If you are taking Ginkgo on a regular basis, you will be interested in reading this article. Remember, if you take a medically active substance repeatedly, you will begin to develop symptoms of that remedy; i.e., you will conduct a proving on yourself or in ordinary words, poison yourself with the remedy, even though it is not potentized. If you are unsure whether you are proving Ginkgo or another supplement that you may be taking or need to schedule a consultation with me, go to the Consultation Services Page. Since it is medically active in the undynamic or unpotentized, crude state, you can implant its symptoms on yourself through repeated dosing of the tincture level of the remedy (this just means the crude, unpotentized form of the remedy and is not a reference to any particular type of herbal preparation).

One of the reasons that I decided to present information on this remedy is that I know it is one of the top ten herbal remedies now being taken in the developed countries to aid in memory retention, mental abilities, prevent Alzheimer's Disease, and many other conditions frequently associated with old age. I do not necessarily agree with these analyses and the following represents my perspective on the remedy.

The symptoms below are some of those that can be produced by taking this remedy. Now if you already have most of these symptoms, then Ginkgo may be a remedy for you to consider taking and I strongly advise you to consult an Homeopathic Practitioner, Herbalist or Physician before taking any new medications, including herbals.

If Ginkgo is decided upon as a remedy, the safest way to take it, as with any other medically active substance, is to take one dose and then to discontinue and wait to see what the results are. You can always take more later. And you can begin using the lower potencies such as 6x or 6c taken infrequently and gradually increase the potency over months if the remedy is acting curatively. If it isn't helping, then the best thing to do is discontinue taking it. This applies to all remedies. This way you are sure not to be poisoning yourself with the remedy and if it is the correct remedy for you, you will see changes after just the one or two doses. There is no one remedy that is good for everyone and it is harmful to one's health to take supplements willy-nilly just because someone or some advert said you should. This is not what is best for business, but it is best for the sake of safety and your health. As always, consult with your health care practitioners before changing any aspects of your health care regimen.

Forgetful of everything; especially appointments, comes two days late; forgets to cook, and if she does remember to eat, cooks badly. Mentally exhausted, cannot concentrate, numb, vague, dull mental state. Everything is too much for them. Avoids people and conversation, draws away from everything. Rises at 7:00AM and sits and waits for the day to go by. Confusion, intellectual dullness, can't think clearly. Makes mistakes in speaking and writing. Apathetic, nothing matters; postpones everything for the future. Feels unreal, nebulous, feels like an old person. Fear of poverty with avarice. Criticizes others and himself. Suppressed anger with desire to tear something up. Irrational fear with rapid speech. Disturbing fearful dreams of floods, robbers, fights, explosions, death, insects, corpses, of war, falling and breaking head open, of hair turning gray.

Vertigo. Sweat on the nape of the neck. Insomnia between 2 & 3 AM. Vision impaired and sees a veil in the field of vision. Neuralgia over the right eye. Dullness sensation in forehead. Strongly affects the kidney and lung channels according Traditional Oriental Medicine [TOM], traditionally used in cases with phlegm, wheezing and asthma and leukorrheal discharge, frequent urination, incontinence, spermatorrhea, turbid urine etc. Difficult to swallow, scraping in the larynx, dry mouth. Stomach feels empty, heavy, burning. Abdomen tense and swollen. Cough, dyspnea, difficult expectoration of thick sputum. Urethral discharge of pus, frequent urination, pre-menstrual labor pains, leukorrhea. (The symptoms of the urogenital area as well as the respiratory symptoms and the mentals all relate to TOM's connection to the kidney channel.) Clenching of the right hand with trembling. Legs feel like jelly, feet feel icy cold. Limbs aching with the desire to move them for relief. Skin gets burning, itching, vesicular eruptions.

Aggravation to the person's condition in general come from: cold, walking, drinking, looking up and to the right, and from 2-3AM.

Ameliorations to the person's condition in general come from: heat and from rest.

