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GINKGO BILOBA AND SAINT JOHN'S WORT AS A TREATMENT FOR DISORDERS OF THE BRAIN AND/OR MIND

Provisional Patent: 3/31/98 US Patent Office
by Rhawn Joseph, Ph.D.
Brain Research Laboratory




COMBINED USE OF GINKGO BILOBA AND HYPERICUM PERFORATUM (SAINT JOHN'S WORT) AS A TREATMENT FOR DISORDERS OF THE BRAIN AND/OR MIND
by Rhawn Joseph, Ph.D.,
Brain Research Laboratory, San Jose, California

SUMMARY: Patent for the combined use of Ginkgo biloba and Hypericum perforatum for the treatment of depression and/or memory loss and/or brain damage and/or neural degeneration, and/or marijuana addiction and/or opiate addiction and/or psychiatric abnormalities. This patent protection extends to the genetic manipulation of these substances and/or their employment as a genetic delivery system designed to alter nerve cell structure, and/or nerve cell-DNA, and/or nerve function, and/or nerve division, and/or nerve reproduction, and/or for affecting viruses and/or bacteria and/or microbial organisms which affect the brain and/or mind.

Rhawn Joseph, Ph.D. is seeking patent protection for his discovery regarding the combined curative effects of two agricultural-based compounds, Ginkgo biloba and Hypericum perforatum ("Saint John's wort") which he has found to be effective, when used in combination, for the treatment of brain damage, neural degeneration and atrophy, memory loss, depression, and the craving for marijuana or opiates. This patent protection extends to the genetic manipulation of these substances and/or their employment as a genetic delivery system designed to alter nerve cell structure and/or nerve cell-DNA, and/or nerve function, and/or nerve division, and/or nerve reproduction.

FOUNDATION FOR PATENT PROTECTION: OVERVIEW

HUMAN & ANIMAL STUDIES: HUMAN APPLICATIONS & TREATMENT

Dr. Joseph, in the late 1980s and 1990s, discovered that human patients who have taken Ginko biloba and Hypericum perforatum ("Saint John's wort") in combination, reported a significant reduction in mild, moderate, and severe depression, as well as significant improvements in memory. Moreover, Dr. Joseph has found that the combined ingestion of these ingredients are more effective and in fact twice as effective in alleviating memory loss and/or depression, as compared to patients who consumed only Ginkgo biloba or only Hypericum perforatum ("Saint John's wort").

In a series of animal studies, Rhawn Joseph found that rats reduced to 85% of their normal body weight and who were fed approximately 30 mg, 24% extract Ginkgo Biloba, and 150 mg of 0.3% hypericin (Saint John's wort), demonstrated improved learning and memory and less neural atrophy following brain damage. Specifically, Rhawn Joseph found that rats continuously fed a diet consisting of the above compounds for at least 30 days and who subsequently suffered injuries to the brain (the right dorsal hippocampus) displayed less neural atrophy and superior learning and memory (as demonstrated on a maze learning task) as compared to animals who suffered identical lesions but who were fed only a standard purina diet following experimentally induced brain lesions (to the hippocampus) . Rhawn Joseph also found that rats who suffered right hippocampal surgical injuries and who were subsequently fed a once daily dose of approximately 30 mg Ginkgo Biloba (24% extract) and 150 mg of Saint John's wort (0.3% hypericin), also displayed less neural atrophy and superior learning and memory (as demonstrated on a maze learning task) as compared to animals who suffered identical lesions but who were fed only a standard purina diet. By contrast, rats who ingested only "Ginkgo biloba" or only "Saint John's wort" did not display similar improvement as contrasted with those rats fed a combined diet of these compounds.

In addition, patients who had specifically requested help with mental problems and who had taken either Ginkgo biloba or Saint John's wort, or both in combination, on a daily basis, to treat either memory loss or depression (respectively), were contacted after 30-75 days. Of 105 patients who reported that they had independently consumed both compounds in combination, 93 (88%) reported an improvement in mental functioning and/or a reduction of depressive feelings. By contrast, 42 of 90 (46%) patients who consumed Ginkgo biloba, reported an improvement in memory or a cessation of further memory loss, whereas 48 of 85 patients (56%) who consumed "Saint John's wort" reported a reduction in depression. Moreover, many patients addicted to marijuana or opiates reported a significant reduction in their cravings for and/or use of these drugs following the ingestion of these compounds in combination, whereas those who consumed only Ginkgo biloba or only Hypericum perforatum ("Saint John's wort") reported no reduction in their cravings for marijuana or opiates.

Thus, in summary, as discovered by Rhawn Joseph, Ph.D. patients who reported they had consumed a combination of Ginkgo biloba and Saint John's wort, reported a significant reduction in depressive feelings, and improvements in memory functioning, and patients addicted to marijuana and opiates reported a significant reduction in the cravings for these drugs. In addition, hippocampal lesioned rats fed a combined diet of Ginkgo biloba and Saint John's wort, displayed less neural atrophy, a greater degree of functional recovery, and superior learning and memory capability following brain damage, as compared to lesioned animals fed a standard purina diet.

SUMMARY

Rhawn Joseph, Ph.D. is seeking patent protection for the combined use of "Ginkgo biloba" and "Saint John's wort", for the purposes of treating brain damage and/or degenerative neurological disorders and/or depression and/or memory loss, and/or addiction to marijuana and/or opiates and/or psychiatric abnormalities. This patent protection extends to the genetic manipulation of these substances and/or their employment as a genetic delivery system designed to alter nerve cell structure and/or nerve cell-DNA, and/or nerve function, and/or nerve division, or and/or nerve reproduction, and/or for affecting viruses and/or bacteria and/or microbial organisms which affect the mind and/or the brain. Patent protection is justified based on his research, his discoveires and his extensive reviews and syntheses of the existing scientific literature.




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