gingko biloba risk

[Guest guest]

I wonder if many know about this?

J Gen Intern Med. 2005 Jul;20(7):657-61.

Spontaneous bleeding associated with ginkgo biloba: a case report and systematic

review of the literature.

Bent S, Goldberg H, Padula A, Avins AL.

Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, University of California, San Francisco,

USA. bent@...

BACKGROUND: Ginkgo biloba (ginkgo) is a herbal remedy used by over 2% of the

adult population in the United States. Several review articles have suggested

that ginkgo may increase the risk of bleeding. OBJECTIVE: To report a case of

bleeding associated with using ginkgo, to systematically review the literature

for similar case reports, and to evaluate whether using ginkgo is causally

related to bleeding. DATA SOURCES: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, IBIDS, and the

Cochrane Collaboration Database from 1966 to October 2004 with no language

restrictions. REVIEW METHODS: Published case reports of bleeding events in

persons using ginkgo were selected. Two reviewers independently abstracted a

standard set of information to assess whether ginkgo caused the bleeding event.

RESULTS: Fifteen published case reports described a temporal association between

using ginkgo and a bleeding event. Most cases involved serious medical

conditions, including 8 episodes of intracranial bleeding. However, 13 of the

case reports identified other risk factors for bleeding. Only 6 reports clearly

described that ginkgo was stopped and that bleeding did not recur. Bleeding

times, measured in 3 reports, were elevated when patients were taking ginkgo.

CONCLUSION: A structured assessment of published case reports suggests a

possible causal association between using ginkgo and bleeding events. Given the

widespread use of this herb and the serious nature of the reported events,

further studies are needed. Patients using ginkgo, particularly those with known

bleeding risks, should be counseled about a possible increase in bleeding risk.

PMID: 16050865