ABSTRACT
Ginkgo's fleshy seeds have been valued in China for their medicinal properties since 2800 B.C., but it is only in the last forty years that the leaves of this living fossil have been utilized extensively in Western medicine. Unlike many of the herbs in use today, ginkgo leaves are not used so much in their crude state as in the form of a concentrated, standardized ginkgo biloba extract (GBE). This extract has become a very popular drug in Europe, where it is widely used for its beneficial effects on the circulatory system.2 In fact, during 1988, physicians in Germany wrote more prescriptions (5.4 million) for GBE than for any other drug. It is also available there as an over-the-counter (OTC) drug.3
