can ginko biloba be useful in glaucoma?

Question:

Hello, I heard that ginko biloba can be useful in retinopathy and I was wondering whether it can be useful in glaucoma, as well. Do you know whether there are any studies about that? Thank you very much Alberto

Response:

On 24 Nov 2004 02:38:01 GMT, halt…@aol.com (Halterb) wrote: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->Ann commented: >>When I started taking it I was taking 240 mg daily. I also take Vit E >>and sometimes, fish oil. I starting getting alot of black & blue >>marks, so cut back on Ginko to 120< >and… >>it’s important to get a >>good product – not all Ginko is created equal.< >Interesting reaction. I wonder if that is a type of "titration" (finding the >proper amount of a substance). I’ve been using 240 recently as well, and 800 E, >but have no noticable side effects. >I also wonder how you have determined what is a good product. Mine is Solaray >leaf extract with 24% flavoglysides and 6% terpene lactones. What brand (s) do >you suggest?

I get my ginko from Vitamin Research Products, as recommended by my GS. I take one 60 mg capsule in the morning; a second in the evening, as opposed to one 120 mg capsule. Here’s a paste from VRP’s website description for this product giving the composition you want in any such product: Not to be taken with aspirin or blood-thinning drugs. (24% ginkgoflavonglycosides 6.5% terpene lactones.) 60 mg to 240 mg per day. So Hal, your brand is falling 0.5% short of VRP’s on terpene lactones. Don’t know how significant that is, but I was told not to take a brand with less than those percents quoted above. Hope this helps. Cheers, Ann To email: replace ‘REMOVE’ with ‘b’ in email address.

Response:

"Alberto" <sp…@nothx.com> wrote in message <news:cEknd.40379$Ni.1406072@twister1.libero.it>… > Hello, > I heard that ginko biloba can be useful in retinopathy and I was wondering > whether it can be useful in glaucoma, as well. > Do you know whether there are any studies about that? > Thank you very much > Alberto

I haven’t seen any randomized trials in peer-reviewed ophthalmology journals regarding ginko and glaucoma. If I do, I will certainly bring the results up here in this group. –Rick Cohn, MD

Response:

I’m curious what the dosages in these studies were. I’ve been taking 120 mg. of ginkgo for some months now — the smallest I’d seen mentioned in clinical studies. I wanted to be cautious because I also take Vitamin E and fish oil, and all of these things are blood thinners. Or so I understand, anyway. Laura On 20 Nov 2004 13:53:30 -0800, eyegu…@aol.com (Rick Cohn, M.D.) wrote: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->I’ve done a little more of a literature search on Ginko. Robert >Ritch, MD, at New York Eye & Ear Infirmary wrote the following in >2000: >"Ginkgo biloba extract is freely available and has several biological >actions which combine to make it a potentially important agent in the >treatment of glaucoma: improvement of central and peripheral blood >flow, reduction of vasospasm, reduction of serum viscosity, >antioxidant activity, platelet activating factor inhibitory activity, >inhibition of apoptosis, and inhibition of excitotoxicity. The effect >of Ginkgo biloba extract as a potential antiglaucoma therapy deserves >intensive scrutiny." > Hirooka, et al. at Kagawa University in Japan tested Ginko extract >in rat models of glaucoma. They found that Ginko had a >neuroprotective role in eyes with chronic moderate IOP >elevation…eyes of rats not treated with Ginko lost about 30% of >their retinal ganglion cells at 5 months compared with about 5% of >those who received pre and post IOP elevation treatment with Ginko. > In 1999, as study by Chung, et al. at Indiana University showed >Ginko greatly increased blood flow to the eye in the ophthalmic >artery. This could be quite useful in glaucoma patients, especially >those with low-tension glaucoma. Take home message…Ginko probably >couldn’t hurt, and it looks like in some patients, it probably could >help…it not in you, then certainly in your pet rat!.