Laterality: Ginkgo seems to have an affinity to affect the right side of the body more than the left and to develop more right-sided complaints.

Please bear in mind that this is not an allopathic analysis of the herb Ginkgo biloba. This is a homeopathic analysis of a remedy that has not been sufficiently proven or used clinically in homeopathic form yet to give a full picture of it's healing powers.

This is a synoptic and general analysis based on the sources below and the author's insight and synthesis of the same. As more information is submitted to me from new provings or cured clinical cases or poisoning reports, I will add them to the page. Please feel free to e-mail me or send a fax to me if you have something to contribute. Please go to the bottom of the home page for the e-mail link and the fax number. Anyone with direct experience using Ginkgo or other supplements who would like to share this knowledge with others for the sake of the increase in general medical knowledge, please fax or e-mail the information to me. I will keep your name off the site and will add the information (+ or -) here after the information is compiled and verified by other reports. I am especially interested in cases where accurate notes have been taken on their symptoms that have been experienced since taking this or any other remedy.

Ginkgo has the ability to turn around those cases that are headed for senile decay and dementia with the accompanying physical symptoms, however the overall symptom picture must match the individual in order to get a curative effect and not a suppressive one or a proving of the remedy. In such cases the remedy is best given in homeopathic potencies and in very infrequent doses. It is slightly toxic in physical form and this is all the more reason to take it in potentized form. It will more strongly affect the vital force to heal the degenerating state of body and mind in the dynamic form as well.

The essence of this remedy as far as I can tell without more proving data and clinical experience with the remedy is one of a lonely, demented, depressed and withdrawn person with failing kidney energy. These symptoms are very frequently met with in elderly people. The Viennese provers summarized their take on the proving data similarly. And I find this fairly accurate. If a person seems to be headed in the direction of a prematurely aged state or if they are already exhibiting the full symptom image of the remedy, then this remedy will likely help them considerably. However, a person who does not have any of these symptoms and starts taking Ginkgo on a daily basis for a long time will likely begin to develop some of them, since they will begin to prove the remedy and implant its influence on their vital force. Not a desirable thing to do!

Prepaid Discount Classical Homeopathic Care is now available for six or twelve months which includes consultations as needed and weekly email or phone updates and questions and answers regarding your health and present condition. So if you purchase Prepaid Discount Homeopathic Care, you can ask me questions regarding supplements or any aspect of health and wellness and get advise tailored to your condition by email, chat or phone. Of course, in addition, I make many suggestions to patients that they would not even think of to help promote your level of health and well-being and to strengthen the healing process.

Remember, Ginkgo isn't the only remedy indicated in premature old age, senile decay and the elderly. Refer to the rubric old, age, premature and old, people in the homeopathic repertory under generalities and you'll see many more. I consider it as one rubric, really. See page 1135 of the Kunzli Repertory. I have Stramonium, Hyoscyamus, Thuja, Mercury(!), Ginkgo, Alumina, Staphysagria and Feldspar as additions to that rubric. Sources for the additions are available upon request.

This remedy needs to be proven more thoroughly; however, I have used these Homeopathic and Traditional Oriental Medical sources for the following synoptic homeopathic analysis of Ginkgo. Anyone with knowledge of homeopathic provings of Ginkgo other than the Viennese one listed below, please contact me from the homepage and I will add that information after I study it.

• Dr. Franz Swoboda and Peter Konig, Viennese provers 1987-90 (Printed in the September 1992 issue of Similimum, Australian Federation of Homeopaths).
• O.A. Julian, Materia Medica of the New Homeopathic Remedies; Beaconsfield, 1979.
• Him-che Yeung, C.A., O.M.D., Ph.D., Handbook of Chinese Herbs and Formulas, Volume I, 1983.
• Dr. Yu Min Chen, Oriental Herbal Medicine, Volume I, San Francisco, 1986.
• Lilian Lai Bensky, Chinese Herbal Medicine Materia Medica, 1986.