Resources | Health News | Therapies | Fitness

Ginkgo Biloba Side Effects, Interactions and Warnings

Do not use if you are pregnant or nursing.

Ginkgo can cause headaches, seizures, irritability, restlessness, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting; if these symptoms develop, check with your practitioner to see if you should lower your dosage or stop taking ginkgo completely.

Some people are unable to tolerate ginkgo even in small doses.

Do not use if you have a clotting disorder.

Do not give ginkgo to children without a doctor's supervision.

Use in medicinal amounts only in consultation with a healthcare professional.

Ingestion of the fruit pulp can cause severe gastrointestinal irritation, erythema and edema, and the rapid formation of vesicles resulting in severe itching.

Ginkgo reinforces warfarin action by heterogeneous mechanisms. It should thus not be used in patients on oral anticoagulant and/or antiplatelet therapy.
- Oral anticoagulants and medicinal plants. An emerging interaction -- Argento A, Tiraferri E, Marzaloni M. -- Ann Ital Med Int. 2000 Apr;15(2):139-43.

Ginkgo may increase the risk of bleeding or potentiate the effects of warfarin therapy.
- Am J Health Syst Pharm 2000 Jul 1;57(13):1221-7; quiz 1228-30 -- Potential interactions between alternative therapies and warfarin. -- Heck AM, DeWitt BA, Lukes AL.

Interactions include bleeding when combined with warfarin, raised blood pressure when combined with a thiazide diuretic and coma when combined with trazodone.
- Drugs 2001;61(15):2163-75 -- Interactions between herbal medicines and prescribed drugs: a systematic review. -- Izzo AA, Ernst E.

The standardized extract of Ginkgo biloba has an inhibitory action on blood pressure and it may influence cortisol release in response to some stress stimuli.
- J Physiol Pharmacol 2002 Sep;53(3):337-48 -- Reduction of rise in blood pressure and cortisol release during stress by Ginkgo biloba extract (EGb 761) in healthy volunteers. -- Jezova D, Duncko R, Lassanova M, Kriska M, Moncek F.

Bilobalide treatment resulted in a significant increase in the levels of glutamate, aspartate, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and glycine in the hippocampus of mice compared with the control. An increased level of glycine after bilobalide treatment was also detected in the striatum. In the cortex, bilobalide increased the GABA level, whereas it decreased the level of aspartate. These changes in the levels of various amino acids may be involved in the broad spectrum of pharmacological activities of the extract of Ginkgo biloba on the central nervous system.
- Cell Mol Biol (Noisy-le-grand) 2002 Sep;48(6):681-4 -- Effects of chronic administration of bilobalide on amino acid levels in mouse brain. -- Sasaki K, Hatta S, Wada K, Itoh M, Yoshimura T, Haga M.

Reports case of a patient in whom Ginkgo biloba extract proved to be the unique cause of spontaneous hyphema. Ginkgo biloba is known for platelet inhibition and is extensively used in the elderly because of its beneficial effects as a vascular protector. The clinical progression of the present case strongly suggests that Ginkgo biloba may cause hemorrhage and hyphema, even in the absence of any other predisposing factor.
- J Fr Ophtalmol 2002 Sep;25(7):731-2 -- Spontaneous hyphema caused by Ginkgo biloba extract -- Schneider C, Bord C, Misse P, Arnaud B, Schmitt-Bernard CF.

Ginkgo and trazodone may cause an adverse interaction.
- Drugs Aging 2002;19(11):879-86 -- Potential Interactions between Herbal Medicines and Conventional Drug Therapies Used by Older Adults Attending a Memory Clinic. -- Dergal JM, Gold JL, Laxer DA, Lee MS, Binns MA, Lanctot KL, Freedman M, Rochon PA.

Ginkgo may exacerbate seizures although the evidence for this is similarly anecdotal and uncertain.
- 2001 Dec;2(6):524-532 -- Herbal Medicines and Epilepsy: The Potential for Benefit and Adverse Effects. -- Spinella M.

This information is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice. You should not use this material to diagnose or treat a health condition or disease without consulting with your healthcare provider.
Privacy Policy © 1998-2008 Personal Health Zone
Click above for Service Agreement and Contact Information. Accessing this service binds you to terms stated. Advertisements appear throughout this website as a means of funding the site. This site is updated monthly and operates independently of any health associations or organizations. The owner of this site has no medical training and the information presented comes from government resources and health professionals in their respected fields.

Home Page: Personal Health Zone

We comply with the HONcode standard for health trust worthy information:
verify here.