Response:

I don’t remember where, but one article I found gave a list of specific brands of ginkgo that were used in various research studies. I found one, GinkGold by Nature’s Way, at drugstore.com. I order from them periodically anyway, so it was no trouble to add that to my shopping list. Before that I looked at some from my local drugstore, but returned it unopened because it had several other herbs mixed in with it. I avoid products like that, unless the extras are stuff I KNOW I want (like a little vitamin D with my calcium). As a general rule I really don’t trust herbs, period, and I don’t want to be messing around with any extras that I don’t know anything about. Laura On 24 Nov 2004 02:38:01 GMT, halt…@aol.com (Halterb) wrote: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->I also wonder how you have determined what is a good product. Mine is Solaray >leaf extract with 24% flavoglysides and 6% terpene lactones. What brand (s) do >you suggest?

Response:

Check out www.ConsumerLab.com. It’s a subscription site of an independent testing lab that analyzes vitamins, minerals, herbals, etc. There’s a lot of info you can get without subscribing but need to subscribe to get the full info. In a post to the glaucoma yahoo group on 3 Jul 2004, Dr. Robert Ritch mentioned two "high-quality standardized extracts" 1) EGb 761, a German extract marketed in the US as Ginkoba and Gink- gold (so you’re right on there, Laura!) 2) Vitamin Research Products in Carson City, NV. Their website is www.vrp.com He recommends a dosage of 120 mg once a day. Sherry Laura <mcki…@hotmail.com> wrote in news:khb8q0dojkv2os6fjvmlu56icvivri3s55@4ax.com: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> I don’t remember where, but one article I found gave a list of > specific brands of ginkgo that were used in various research > studies. I found one, GinkGold by Nature’s Way, at drugstore.com. I > order from them periodically anyway, so it was no trouble to add > that to my shopping list. <snip> > Laura > On 24 Nov 2004 02:38:01 GMT, halt…@aol.com (Halterb) wrote: >>I also wonder how you have determined what is a good product. Mine >>is Solaray leaf extract with 24% flavoglysides and 6% terpene >>lactones. What brand (s) do you suggest?

Response:

When I started taking it I was taking 240 mg daily. I also take Vit E and sometimes, fish oil. I starting getting alot of black & blue marks, so cut back on Ginko to 120 mg per day. That dosage works fine for me for 1& 1/2 years now. I still feel the visual clarity that I immediately noticed with the higher dosage, so I assume it’s enough to do whatever it’s supposed to do. However, it’s important to get a good product – not all Ginko is created equal. Regards, Ann – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -On Sat, 20 Nov 2004 23:59:14 GMT, Laura <mcki…@hotmail.com> wrote: >I’m curious what the dosages in these studies were. I’ve been taking >120 mg. of ginkgo for some months now — the smallest I’d seen >mentioned in clinical studies. I wanted to be cautious because I also >take Vitamin E and fish oil, and all of these things are blood >thinners. Or so I understand, anyway. >Laura >On 20 Nov 2004 13:53:30 -0800, eyegu…@aol.com (Rick Cohn, M.D.) >wrote: >>I’ve done a little more of a literature search on Ginko. Robert >>Ritch, MD, at New York Eye & Ear Infirmary wrote the following in >>2000: >>"Ginkgo biloba extract is freely available and has several biological >>actions which combine to make it a potentially important agent in the >>treatment of glaucoma: improvement of central and peripheral blood >>flow, reduction of vasospasm, reduction of serum viscosity, >>antioxidant activity, platelet activating factor inhibitory activity, >>inhibition of apoptosis, and inhibition of excitotoxicity. The effect >>of Ginkgo biloba extract as a potential antiglaucoma therapy deserves >>intensive scrutiny." >> Hirooka, et al. at Kagawa University in Japan tested Ginko extract >>in rat models of glaucoma. They found that Ginko had a >>neuroprotective role in eyes with chronic moderate IOP >>elevation…eyes of rats not treated with Ginko lost about 30% of >>their retinal ganglion cells at 5 months compared with about 5% of >>those who received pre and post IOP elevation treatment with Ginko. >> In 1999, as study by Chung, et al. at Indiana University showed >>Ginko greatly increased blood flow to the eye in the ophthalmic >>artery. This could be quite useful in glaucoma patients, especially >>those with low-tension glaucoma. Take home message…Ginko probably >>couldn’t hurt, and it looks like in some patients, it probably could >>help…it not in you, then certainly in your pet rat!.

