Ginkgo and Phosphatidylcholine

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Sorry if this is a repeat, found while checking out phosphatidylcholine supplements. The one recommended on the CM site is $60 a bottle!! Unique New CombinationGinkgo andPhosphatidylcholine

Phosphatidylcholine is the most active ingredient found in soy lecithin. Every cell membrane in the body requires phosphatidylcholine

(PC). Nerve and brain cells in particular need large quantities of PC

for repair and maintenance. PC also aids in the metabolism of fats,

regulates blood cholesterol, and nourishes the fat-like sheaths of

nerve fibers.PC is a major source of

the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Acetylcholine is used by the brain

in areas that are involved in long-term planning, concentration and

focus. Acetylcholine controls the rate of stimuli entering the brain,

motor activity, learning and memory, stimuli input during sleep, sex,

and other functions.

Supplemental PC increases the amount of acetylcholine available for

memory and thought processes. Increasing acetylcholine levels has been

shown to improve performance by humans in a variety of intelligence and

memory tests. Acetylcholine also is extremely important in maintaining

brain cell structure.

How Brain Cells Communicate

Neurons communicate with each other through structures called

synapses. When a neuron transmits an impulse to another neuron, the

synapse releases a transmitter chemical. Forty-two percent of the fat

chemicals in brain synapse membranes consist of phosphatidylcholine.

Acetylcholine is one of the neurotransmitters that brain cells use

to communicate with each other. Aging causes a decline in synaptic

junctions, dendrite branches, and in the levels of neurotransmitters

such as acetylcholine.

Aging impairs the brain's ability to make acetylcholine. Aging also

causes an increase in enzymes that destroy acetylcholine. Acetylcholine

deficiency is one cause of age-related memory and cognitive deficits.

Supplemental choline, and phosphatidylcholine

help to make up for the deficit in acetylcholine. A choline deficiency

can also be associated with high cholesterol levels, some types of

cardiac symptoms, skin problems such as psoriasis, poor tolerance of

dietary fats, gastric ulcers, high blood pressure, gall stones, and

liver disease. Newborn children have extremely high choline levels in

their blood. This seems to be necessary for the manufacture of myelin,

which is the material that insulates and protects the nervous system.

Behavior and Memory Numerous studies have demonstrated that dietary supplementation with

choline increases central cholinergic activity. In a study to evaluate

the effects of dietary choline, mice were given a diet rich in choline,

trained for passive avoidance tasks, and tested for retention either 24

hours or five days later. Their performance was compared with mice that

were maintained on a control diet. The results were that the

choline-enriched mice (13 months old) performed as well as 3-month-old

mice, whereas the choline-deficient mice performed as poorly as

senescent mice (23 months old).

A study of 10 normal, healthy volunteers established the effect of a

single oral dose of choline on two kinds of memory. One was a test of

short-term memory. The other was a test that measured the ability to

remember concrete words like "table" versus abstract words like

"truth." The test found an increase in short-term memory when members

of the group were tested after being given choline. In addition, the

ability to remember abstract words was improved.

In one double-blind study, students at Massachusetts Institute of

Technology, in Boston, were given 3 grams of choline a day. They showed

improved memory performance, learning longer lists of words than

control students receiving placebo (inactive substance). (Double blind

means that neither the person administering the drug nor the subjects

know whether any particular subject is receiving placebo or active

material. This helps to prevent expectations from altering how people

perceive the effects of the treatment.)

In another study, a single 10-gram dose of choline improved the

ability to learn lists of words. Similar results were obtained in a

human study in which subjects were given 80 grams of lecithin.

A group of Italian scientists provided evidence that choline may

improve other brain functions in addition to acetylcholine metabolism.

They looked at the cerebellum of the brain in aged mice receiving extra

choline in their diet. Neurons in the cerebellum, which controls body

coordination, usually don't use acetylcholine as a transmitter. They

found that the number of synaptic contacts went down significantly in

old mice. They also found that the length of these synapses increased

significantly in aged mice. However, in experimental mice fed choline

throughout their lives, there was no deterioration in the number of

synapses with aging. Since the cerebellum controls body coordination,

the deterioration of synapses in the cerebellum could explain the loss

of coordination with advancing age.

