Ginkgo Biloba Helps Improve Memory

Ginkgo biloba is extinct in the wild but luckily was preserved in Chinese and Japanese temples. It is now used widely as an herb and also planted ornamentally. Traditionally used for the brain, coughs and asthma, it has also been studied clinically.

Trials have proved it effective for

• improvement of cerebral circulation
• long term memory
• long distance vision where the problems were associated with macular degeneration
• impotence when the problem was related to penile blood flow
• intermittent claudication
• ringing in the ears
• blood and plasma viscosity and the perfusion of the brain after a stroke

Michael Tierra, a herbalist who has good knowledge of American Indian, Indian and Chinese herbs, says that fairly large doses need to be administered in serious cases to be effective. He also says that ginkgo is sligtly toxic and shouldn't be used for long periods of time.

Possible side effects include - gastric problems, vomiting, diarrhea, restlessness, and headaches.

Ginkgo biloba improves blood flow, particularly to the capillaries and end arteries, and as such it is used for problems related to this. Garlic has a similar effect on peripheral blood vessels.

Like garlic, it mostly acts on the peripheral blood vessels. It causes release of prostacyclin and a "relaxing factor", it potentiates noradrenaline and inhibits its breakdown, and it increases intracellular cyclic amp. Hawthorn and arnica act more on the coronary blood vessels.

Ginkgo biloba is often given to the elderly. It has been used for - dizziness, diabetic angiopathy, and diseases affecting the veins such as varicose veins, post thrombotic syndrome, and leg ulcers. Ginkgo biloba has antibacterial properties (even against staphylococci), and may offer protection against noise. It has also been used for vertigo, depression with poor attention, cerebral oedema, headaches, dementia, transient ischemic attacks, acute cochlear deafness, and Raynard's syndrome.

Ginkgo biloba has helped some women reduce oedema (swelling) with the menstrual cycle, as well as reducing breast tenderness and dysmenorrhea associated with uterine fibroids.

Like ginseng, ginkgo is a mixture of different active principles including three flavone glycosides, bioflavones, and two lactones.

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