Ginkgo: Is There No Stopping Ginkgo? 4 New Breakthroughs Using This Remarkable 5,000 Year Old Remedy

We already know that Ginkgo biloba is helpful for the treatment of Alzheimers disease, can improve poor memory and impaired circulation and act as an antioxidant. But it seems that there is no stopping this brain-boosting extract. Brand-new benefits from this popular remedy prove that this isnt just any ordinary herb.

Thanks to new research and recent findings, it looks like theres not much Ginkgo isnt good for. One recent breakthrough reports that Ginkgo can help protect your eyes and in particular against glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. It can help with skin conditions such as vitiligo and even against the harmful radiation being transmitted from your mobile phone to your brain.

Ginkgo biloba is the worlds oldest living species of trees found in southern and eastern United States, Korea, China and southern France. Medicinal use of this amazing extract can be traced back almost 5,000 years in Chinese herbal medicine.

Simply taking Ginkgo can protect your eyes from a serious eye condition
Glaucoma is a term used to describe a group of eye conditions usually involving increased pressure within the eyeball. In the worst cases glaucoma can lead to blindness. If you are over 60 you are more susceptible to developing glaucoma.  And anyone can get it!

However, normal-tension glaucoma is a form of the disease in which theres no increased pressure in the eye, but there is still damage to the optic nerve and retina. And its this form of glaucoma that Ginkgo can help.

During a recent double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 27 patients with visual field damage resulting from normal-tension glaucoma received either 120mg of Ginkgo biloba extract or a placebo drug.

At the end of the trial researchers noted a significant improvement in the Ginkgo groups visual field. Even better, none of the participants noted any side-effects. The authors concluded that their results suggest Ginkgo biloba extract can in fact improve pre-existing visual field damage in some individuals suffering from normal tension glaucoma (Ophthalmology 2003; 110: 359-364).

Not only is it thought to help maintain good eye function for people suffering with glaucoma, ginkgo can help protect your eyes against developing glaucoma by improving circulation to your eyes and protecting the optic nerve.

Why Ginkgo is showing positive results for diabetics
Since cases of diabetes are on the rise, diabetic retinopathy is probably even more common than glaucoma. This degenerative eye disease can also lead to blindness. Researchers think that one reason for this could be changes in blood flow through the fine vessels and capillaries in the retina.

If you are diabetic then there is a higher risk that your sight will be affected. Therefore its important that you go for regular eye examinations at the opticians.

However there is good news. A group of scientists in Taiwan recently conducted an experiment to study Ginkgos effect on 25 patients with diabetic retinopathy to see what would happen to the retinal blood flow (J Herb Pharmacother 2002; 2(2): 57-63). After just three months the patients blood was much thinner and their red blood cells became more flexible.

This effectively means that with the greater flexibility it is easier for the cells to move through the fine capillaries. Therefore making it less likely that you will develop diabetic retinopathy. As a result of the Ginkgo, blood flow in the retinal capillaries increased by about 10 per cent.

Further longer-term studies are being carried out in this field, but since Ginkgo is such an all round wonder extract, its certainly worth taking. In addition, make sure you read the article on the next page to discover four other natural alternatives for the treatment of type-2 diabetes.

Other new breakthroughs and how Gingko can help you:
Vitiligo is quite a common skin condition. But it can cause extreme distress for suffers because of its unusual appearance on the skin. Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease that typically causes patches of white skin, which usually get bigger over time. Its caused by the destruction of the pigment-forming cells in the skin and affects at least one in every hundred people in the world.

It has recently come to light that oxidative stress could be largely to blame. Ginkgo extract has been shown to have immuno-modulatory and antioxidant properties that can help to combat this condition.

A group of scientists in India have recently studied Ginkgo as a possible new treatment for the condition (Clin Exp Dermatol 2003; 28(3): 285-287). The results come as fantastic news for anyone who suffers from this skin complaint.

During the study, 25 patients took 120 milligrams of Ginkgo per day while remaining patients with slow-spreading vitiligo took a placebo. The progression of the Ginkgo patients cases of vitiligo slowed much more significantly than the placebo group. And remarkably, 10 of the 25 Ginkgo patients also had complete regeneration of their skin.

It was concluded that Ginkgo is a simple, safe and reasonably effective therapy for slowing down the progression of depigmentation in patients with vitiligo.

Possible protection from mobile phone-induced brain damage
The controversial issue with mobile phones is the low-intensity electromagnetic radiation (EMR) that is generated. During an experiment, two groups of rats one pre-treated with Ginkgo, the other untreated were exposed to the same type of EMR emitted from cell phones, one hour a day for seven days (Clin Chim Acta 2004; 340(1-2): 153-62).

A number of measures of oxidative damage were found in the untreated rats brains after exposure to mobiles, but all these were prevented by the Ginkgo treatment. Ginkgo also prevented the microscopic developments that indicated injury to the rats brain cells.

So far, this has only been a lab experiment. But given the controversy over using mobile phones, I thought I would include these findings. Obviously I will continue to bring you regular updates on this important matter.