Ginkgo Biloba FAQ

Ginkgo Biloba is frequently given to children with DS. Since it is fairly new to most families who have children with Down syndrome, it was suggested that I put some of the frequently asked questions about it up. That way everyone has one place they can go to find the answers and have one link to give to those who have questions. So, here it goes:

"What is the recommended dosage of Ginkgo Biloba?"

The recommended dosage is 5.5mgs per kilogram of body weight after 3 years of age. A kilogram is 2.2lbs.

"What form can it be given in?"

There are both liquid forms & pill forms. Depending on your child's age & ability to swallow vitamins, would decide which would be easiest to use.

"What are the best brands of Ginkgo Biloba to give?"

The best pill brand would be Nature's Way Ginkgold. If your child cannot swallow pills, you'll want to use a liquid form. It is an absolute pain to crush these pills. Ginkgold can be bought through International Nutrition. It should be available at a health food store as well.


The best liquid brand is Honeycombs Liquid Alcohol Free Ginkgo Biloba. From what I hear, this one does not taste bad! International Nutrition also carries this Ginkgo. If you order directly from Honeycombs, you can order a large bottle. But, it is quite pricey that way, so we've chosen just to buy it through INI.




"What is the best time to give Ginkgo?"

It is recommended to give Ginkgo Biloba in the morning. Give the full dose at once.

"What age can I start my child on Ginkgo Biloba?"

Trisomy 21 Research Foundation does not recommend starting GB before 3 years of age, due to a possible risk of seizures. But, there are many families who have started GB on their children who are well under 3 years old with no ill effects. Ultimately it is up to the parents and if they feel it is safe for their young child. Just make sure you do your research and make sure you are convinced it is the right thing to do at that time.

We chose to wait until my brother was over 3 years old before we even started giving him the full recommended dosage. He took some Ginkgo Biloba when he was under 3, but it was not the full dosage. We will be starting him on the full recommended dosage soon and he is almost 5 years old.

"Why Ginkgo Biloba?"

About 5 years ago, Stanford University a big problem in Down syndrome. GABA receptor, an inhibitor, was ON continuously in individuals with Down syndrome. What does this do? It doesn't allow the nerves in the memory and learning area of the brain to work properly or "fire." In other words, the nerves weren't working. To balance this problem with the GABA receptor, a GABA antagonist was used to turn it down. Because Ginkgo Biloba is a GABA antagonist, it is being used in hopes that it will turn down the GABA receptor. Ginkgo has been used for a very long time and is quite safe.

Things to consider when buying Ginkgo Biloba:

There was one thing mentioned on a DS listserv I'm on, that I thought would be good to add to the FAQ here.

When finding a good Ginkgo Biloba supplement you want to make sure of a few things:
1) low levels of ginkgolic acid
2) high levels of bilobalide
3) and that the product is standardized and not substandard

Ginkgolic acid is an undesirable part of GB, as some people can be allergic to that part. The above two products I mentioned are low in Ginkgolic acid.

Any other questions? Feel free to leave a comment here or send me an email (qf @ gotdownsyndrome . net - remove spaces) and I will try to add them onto this post.

Qadoshyah

The Changes We've Seen

The changes we've seen with my brother and Ginkgo Biloba is his attention span and being able to focus better.

His attention span is great and he is able to focus really well. His delayed response time is very minimal.

We've noticed some changes in him lately, which I don't know if they are directly to the GB or not, but nonetheless it is interesting.

He can be given two things to do and he's able to do both of them without doing only the one thing. Like after we've fed him yogurt. There's the yogurt container that has to be thrown in the trash can and there's the spoon that has to be put in the sink. We give him both of them and tell him what to do with each one and he goes and puts the one in the trash and the other in the sink. A few months ago, he would have only been able to do one or the other, not remember to keep them both separate. Now, whether this is due to the GB, or just that he is getting older (will be 3 y/o in February), I don't know.

The other day when I was doing the stacking rings with him. Normally he picks up the smallest two rings first for whatever reason, but that is what he always does. Sometimes I'll stack them up the wrong way so that as he takes the first ones off the top of the stack, he puts them on the stacking toy in the right order. But, the other day I decided to leave them all laying there and just ask him to put the right one on to see if he could do it in the right order. He went to pick up the two smallest two and I said, "no, those don't go on first, can you pick up the red one?" He put down the smallest two, looked around at the pieces and picked up the red one and put it on. He did it with all the pieces . . . orange, green, yellow, dark blue, etc. He ended up doing it two times in a row! I was so excited. Again, I don't know if this is related to the GB, or another supplement, or if he is just growing.

Nonetheless, changes similar to these are the things that we've noticed with him and the GB.

Speaking of Neurogenesis . . .

The Changing Minds protocol and all was being discussed on some of the DS lists I am. I know at least part of Dr. Cody's protocol is based on improving Neurogenesis in DS. As I was searching PubMed I happened to run across this abstract that was just published in December. It shows that there are reduced numbers of neurons in the brains of babies with DS (in the hippocampal region) and this is partly caused by an impairment of neurogenesis. Just thought it was interesting and maybe others may find it interesting.

Neurogenesis Impairment and Increased Cell Death Reduce Total Neuron Number in the Hippocampal Region of Fetuses with Down Syndrome.

Guidi S, Bonasoni P, Ceccarelli C, Santini D, Gualtieri F, Ciani E, Bartesaghi R.

Dipartimento di Fisiologia Umana e Generale, Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy.

We previously obtained evidence for reduced cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus (DG) of fetuses with Down syndrome (DS), suggesting that the hippocampal hypoplasia seen in adulthood may be caused by defective early neuron production. The goal of this study was to establish whether DS fetuses (17-21 weeks of gestation) exhibit reduction in total cell number in the DG, hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus (PHG). Volumes of the cellular layers and cell number were estimated with Cavalieri's principle and the optical fractionator method, respectively. We found that in DS fetuses all investigated structures had a reduced volume and cell number. Analysis of cell phenotype showed that DS fetuses had a higher percentage of cells with astrocytic phenotype but a smaller percentage of cells with neuronal phenotype. Immunohistochemistry for Ki-67, a marker of cycling cells, showed that DS fetuses had less proliferating cells in the germinal zones of the hippocampus and PHG. We additionally found that in the hippocampal region of DS fetuses there was a higher incidence of apoptotic cell death. Results show reduced neuron number in the DS hippocampal region and suggest that this defect is caused by disruption of neurogenesis and apoptosis, two fundamental processes underlying brain building.