Ginkgo biloba Extract (GBE) for Erectile

Dysfunction
Tagged:
Erectile Dysfunction
Ginkgo biloba Extract (GBE) for Erectile Dysfunction
Reference: Sohn M & Sikora R: Ginkgo biloba extract in the therapy of
erectile dysfunction. J Sex Educ Ther 17: 53-61, 1991.
Summary: Fifty patients with proven arterial erectile impotence were
treated with 240 mg of GBE daily for nine months. In contrast to
previous studies on oral treatment regimes for erectile dysfunction,
objective response criteria were added to subjective parameters. The
patients were divided into two groups. The first group had achieved
sufficient erections with intracavernous drug application before
treatment with GBE. The second group had not achieved sufficient
erections with high-dose intracavernous drug applications.
In the first group (n=20), all patients regained spontaneous and
sufficient erections after six months of oral GBE treatment. Arterial
flow rates were actually improved after three months and continued to
improve at six months. Rigidities at the penile tip and base were
significantly improved after six months and were found to remain
constant during the nine-month duration of the study.
In the second group (n=30), improved arterial penile flow rates and
rigidities were noted at six and nine months. Nineteen patients
responded to intracavernous PGE1 following GBE treatment. Of these
nineteen patients, nine required a minimal dose of 5 mcg while the
other eleven required a maximal dose of 20 mcg. The remaining
eleven patients remained impotent.
No side effects were noted during treatment with GBE.
Comments/Opinions: The only study cited in most of the
phytopharmaceutical review literature on GBE for erectile dysfunction
has been an abstract of a presentation at the 48th annual meeting of
the American Urological Association.(1) This study used 60 mg of GBE
daily in sixty patients with arterial erectile dysfunction that had not
responded to papaverine injections. The study duration was twelve to
eighteen months. After six months of treatment, 50% of patients had
regained potency and in 20% a new trial of papaverine was successful.
In the other patients, 25% showed improved arterial inflow but no
change in erectile dysfunction while 5% had no changes at all.
The study summarized above uses a higher dose of GBE (80 mg tid)
with a better success rate. It is interesting to note that in patients
previously responding to intracavernous injections of papaverine and
phentolamine, GBE was most highly successful. Patients not previously
responding to these injections were found to respond after GBE
treatment.
Because we understand the mechanism of action and the safety of
GBE, it should be the phytomedical treatment of choice for erectile
dysfunction. Herbal medicines like yohimbine and muria puama have
questionable efficacy and their mechanism of action is poorly
understood. Yohimbine can also cause serious side effects including
panic attacks, elevation in blood pressure, heart rate, and headaches.
(1)Sikora R, Sohn M, et al: Ginkgo biloba extract in the therapy of
erectile dysfunction. J Urol 141: Abstract 73, 1989.
Natural Product Research Consultants, Inc.
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By D. Brown