Healthy Living
Vinpocetine
By David Perlmutter, MD, FACN
Vinpocetine is an extract of the periwinkle plant, Vinca minor. Its discovery has essentially revolutionized the treatment of stroke and vascular dementia.
Presently in use in over 35 countries around the world, vinpocetine has been clinically proven to meaningfully improve the clinical outcome of stroke patients, even when administered long after the initial stroke event. In a 1985 Japanese study, researchers demonstrated improvement in two-thirds of stroke patients receiving this remarkable natural substance. Vinpocetine's effectiveness in stroke recovery is likely due in part to its remarkable ability to dilate brain arteries, enhancing brain blood flow in patients with cerebrovascular disease. This improves delivery of life-giving oxygen to marginally functioning areas of the brain.
Vinpocetine acts as a potent antioxidant and thus limits ongoing brain damage from free radical production. In addition, vinpocetine reduces the tendency of red blood cells and platelets to aggregate or stick together. This function, coupled with its ability to increase the flexibility of red blood cells, further enhances blood flow to damaged brain areas while reducing the risk of subsequent stroke.
In a 1987 study published in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society, Italian researches confirmed the effectiveness of vinpocetine in treating vascular dementia. Their report stated, "The overall clinical judgment of the effectiveness of treatment, made by the investigator at the end of the study, assessed 56% of the patients in the vinpocetine group as having made good to excellent improvement since entering the study." And further, " Patients on vinpocetine scored consistently better than placebo patients in all evaluations of the effectiveness of treatment" Their results have consistently been confirmed by other researchers.
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