Darwin called it the living fossil, because ginkgo biloba is the only survivor of its family, the Ginkgoaceae. Luckily, we add, since ginkgo biloba seems one of the most promising remedy to counteract Alzheimer and dementia. Several scientific studies have focused their attention on these properties of ginkgo biloba, such as the research performed in Zurich, Swiss, and published in the journal International Pshycogeriatrics (Savaskan et al, Mar 2018).
But let’s see better in detail. The study analyzed the effect of the daily intake for a period of 24 weeks of 240 mg of ginkgo biloba 761, that is an extract obtained from the leaves of ginkgo, on 814 patients with symptoms connected with Alzheimer or dementia. To other 814 patients a placebo was given. At the end of the 24 weeks those people who took the extract of ginkgo biloba showed, in comparison with those who took instead the placebo, a significant improvement in their behavior and also from a psychological point of view. This extract of ginkgo seems indeed to act by protecting the cognitive functionality and the memory. Other studies have confirmed this effect of ginkgo against degeneration and have started also studying the possible synergies of this plant with other natural remedies. For example, according to a research published just a few months ago (Reay et al, Brain Behav, Mar 2019), a powerful synergy between ginkgo biloba and panax ginseng was observed. In particular, this combination seems to improve the cognitive functionality in humans with a higher action than the two remedies taken alone.
These researches are really promising and are paving the way to possible natural, but effective, treatments to counteract Alzheimer.
