suggest that cardanol is one of the components in Ginkgo biloba leaves that improves cognitive learning ability" - See Ginkgo biloba products at iHerb.
• Nrf-2 mediated heme oxygenase-1 expression, an antioxidant-independent mechanism, contributes to anti-atherogenesis and vascular protective effects of Ginkgo biloba extract - Atherosclerosis. 2010 Nov 16
• The Ginkgo biloba extract EGb 761((R)) and its main constituent flavonoids and ginkgolides increase extracellular dopamine levels in the rat prefrontal cortex - Br J Pharmacol. 2010 Jan 25 - "A single oral dose of EGb 761 (100 mg.kg(-1)) had no effect on monoamine levels. However, following chronic (100 mg.kg(-1)/14 days/once daily) treatment, the same dose significantly increased extracellular dopamine and noradrenaline levels, while 5-HT levels were unaffected. Chronic treatment with EGb 761 showed dose-dependent increases in frontocortical dopamine levels and, to a lesser extent, in the striatum. The extracellular levels of HVA and DOPAC were not affected by either acute or repeated doses. Treatment with the main constituents of EGb 761 revealed that the increase in dopamine levels was mostly caused by the flavonol glycosides and ginkgolide fractions, whereas bilobalide treatment was without effect. Conclusions and implications: The present results demonstrate that chronic but not acute treatment with EGb 761 increased dopaminergic transmission in the PFC. This finding may be one of the mechanisms underlying the reported effects of G. biloba in improving cognitive function"
• Current status of antioxidant therapy for Alzheimer's Disease - J Am Geriatr Soc 1998 Dec;46(12):1566-72
• Integrated medicine and the prevention and reversal of memory loss - Altern Ther Health Med 1998 Nov;4(6):38-43
• Effects of Ginkgo biloba extract on impairment of learning induced by cerebral ischemia in mice - Am J Chin Med 1998;26(2):127-32
• Long Term Safety and Efficacy of Ginkgo Biloba in the Treatment of Anti-Depressant-Induced Sexual Dysfunction - Alan Jay Cohen, M.D., University of California at San Francisco Faculty
• Ginkgo biloba for antidepressant-induced sexual dysfunction - J Sex Marital Ther 1998 Apr-Jun;24(2):139-43 - "Ginkgo biloba generally had a positive effect on all 4 phases of the sexual response cycle: desire, excitement (erection and lubrication), orgasm, and resolution (afterglow)."
• The effects of an extract of Ginkgo biloba, EGb 761, on cognitive behavior and longevity in the rat - Physiol Behav 1998 Feb 1;63(3):425-33
• Effects of Ginkgo biloba extract (EGb 761) on learning and possible actions on aging - J Physiol Paris 1997 Dec;91(6):291-300
• Effects of ginkgo leave concentrated oral liquor in treating asthma - Zhongguo Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Za Zhi 1997 Apr;17(4):216-8

Other possible suppliers of ginkgo:

Related Searches:

• Doctor's Guide search of ginkgo
• Doctor's Guide (2) search of ginkgo
• Life Extension Foundation search
• Medline search of ginkgo
• Medscape search of ginkgo
• Google search of ginkgo
• The Natural Pharmacist search
• Nutrition Science News search
• WebMD search of ginkgo

Recommended Books:

• Stop Aging Now - Jean Carper

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