Gingko Under Fire

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Gingko Under Fire

JoAnn Guest

Dec 01, 2004 09:08 PST

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Gingko Under Fire

By Bill Sardi

www.billsardi.com

 

Modern medicine is supposed to be substantiated by scientific

investigation. But when threatened by competition from non-prescription

remedies it resorts to all sorts of shenanigans to scare the public away

from herbal products.

 

Take ephedra for example. Ephedra is very effective for weight control.

Like other prescription weight loss drugs, it is a stimulant that revs

up metabolism. But, like caffeine and other stimulants, it can induce

heart flutters.

 

Despite the fact that ephedra, or Ma Huang from its Chinese herbal

origin, is safer than aspirin, it has been banned from the marketplace

while obesity runs rampant in a sedentary population.

 

The side effects of prescription drugs (for example, statin cholesterol

drugs are toxic to the liver) are tolerated because it is said the

health benefits far outweigh any risks. But when herbal products are

scrutinized, such as ephedra, they must live up to a standard of

absolute safety, even if misused or overdosed.

 

Only now can we see why physicians stood up in Congress to lobby for the

banishment of ephedra. The drug/physician cartel wants Medicare to pay

for obesity treatment and force every overweight American to control

their weight through doctoring rather than self weight maintenance.

 

Remove any competition from non-prescription herbal products and every

overweight American must now go to a doctor to obtain a prescription

weight-loss drug like Meridian, which runs the same increased risk for

strokes and heart attacks as ephedra.

 

Ginkgo under fire

 

Ginkgo biloba is another popular herbal supplement that has come under

fire recently. Recognize this is an herb from the Ginkgo tree that has

become the most popular prescription drug in Europe, in wide use since

the early 1990s, but somehow when obtained without a prescription in the

USA is either ineffective or possibly even problematic, so they say. The

big ginkgo scare was created by a single case report of a patient taking

ginkgo who experienced a brain hemorrhage. The medical “scientists,’

armed with this single report, quickly advised all patients taking

ginkgo biloba to refrain from its use if they were already taking blood

thinning medications (warfarin, coumadin).

 

Consumer Reports, physician groups and even authorities on herbal

extracts were quick to follow and issue a warning that ginkgo biloba can

interfere with blood-thinning medications. But scientific studies don’t

back this up.

 

In France researchers used three doses of ginkgo biloba (120, 240 and

480 mg/day) among 32 healthy volunteers and could not find “any

alteration of” bleeding time or incidence of hemorrhage. [Clin Lab

Haematology 2003 Aug; 25: 251-3] Another study showed that 100

milligrams of ginkgo biloba did not interfere with warfarin, nor did it

increase its blood thinning properties. [ugeskr Laeger. 2003 Apr 28;

165: 1868-71] In another study, 240 mg of daily ginkgo biloba did not

alter 29 different tests of bleeding time or blood clotting among 50

volunteers taking this herb for 7 days. [blood Coagulation Fibrinolysis.

2004 Jun; 15: 303-9]

 

In the year 2000 researchers from the Faculty of Pharmacy, The

University of Utrecht, The Netherlands, reviewed all published studies

involving ginkgo biloba and blood thinning drugs. They could only find

one case report of a brain hemorrhage linked with the use of ginkgo

biloba. The researchers concluded that “the true risks of these

interactions are difficult to characterize due to the limited number of

reports.” [Annals Pharmacotherapy 2000 Dec; 34:1478-82]

 

Forget the science. By September of 2003 The American Family Physician

journal advised family doctors ginkgo can increase the risk of bleeding

if used in conjunction with blood thinning drugs. [American Family

Physician. 2003 Sep 1; 68: 923-6] Now the error is cast into stone, to

be perpetuated as a fact. The London Telegraph recently issued a report

stating “Thousands of people combining herbal remedies with traditional

drugs were warned that they risk killing themselves with lethal

cocktails of traditional and complementary medicines.” [Telegraph.co.uk

April 7, 2004]

 

“Thousands of people combining herbal remedies with traditional drugs

were warned that they risk killing themselves with lethal cocktails of

traditional and complementary medicines.” [Telegraph.co.uk April 7,

2004]

 

The kava kava scare

 

Another false herbal scare arose over kava kava, the South Pacific

Island herb that helps to overcome mild cases of depression.

