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Herbal Remedies 'Boost Brain
Ppower'
Herbal Remedies Can Act Fast
A combination of two ancient herbal remedies can
dramatically boost brain
power and may have applications in medicine, say
scientists. Researchers showed that ginkgo biloba
can improve the power of concentration, while ginseng
sharpens up the memory.
The effect was even more powerful if the two herbs
were taken together.The researchers believe the
instant hit may help students to improve exam performance,
and businessmen clinch a crucial deal.They suggest
the herbs may also be useful in treating neurological
disorders -ginkgo is already used in some countries
to treat Alzheimer's disease.
These results suggest that such extracts may have
many other medical
applications such as helping people recover from
local anaesthetics Researcher Dr Andrew Scholey,
from the University of Northumbria said: "These
results suggest that such extracts may have many
other medical applications such as helping people
recover from local anaesthetics." Dr Scholey
said researchers had long looked for a drug that
improves both memory and concentration.
"Normally when you speed people up you lose
a bit of accuracy, or if they are
more accurate they take longer to respond."These
two herbs added together synergistically in a remarkable
way." Both herbal extracts have been used for
thousands of years in China. Anything that has an
effect, in all probability, also has a side effect
Dr Peter May, Southampton GP They are supposed to
boost energy and performance when taken over a long
period of time.
However, Dr Scholey's team discovered ginkgo improved
attentiveness after just
one dose.Volunteers displayed much faster reaction
times in tests requiring
concentration.Dr Scholey said: "Subjects were
able to sustain their concentration for longer.
Normally when people have to concentrate over an
extended period of
time, their reaction time begins to slow - ginkgo
seemed to stop that slowing
and one dose actually speeded them up."
The research also showed that ginseng rapidly boosted
memory. "With every dose there was improvement
in the subjects' ability to store, hold and retrieve
Information, and one dose caused a particularly
dramatic improvement."The most significant
impact of all was when volunteers took a preparation
of 60% ginseng and 40% ginkgo." They were then
asked to take part in a simple maths test, repeatedly
subtracting the number seven or three from a series
of figures.Dr Scholey said: "People were performing
serial sevens at the same rate as serial threes.
"This is a remarkable finding. What seems
to be happening is that it is
improving the available mental energy." The
most effective doses were 400mg of ginseng, 360mg
of ginkgo, and 960mg of the two combined.Ginkgo
biloba and ginseng are widely available in health
food shops and chemists. But the combined remedy
cannot yet be obtained in the UK. One ginkgo-ginseng
extract, marketed as Ginkoba, is available in the
United States and other European countries.
The researchers presented their results at the
British Psychological Society's
annual conference in Winchester. The study was funded
by Pharmaton, a company that produces ginkgo and
ginseng preparations, but Dr Scholey insisted the
research was scrupulously independent. Dr Richard
Harvey, director of research, Alzheimer's Society
said: "Gingko does not halt or affect the progress
of dementia. "However, some research has shown
improvement in the attention and memory of people
with who took capsules of the plant extract in trials."
Dr Peter May, a GP in Southampton, warned that proper
clinical trials would be needed before the herbs
were used to treat medical conditions. He said:
"Anything that has an effect, in all probability,
also has a side effect. We don't know what effect
these remedies may have on the action of other drugs."
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