This study suggests that taking extra choline throughout your life

could help to prevent this loss of coordination, and that aging

involves a loss of membrane function in nerve cells, with the membranes

becoming more fluid as we age.

Diseases Treated with Phosphatidylcholine

Choline and lecithin phosphatidylcholine

have been used with some success in treating Huntington's disease,

tardive dyskinesia, Parkinson's disease, and other diseases of the

nervous system. Choline and lecithin are also used therapeutically to

treat diabetes, gall bladder problems, liver disorders, muscular

dystrophy, glaucoma, arteriosclerosis, senility, and memory problems.

Older brains tend to shrink, The study suggests that taking extra choline throughout life could help to prevent loss of coordination.

show a higher lipofuscin ("age pigment") content, and exhibit the

characteristic signs of senility-neuritic plaques and neurofibrillary

tangles. Although the brains of elderly non-demented people aren't as

deteriorated as those who have senile dementia, there is some degree of

deterioration in every aging brain. These findings suggest that almost

all aged people suffer to some extent from at least a mild form of

senile dementia. A significant percentage of people over age 65 suffer

from pervasive memory loss.

The Need for Supplemental Phosphatidylcholine

Food contains only trace amounts of free choline. Most of the

choline normally present in our diet is in the form of lecithin where

it occurs in seed oils and in unrefined foods containing oil.

Few people obtain enough choline and phosphatidylcholine through their diet. That's why lecithin supplements have been so popular. A new supplement has been designed that combines phosphatidylcholine with ginkgo to provide two highly effective nutrients for the brain.

Ginkgo's Neurological Benefits

Ginkgo has become one of the most popular dietary supplements in the

United States. Several well publicized studies in 1997 documented the

ability of ginkgo to improve memory in healthy people and in those with

neurological disease. There are now over 1,000 published studies about

ginkgo, some that indicate that this potent flavonoid may have

anti-aging effects throughout the body.

Ginkgo biloba extract is the most commonly prescribed plant remedy

in the world. It has powerful therapeutic properties for the treatment

of a number of serious medical conditions, including Alzheimer's

disease, asthma, impotence, tinnitus and hearing loss, headaches,

circulatory disorders and hemorrhoids. Ginkgo has been a staple of

Chinese herbal medicine for thousands of years. It is one of the

components of an elixir called Soma, which is a traditional Hindu

medicine.

Ginkgo increases blood flow throughout the brain, leading to

increased uptake of oxygen by nerve cells. It extends the ability of

brain cells to withstand periods of oxygen deprivation, thus making it

useful in treating strokes. It also protects cells against damage

caused by exposure to toxins. Ginkgo protects small blood vessels

against spasm and loss of tone, has a relaxing effect on the vessel

wall, and protects capillaries from becoming fragile or leaking blood

into tissues. It also acts to prevent the abnormal development of blood

clots inside arteries and veins.

The clinical uses of ginkgo have included the treatment of early

stroke, senility and radiation-induced brain edema. Other disorders

that have benefitted from ginkgo include vertigo, deafness, embolism

and some eye disorders including dry macular degeneration and diabetic

vascular disease. Ginkgo has brought about statistically significant

increases in alertness and mental responsiveness in healthy people,

especially at higher doses. For example, in a study of 216 patients who

were treated for 24 weeks with 240 mg a day of ginkgo extract or

placebo, the patients receiving gingko improved on tests assessing

attention, memory, behavior and activities of daily life.

For the past several years, ginkgo has been widely prescribed in

Europe for age-related organic brain impairment, auditory and visual

difficulties, and cerebral and peripheral circulatory disorders. It has

been approved by the German government to treat dementia, to improve

circulation in people with blocked arteries in their legs; and to

reduce dizziness and ringing in the ears caused by inner-ear disease.