Pharmaceutical companies in Europe were selling kava kava and reported,

without adequate substantiation, that there were reports of liver

toxicity in less than 100 people and withdrew the herb (a drug in

Europe) from distribution in 2002. US sales of kava kava were then about

$34 million a year. The American Herbal Products Association was put on

the defensive to prove a long-used herbal extract was safe when there

were only specious reports of liver toxicity from Europe.

 

Then the US Food & Drug Administration destroyed US sales of kava kava

by issuing a warning of a “potential” hazard and asked health

professionals to report any cases of liver toxicity associated with this

herb. (For comparison, the US Poison Control Centers report that

acetaminophen (Tylenol) causes 70,000 reported cases of liver toxicity

annually which results in 70-100 deaths per year.) Only a handful of

adverse reports were submitted to the FDA by US physicians. None panned

out to be of concern. But consumers taking kava kava for anxiety and

depression were getting more anxious and depressed every time they heard

another negative news reports about kava.

 

Dr. Donald Waller, a toxicologist and professor at the University of

Illinois, reviewed the reported cases of liver toxicity associated with

the use of kava kava and concluded “there was no clear evidence that the

liver damage reported in the US and Europe was caused by the consumption

of kava.” Other researchers also could not find a link between kava and

the reported cases of liver toxicity. [Planta Med. 2004 Mar; 70: 193-6]

In many of these cases the kava patients were also taking prescription

drugs that are known to be toxic to the liver. But the May 2004 issue of

Consumer Reports still listed kava among its list of “Dangerous

Supplements Still at Large.” Dr. Marvin Lipman, Consumer Reports’ chief

medical advisor said: “Given the weight of the evidence against Kava, we

would urge everyone to avoid its use. " In March of 2004 Canadian

researchers were horrified that health food stores were still

recommending kava kava to their customers. [J Gen Intern Med. 2004 Mar;

19: 269-72]

 

“There was no clear evidence that the liver damage reported in the US

and Europe was caused by the consumption of kava.” --Dr. Donald Waller,

toxicologist

 

Among Hawaiian farmers, sales of kava kava raw material dropped by 87%

in just one year. [Hawaii Dept. of Agriculture] Thousands of jobs were

wiped out. An efficacious anti-anxiety herb was cast into question, and

most consumers didn’t suspect that there were competing commercial

interests behind this whole fiasco.

 

Meanwhile, herbal remedies abound

 

Meanwhile, in between the slanted negative news reports about herbal

therapies, did you notice that Artemisia (wormwood), a Chinese herb, is

eradicating malaria throughout the world, better than antibiotic drugs.

[Pharmacological Therapy 2001 May-Jun; 90:261-5]

 

Antibiotic resistance, the ability of germs to become impervious to

modern antibiotic drugs, has been called one of the most challenging

health threats of our modern era. Yet researchers report that carvacrol,

an ingredient found in oil of oregano, kills off bacteria without

causing antibiotic resistance. [FEMS Microbiology Letters. 2004 Jan 30;

230:191-5]

 

Ginger root has recently been found to be an effective anti-nausea

remedy during pregnancy. [Obstetrics Gynecology 2004 Apr; 103: 639-45]

 

Cinnamon extract was recently found to prevent insulin resistant

diabetes in animals. [Hormone Metabolism Research 2004 Feb; 36:119-25]

 

Lest we forget, is there another herbal alterative to ephedra now that

it is banned? Green tea is now receiving attention for its weight

maintenance properties, and it is not just the caffeine in green tea

that does this. Other ingredients called catechins and theanine also

help with weight control.

 

De-caffeinated green tea may soon become the new alternative to ephedra,

that is, if it isn’t banned in the near future. [in Vivo. 2004 Jan-Feb;

18: 55-62]

 

There are differences in the effectiveness of herbal products based upon

their quality (amount of active ingredients).

 

But, for the most part, traditional herbal products are generally safe,

having been used for decades, if not longer.

 

Be wary of health authorities who scare you away from herbal products.

 

Modern medicine is practicing voodoo when it issues unfounded warnings

about herbal products.

 

Let’s sing the praises of herbs!

_________________

 

JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

DietaryTi-

www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Genes

 

 

 

 

 

AIM Barleygreen

" Wisdom of the Past, Food of the Future "

 

http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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