Cheers, Ann To email: replace ‘REMOVE’ with ‘b’ in email address.

Response:

Ann commented: >When I started taking it I was taking 240 mg daily. I also take Vit E >and sometimes, fish oil. I starting getting alot of black & blue >marks, so cut back on Ginko to 120<

and… >it’s important to get a >good product – not all Ginko is created equal.<

Interesting reaction. I wonder if that is a type of "titration" (finding the proper amount of a substance). I’ve been using 240 recently as well, and 800 E, but have no noticable side effects. I also wonder how you have determined what is a good product. Mine is Solaray leaf extract with 24% flavoglysides and 6% terpene lactones. What brand (s) do you suggest?

Response:

"Alberto" <sp…@nothx.com> wrote in news:cEknd.40379$Ni.1406072@twister1.libero.it: > Hello, > I heard that ginko biloba can be useful in retinopathy and I was > wondering whether it can be useful in glaucoma, as well. > Do you know whether there are any studies about that? > Thank you very much > Alberto

Dr. Robert Ritch supports the use of Gingko Biloba. You can find an abstract of his study at http://tinyurl.com/6ao5p. He said that more recent studies have supported his findings. http://tinyurl.com/585lv http://www.allaboutvision.com/conditions/glaucoma_news.htm (last article at the bottom – some other good ones on this page too!) Sherry

Response:

I’ve heard favorable reports on it, and my glaucoma specialist mentioned it to me. Be sure, however, you are not taking aspirin, anticoagulants, or have any bleeding issues.

Response:

I’ve done a little more of a literature search on Ginko. Robert Ritch, MD, at New York Eye & Ear Infirmary wrote the following in 2000: "Ginkgo biloba extract is freely available and has several biological actions which combine to make it a potentially important agent in the treatment of glaucoma: improvement of central and peripheral blood flow, reduction of vasospasm, reduction of serum viscosity, antioxidant activity, platelet activating factor inhibitory activity, inhibition of apoptosis, and inhibition of excitotoxicity. The effect of Ginkgo biloba extract as a potential antiglaucoma therapy deserves intensive scrutiny." Hirooka, et al. at Kagawa University in Japan tested Ginko extract in rat models of glaucoma. They found that Ginko had a neuroprotective role in eyes with chronic moderate IOP elevation…eyes of rats not treated with Ginko lost about 30% of their retinal ganglion cells at 5 months compared with about 5% of those who received pre and post IOP elevation treatment with Ginko. In 1999, as study by Chung, et al. at Indiana University showed Ginko greatly increased blood flow to the eye in the ophthalmic artery. This could be quite useful in glaucoma patients, especially those with low-tension glaucoma. Take home message…Ginko probably couldn’t hurt, and it looks like in some patients, it probably could help…it not in you, then certainly in your pet rat!. –Rick Cohn, MD Glaucoma specialist Winter Park, FL

Response:

Laura <mcki…@hotmail.com> wrote in news:spmvp0pmps08f2irth5ecijrf96rkaj0q8@4ax.com: > I’m curious what the dosages in these studies were. I’ve been taking > 120 mg. of ginkgo for some months now — the smallest I’d seen > mentioned in clinical studies. <snip> > Laura

Laura, If it’s any help, Dr. Ritch posted to the glaucoma yahoo group that he takes 120 mg per day. Sherry

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can ginko biloba be useful in glaucoma?

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