There is no indication that ginkgo negatively interacts or affects any

of the other medications taken concurrently. It is a top-selling

therapy in Germany, with more that 5 million prescriptions filled each

year.

Ginkgo Extract's Unique Composition

Standardized ginkgo is a highly refined compound produced from the

leaves, nuts and branches of the gingko tree. Pharmaceutical-grade

ginkgo consists of 24 percent flavonoid glycosides, (which is said to

be the optimum for obtaining its therapeutic effects) and at least 6

percent of the terpenes ginkgolides A, B and C and bilobalide. A number

of other constituents make the extract soluble. The flavonglycosides,

which are part of the bioflavonoid family, are flavonoid molecules that

are unique to ginkgo.

This standardized mixture of biologically active natural products

gives the entire extract a complex range of activity. For example, the

flavonoids act as free radical scavengers and the terpenes,

particularly ginkgolide B, apparently interfere with or block the

action of platelet activating factor (PAF, which has been implicated in

abnormal platelet aggregation, asthma, graft rejection and immune

disorders such as toxic shock syndrome.

Both free radical formation and PAF can disrupt vascular membranes,

resulting in increased vascular permeability, which, in turn, is

associated with the impairment of cerebral blood flow seen with aging.

In addition to limiting membrane damage, Ginkgo biloba extract appears

to affect other factors which contribute to cerebral insufficiency,

including disruption of vascular tone, altered cerebral metabolism and

disturbances in neurotransmitters and their receptors.

Ginkgo biloba extract appears to delay mental

deterioration during the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, and may

help patients maintain a normal life without hospitalization.

Alzheimer's Disease

Ginkgo biloba extract appears to delay mental deterioration during

the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. In fact, Ginkgo biloba extract

may help to reverse some of the disabilities associated with

Alzheimer's and help the patient maintain a normal life without having

to be hospitalized.

A study in the Oct. 22, 1997, issue of the Journal of the American

Medical Association concluded that Ginkgo biloba extract alleviated

symptoms associated with a range of cognitive disorders, and was

beneficial in the treatment of dementia. The study added that Ginkgo

biloba extract "was safe and appears capable of stabilizing and, in a

substantial number of cases, improving the cognitive performance and

the social functioning of demented patients for six months to one

year." The benefits were said to be "as dramatic as Tacrine or Aricept,

two prescription drugs that have been approved to slow the dementia of

Alzheimer's." The advantages of ginkgo over Tacrine and Aricept are

that there seems to be no side effects, it's available as a supplement,

and is cheaper than prescription drugs.

Ginkgo's Multiple Talents

Ginkgo biloba appears to have positive effects on a wide variety of

disorders. In a 1975 study, ginkgo extract was given to patients

suffering from migraine headaches, with improvement or almost total

cure in 80 percent of the cases (for patients with other types of

headaches, the results were not as definitive).

One of the most promising uses of the ginkgolides may be as a

less-toxic alternative to the immunosuppressive drug cyclosporin to

suppress immunity during organ transplants, according to Dr. W.

Ramwell of town University Medical School, in Washington, D.C. In

experimental heart transplants using different strains of laboratory

rats, Ramwell and surgery professor Marie Foegh found that ginkgolide B

prolonged the survival of grafted hearts in recipient rats. Without

ginkgo extract, the animals' immune systems would have quickly rejected

their new hearts. Because of this experiment, Dr. Ramwell is confident

that the Ginkgo may be useful in human transplant surgery.

In addition, he says, other animal studies suggest that ginkgolide B

might be effective in regulating blood pressure, treating kidney

disorders and various forms of shock, reducing inflammation, treating

eye diseases and serving as an antidote for a number of toxins.

Ginkgo also has an effect on asthma. A condition that often develops

in childhood, asthma is a lung disease in which overactive bronchial

tubes narrow, swell, and become clogged with mucus. During an attack,

the asthmatic has difficulty inhaling fresh air and exhaling spent air.

