Women who took Ginkgo Supplements for six months or longer were shown to have a 60 percent lower risk of ovarian cancer. (Photo by Jon Chase/Harvard News Office).
Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital have found initial laboratory and epidemiological evidence that, for the first time, demonstrates that Ginkgo may help lower a woman’s risk of developing ovarian cancer. The findings were presented at the American Association for Cancer Research’s annual meeting in Baltimore on Oct. 31, 2005.
In a population-based study, which involved more than 668 ovarian cancer cases and 720 healthy, matched controls, women who took Ginkgo Supplements for six months or longer were shown to have a 60 percent lower risk of ovarian cancer.
Daniel Cramer, MD, ScD, director of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Epidemiology Center at BWH, and colleague Bin Ye, PhD, found that Ginkgo, Echinacea, St. John’s wort, Ginseng, and Chondroitin were the most commonly used herbals among study participants. A further analysis of the data showed that Ginkgo was the only herb linked to ovarian cancer prevention. The preventive effect was more pronounced in women with non- muncious ovarian cancers, with data showing that Ginkgo may reduce the risk of this type of ovarian cancer by 65-70 percent.
The team then took the evidence demonstrated in the population study to the laboratory. In these experiments the researchers tested whether or not gingko, when introduced to ovarian cancer cells, may interfere with cell growth.
In vitro experiments showed that a low dosage of gingkolide caused ovarian cancer cells to stop growing. The researchers observed an 80 percent growth reduction in non-mucinious ovarian cancer cells. Gingkolides appeared to be less effective against the mucinous type of ovarian cancer cells, which paralleled the findings observed in the epidemiological study.
“Among the mixture of Ginkgo chemicals,” said Ye, “we found laboratory evidence that ginkgolide A and B, terpene compounds, are the most active components contributing to this protective effect.”
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Warren Matthews of Xtend-Life comments: This is not really a surprising result as many herbal extracts are very effective in helping prevent the ‘activation’ of cancer. Gingko is an important one which is why we use it in Total Balance. However, you should keep in mind that different substances act in different ways in the body and follow different pathways.
For example, in the above case Gingko helps prevent ovarian cancer (and other types of cancer) whereas Lycopene is excellent as a preventative against prostate cancer which is why we use it in our TB Men’s Version. However, it is not a good thing to just target one part of the body. Instead you must provide nourishment to ALL of your organs as they are all interdependent. This is why you should use a synergistic ‘cocktail’ of effective natural nutrients as a foundation of your health program.
