Friday, December 28, 2007

Ginkgo alleviates the 'side effects' of aging

Ginkgo biloba is a popular ornamental tree grown within the United States and worlwide, the roots of which may alleviate or improve a widespread variety of condition problems. The only surviving accomplice of the Ginkgoaceae family, ginkgo have been surrounded by existence for more than 200 million years. Also known as the maidenhair tree, it probably originate in southeastern China, where on earth it is still found on temple and monastery grounds.


Ginkgo biloba provides remarkable pharmacological action on the circulatory and disturbed systems, according to Ross Pelton, R. Ph., Ph.D., in Mind Food and Smart Pills. Some of its attributes, according to Dr. Pelton, include:


* Acting as a vasodilator to increase blood flow to the brain and extremities.


* Preventing free radical incapacitate to cellular membranes of the brain, nervous system and liver.


* Protecting brass neck tissue from the damage that can be cause by a decreased supply of blood and oxygen.


* Assisting the brain's metabolizing of glucose, its major source of fuel and energy.


* Improving fortitude transmission and function.


* Repairing lesion in cell membranes that hold been tatty by free radicals.


Ginkgo specifically enhance circulation to the microcapillaries, which are the small blood vessels that are the furthest away from the heart, Dr. Pelton said.


"Ginkgo actually stimulates the release of a substance that relaxes the microcapillaries, thus increasing blood flow," he said. "This channel that ginkgo may be the most effective remedy set for many of the `side effects' of aging, such as short-term memory loss, slow thinking and reasoning, dizziness, ringing in the ears, and problems next to vertigo and equilibrium."


A small double-blind study showed that ginkgo produced a significant improvement contained by long distance vision for patients next to macular degeneration, a frequent cause of blindness.


Dr. Pelton added that ginkgo affects mental alertness by shifting the frequency of brain waves. In a double-blind study where electroencephalogram monitors were used on the subjects, ginkgo increased brain alpha rhythms, which are the brain surge frequencies associated with mental alertness. Mental alertness among the volunteers be evident after three weeks of ginkgo analysis, and it continued to increase during the remaining three months of the study.


A survey of various studies using ginkgo found that the root be an effective treatment for adjectives types of dementia, cognitive orders related to depression, Alzheimer's disease and senility, he said.


"The survey concludes that ginkgo is especially beneficial for people who are a moment ago beginning to experience deterioration within their cognitive function," Dr. Pelton said.


Pierre Braquet, M.D., an authority on ginkgo chemicals at the Institute Henri Beaufour in Paris, believes that the main constituent contained by ginkgo, ginkgolide B, is beneficial because it interferes with a single chemical in the body call "platelet activating factor" (P.A.F.), according to a story in The New York Times, P.A.F. have been implicated contained by asthma, graft rejection and other immune disorders such as toxic shock.


British researchers have reported positive results within tests of ginkgolide B in treating relatives with asthma and allergic inflammations, according to the Times story. Animal studies by other scientists indicate that the substance might be important in regulating blood pressure, treating kidney disorders and counteracting a few toxins.


In in vitro experiments and clinical trials, ginkgo biloba extract has be shown to increase the rate at which information is transmitted to nerve cell, according to AIBR Scientific Reviews. In a double-blind controlled study, the reaction time of strong young women undergo a memory test better significantly after they were given the ginkgo extract.


Since the extract better blood flow and increased walking tolerance, it may be the botanical supplement of choice in peripheral arterial insufficiency.


The health-giving effects of ginkgo biloba seem to be to represent the pharmacodynamic activities of its major components: the bioflavonoids (mainly the flavonoid glycosides, with the flavonols possibly contributing) and the terpenes (the ginkgolides and bilobalide) according to Wolfgang Huber, Ph.D., and Paris M. Kidd, Ph.D. They make a payment that the antioxidant effects of the extract are potent and are attributable mostly to the flavonoids. Further, the vascular and enzyme-regulating effects of the flavonoids in ginkgo biloba extract are reminiscent of those described for citrus-derived bioflavonoids (hesperidin, rutin and others). However, they added, the effective doses for ginkgo are markedly lower than for the bioflavonoids.


Since ginkgo biloba offer so many potential applications for keeping citizens healthy, it is not surprising that this herb is one of the most popular ones below scientific investigation. You can find ginkgo capsule, extracts and other preparations at your health food store.

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