In animal tests, bronchoconstriction has been inhibited in the

presence of ginkgolides, which are antagonistic to platelet activating

factor. Several other studies have confirmed these results and suggest

a therapeutic role for Ginkgo biloba extract in the management of

asthma.

Ginkgo has been shown in open trials to be an effective therapeutic

agent in patients with dizziness, vertigo and tinnitus (ringing in the

ears). In one study, ginkgo, administered orally in divided doses of 60

to 160 mg a day, produced resolution or marked improvement in symptoms

in 40 to 80 percent of the volunteers treated, compared with those

receiving placebo. The extract has been especially successful in

treating patients with vestibular neuronitis, or an inflammation of

inner ear nerve cells. There was an overall success rate of 85 percent

when researchers treated 49 patients afflicted with vertigo and various

stages of hearing loss with ginkgo. They recommend the extract for

neurosensory diseases of the inner ear, which have such vascular

origins as headaches and vertigo.

Since ginkgo has been used successfully for blood pressure

regulation and various vascular diseases, it should come as no surprise

that ginkgo is beneficial in dealing with sexual impotence in males.

During an erection, the penis becomes engorged with blood as blood

vessels enlarge or dilate to allow increased blood flow. This change is

due to nerve stimulation. Since some nerves are controlled in the

brain, drugs that affect the brain can have an effect on erection. A

1989 study illustrates this. Sixty patients with arterial erectile

dysfunction who had not responded to papaverine injections (one of the

vasodilators that physicians prescribe to increase blood flow in the

penis) were treated with Ginkgo biloba extract. Some improvement was

reported in six to eight weeks. The dosage was 60 mg a day. Following

six months of therapy with ginkgo, 50 percent of the patients were able

to sustain penile erections, and 25 percent demonstrated improved

arterial blood flow. About 45 percent of the remaining men noticed some

improvement in achieve erections, especially after being given the

supplement in conjunction with papaverine. Papaverine is not

recommended for those with angina, glaucoma, heart disease, myocardial

infarction, an a recent stroke. It is also not recommended for

Parkinson's patients, especially those taking levodopa, and its

effectiveness can be diminished by cigarette smoking.

In peripheral artery disease, the reduction of blood flow induces a

hypoxic (lack of oxygen) event that increases the production of toxic

metabolites and cellular free radicals. A six-month clinical trial in

Germany found that ginkgo improved the distance patients could walk

without pain by 100 percent in the test group, versus 30 percent in the

controls. A 1965 study reported that Ginkgo biloba extract lowered

blood pressure and dilated or expanded the peripheral blood vessels,

including capillaries in 10 patients with post-thrombotic syndrome.

A 1977 study with ginkgo on cerebral blood flow was conducted in 20

patients, aged 62 to 85, who were diagnosed with cerebral circulatory

insufficiency due to age and hardening of the arteries. The patients

were treated orally and tramuscularly for 15 days. Because of the age

and health of the volunteers, the researchers maintained low dosages of

ginkgo and did not expect spectacular results. However, they reported

that the cerebral hemodynamics was much improved in 15 of the cases.

One of the leading causes of blindness in people over 65 is macular

degeneration. Blood deficiency causes degeneration of the macula, and

blurring of central vision follows. Because of their free radical

scavenging properties, vitamin A, vitamin C and Ginkgo biloba extract

have been studied as possible deterrents to macular degeneration.

In 1986, French researchers administered Ginkgo biloba extract to 20

elderly patients with recently diagnosed macular degeneration. Distant

visual acuity in the most affected eye improved by 2.3 diopters (a

measure of refraction power) in Ginkgo biloba recipients, while in

placebo patients the mean increase was only 0.6 diopters.

Carol in IL AIM doihavtasay1 GigaTribe doihavtasayMom to seven including , 7 with TOF, AVcanal, GERD, LS, Asthma, subglottal stenosis, and DS.My problem is not how I look. It's how you see me. Join our Down Syndrome information group - Down Syndrome Treatment/ Listen to oldest dd's music http://www.myspace.com/vennamusic

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