Herbs & Herbal Remedies @ Green Papaya

Platelet activation factor plays a key role in blood clotting. Ginkgo’s PAF-inhibiting action may cause problems for those with clotting disorders.

Some people who take extremely large amounts of the herb have reported irritability, restlessness, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. Recommended amounts are considered nontoxic.

For otherwise healthy non-pregnant, non-nursing adults who do not have clotting disorders, ginkgo is considered safe in amounts typically recommended.

Ginkgo should not be given to children under age 2, and except for prevention of asthma, there is no reason to give it to older children.

Ginkgo should be used in medicinal amounts only in consultation with your doctor. If ginkgo causes minor discomforts, such as nausea or diarrhea, use less or stop using it. Let your doctor know if you experience unpleasant symptoms or if the symptoms for which the herb is being used do not improve significantly in two weeks.

Males Make the Best Trees

Ginkgo is a stately, deciduous tree that reaches IOO feet with a 20-foot girth. Its flat, fan-shaped leaves have two lobes. Ginkgoes are dioecious, that is, male and female flowers appear on different trees. The females produce apricot-size, orange-yellow fruits, which contain an edible seed.

Ginkgoes are attractive street or yard trees that can be grown throughout much of the United States. Obtain a sapling from a nursery in your area Plant only males. The fruits produced by females are messy and foul-smelling.

Plant ginkgo saplings in well-drained soil and stake them to ensure straight growth. Young trees are oddly proportioned and often look gawky, but they become stately with age. Water regularly until trees are about 20 feet tall. Then they become self-sufficient. Ginkgoes are resistant to insects and disease and grow up to 2 feet per year. In autumn, the leaves turn a beautiful gold before they fall.

What’s old is New

Family: Ginkgoaceae; there are no other members

Genus and Species: Ginkgo Biloba

Also known as: Maidenhair Tree

Parts used: Leaves

Ginkgo is the oldest surviving tree on earth. As a Healing herb, it can help the oldest surviving people. Ginkgo may prevent and help treat many conditions associated with aging: stroke, heart disease, impotence, deafness, blindness, and memory loss.

Elixir of Long Life

Ginkgo was termed “good for the heart and lungs” in China’s first great herbal, the Pen Tsao Ching (The Classic of Herbs), attributed to legendary emperor/sage Shen Nung. Traditional Chinese physicians use ginkgo to treat asthma and chilblains, swelling of the hands and feet due to damp cold.

The ancient Chinese and Japanese also ate roasted ginkgo seeds as a digestive aid and to prevent drunkenness.

India’s traditional Ayurvedic healers associated ginkgo with long life and reportedly used it as an ingredient in soma, a longevity elixir.

Ginkgoes were introduced into Europe in 1730, and today they are popular street and park trees throughout the temperate world. But even though 18th-century horticulturists planted them throughout Europe, herbalists of that time ignored them. As a result, ginkgo’s fan-shaped leaves have no history in Western herbal Healing.

Today, European herbalists and mainstream physicians feel much differently. Ginkgo products are among Europe’s most widely prescribed medications, with sales of $500 million a year.

Medical excitement over ginkgo comes principally from the herb’s ability to interfere with the action of a substance the body produces called platelet activation factor (PAF). Discovered in 1972, PAF is involved in an enormous number of biological processes: asthma attacks, organ graft rejection, arterial blood flow, and the internal blood clots involved in heart attacks and some strokes. By inhibiting PAF, ginkgo has been shown to have enormous Healing potential, particularly in conditions associated with aging.

Stroke - As people grow older, blood flow to the brain can decrease. That means less food and oxygen for brain cells. If blood flow becomes blocked, the result is a stroke, the third leading cause of death in the United States. Dozens of studies show ginkgo significantly increases blood flow to the brain and may even speed recovery from stroke.

Memory and Reaction Time - As blood flow to the brain improves, so do memory and mental functioning. In one small study involving eight women, short-term memory and reaction time improved “very significantly” after they took ginkgo.

Heart Attack - Ginkgo also improves blood flow to the heart muscle itself. And it may help prevent heart attacks by reducing the risk of the internal blood clots that trigger them.

Intermittent Claudication - When cholesterol deposits narrow the arteries in the legs, the result is intermittent claudication-pain, cramping, and weakness, particularly in the calves. Ginkgo may improve blood flow through the legs. A year-long study of 36 intermittent claudication sufferers showed ginkgo produced “significantly greater pain relief than standard treatment.”

Impotence - A study published in the Journal of Urology showed ginkgo helps relieve impotence caused by narrowing of the arteries that supply blood to the penis. Sixty men with erection problems caused by impeded penile blood flow were given 60 milligrams of ginkgo a day. By the end of the yearlong study, half the men had regained erections.

Macular Degeneration - This is deterioration of the retina, the nerve-rich area in the eye necessary for sight. Macular degeneration is the leading cause of adult blindness. In one small French study, ginkgo produced “significant improvement” in the vision of people suffering from this disease.

Cochlear Deafness - Researchers believe this form of hearing loss results from decreased blood flow to the nerves involved in hearing. One study by French researchers comparing ginkgo to standard therapy showed “significant recovery in both groups, but distinctly better improvement in the ginkgo group.”

Chronic Ringing in the Ears (Tinnitus) - A 13-month study of 103 chronic tinnitus sufferers done in Paris showed ginkgo “conclusively effective.” Ginkgo “improved all the patients” taking the herb.

Chronic Dizziness (Vertigo) - In one study, 70 people with chronic vertigo were treated for three months with either ginkgo extract or a look-alike placebo. At the conclusion of the trial, 18 percent of the the placebo-takers no longer felt dizzy, compared with 47 percent of those who took ginkgo, a highly significant difference.

Asthma - PAF causes the kind of bronchial constriction typical in asthma. Ginkgo interferes with PAF and helps prevent bronchial constriction, lending credence to the traditional Chinese use of ginkgo in treating asthma and other respiratory complaints.

Intriguing Possibilities - Preliminary reports suggest ginkgo may help prevent the rejection of transplanted organs. It may also be effective against allergies, high blood pressure, kidney problems, and Alzheimer’s disease.

No wonder ginkgo is now one of the most widely prescribed drugs in Europe.

Rx for Ginkgo

Ginkgo is not generally available as a bulk herb, however many herb companies offer commercial preparations. Follow package directions. Taste is not an issue because most preparations are pills.

Even if you have your own ginkgo tree, you can’t just brew up some tea and expect to take advantage of the herb’s Healing benefits. It takes a lot of ginkgo leaves to make medicine. This is one instance in which commercial preparations are preferable.