A New Standard for Stroke?

With stroke being the third-leading cause of death, much is being done to prevent it or mitigate its effects. While there are a number of "standard" treatments for stroke, including surgery and tissue plasminogen activator (TPA), among others, you may be wondering if there are any natural alternatives. Most recently, a study conducted at Johns Hopkins University showed that ginkgo biloba appears to be useful in protecting brain cells from the damaging effects of stroke, "If further work confirms what we’ve seen, we could theoretically recommend a daily regimen of ginkgo to people at high risk of stroke as a preventive measure against brain damage," says lead researcher Sylvain Doré. Using mice, researchers induced strokes and then administered ginkgo to one group and compared the results with the control group. The mice who were given gingko "had 50.9±5.6% less neurological dysfunction and 48.2±5.3% smaller infarct volumes than vehicle-treated mice," strongly suggesting that stroke-prone humans can protect their brain cells by taking this herb. For many patients, once a stroke occurs, speech and motor function is affected, making a return to normal life difficult. With ginkgo being well-known for treating Alzheimer's (as aforementioned in one of my earlier blog posts), macular degeneration and sexual dysfunction, among other things, Doré adds, "Ginkgo has long been touted for its positive effects on the brain and is even prescribed in Europe and Asia for memory loss." This is a significant development to watch and another great win for alternative medicine.