Vinpocetine is derived from alkaloids found in periwinkles (the little blue flowers of the genus Vinca, not the little snails also called “periwinkles”). Discovered in Hungary in 1976, vinpocetine’s value for treating brain disorders was quickly appreciated in Eastern Europe but was only slowly realized elsewhere. Consequently, most of the clinical research into vinpocetine has been done in Hungary, Russia, and Poland. What we can’t tell youIn the U.S. and some other industrialized countries, government agencies like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have adopted censorship as a method for intensifying their control over the supplement industry and its customers. Thus, FDA regulations prohibit us from telling you that any of our products are effective as medical treatments, even if they are, in fact, effective. Accordingly, we will limit our discussion of Vinpocetine to a brief summary of relevant research, and let you draw your own conclusions about what medical conditions it may be effective in treating. Early interest in vinpocetine centered on its ability to improve mental function in patients with poor blood circulation in the brain. For example, Bulgarian researchers in 1976 reported that when vinpocetine (5 mg three times/day for a month) was given to patients with Chronic Cerebral Vascular Insufficiency, blood flow in the cerebral tissue was markedly increased, without increasing blood pressure or having any other side-effects. “Improvement of memorizing capacity evaluated by psychological tests was recorded after one month of Cavinton [vinpocetine] treatment, associated with alleviation or complete disappearance of symptoms.”1 Results like these have continued to be reported up to the present day.2,3,4 Another form of impaired blood flow in the brain occurs with strokes. Vinpocetine has been shown to facilitate recovery from strokes and in preventing chronic strokes due to poor circulation.5,6,7 With regard to Cerebral Vascular Insufficiency, vinpocetine has been shown to:
Other neurological conditions that have been shown to respond favorably to vinpocetine include:
In addition to its neurological benefits, vinpocetine has been successfully applied to several other conditions:
Let us look briefly at several of these interesting applications. Macular degeneration and glaucomaMoscow researchers reported in 2007 that in a study of 40 patients with age-related macular degeneration, a 2-month treatment with vinpocetine (10 mg/day) resulted in improved visual acuity and retinal function, and an improvement in ocular blood flow values and in electrical activity as measured on macular electroretinograms.21 In another Russian clinical study, 53 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma were treated with vinpocetine (10 mg three times per day) for 2 months. The results were striking: “The use of the vasoactive drug cavinton forte [vinpocetine] improved and stabilized visual functions in POAG patients [by normalizing] intraocular pressure, which is particularly important with advanced POAG. Increased blood flow velocity in the ocular arteries after a course of therapy with cavinton forte suggests a better retinal blood supply, which is a favorable marker for the prediction of the disease.”23 Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide, and is the leading cause among African-Americans. It is called “the silent thief of sight" because it progresses slowly and is often only recognized when the disease is advanced.27 Vinpocetine will not restore vision loss that has already occurred, but it appears to be worthwhile insurance against glaucoma’s onset. Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS, and strokeThese four types of damage to the brain have different origins, but they all cause tissue damage through inflammation.8,29 Methods for suppressing this inflammation are therefore important for treating these conditions. Vinpocetine is strongly anti-inflammatory and operates by a different mechanism than most other inflammation suppressors30 — and this may account for its remarkable lack of side effects as compared with other anti-inflammatories. The use of vinpocetine as an anti-inflammatory for dealing with these brain conditions is new idea. No clinical studies have yet been performed (as of early 2011) to test this idea. Should people with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS, or stroke be using vinpocetine in the hope that it will have benefits not yet proven? In view of vinpocetine’s safety and effectiveness for other conditions, it would be hard to justify waiting who-knows-how-many years for the medical world to decide the question scientifically. Fetal Alcohol SyndromeFetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), the current euphemism for alcohol-related birth defects, affects an estimated 1% of all children. It is caused by women consuming alcohol during pregnancy. Symptoms include mental dysfunctions, growth deficiencies, and peculiar facial appearance.28 It goes without saying that the best form of FASD prevention is the total avoidance of alcoholic beverages during pregnancy. Many women, however, fail to abide by this rule, or are willing to take a chance that modest drinking won’t harm the fetus enough to be noticeable. Two research studies in the U.S. suggest that in such cases the potential damage to the nervous system can be diminished if vinpocetine is taken in large amounts for a few days after alcohol exposure. The research was done in ferrets18 and in rats,20 and there is no reason to believe that it wouldn’t apply to humans, as well. The researchers conclude: “Treatment of alcohol-exposed animals with vinpocetine restored their performance to control levels.”20 Tinnitus (“ringing in the ear”)Tinnitus can be caused by various events, including: loud noises, infections, drugs, or aging. Many different treatments have been tried, but none are reliable. A 2008 Czech report showed that vinpocetine plus physiotherapy was the most effective of the three treatments studied — in patients who had already had no success with various other treatments.9 As is often the case in the medical world, the promising results of one or two clinical studies were never followed up by other investigators. However, it is easy enough for tinnitus sufferers to try vinpocetine themselves before opting for one of the risky treatments offered by the medical profession. ReviewsWe found the 2002 review7 by Thorne Research to be useful. ConclusionAre Vinpocetine supplements useful for the conditions and purposes mentioned above? We aren’t allowed to tell you, so you should take a look at some of the references cited here, and then decide for yourself. Since vinpocetine improves memory and cognition in ailing individuals, many perfectly healthy people conclude that it should help them, too — an idea that makes a lot of sense and is supported by the experiences of its many users. |
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The periwinkle path to mental renovationVinpocetine is derived from the vinca alkaloids found in periwinkles (the little blue flowers, not the little snails also called “periwinkles”). Discovered in Hungary in 1976, vinpocetine’s value for treating brain disorders was quickly appreciated in Eastern Europe but was largely ignored elsewhere until fairly recently. Oral vinpocetine has been used with good effect in patients with poor circulation in the brain (“chronic cerebral vascular insufficiency”):
Vinpocetine has also found applications in the following areas:
Since vinpocetine improves memory and cognition in ailing individuals, many perfectly healthy people conclude that it should help them, too — an idea that makes a lot of sense and is supported by the experiences of those who use it. |
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Orv Hetil. 2007 Jul 22; 148(29):1353-8 Bagoly E, Fehér G, Szapáry L [6] Effect of parenteral or oral vinpocetine on the hemorheological parameters of patients with chronic cerebrovascular diseases. Phytomedicine. 2009 Mar; 16(2-3):111-7 Feher G, Koltai K, Kesmarky G, Horvath B, Toth K, Komoly S, Szapary L [7] Vinpocetine. Monograph. Altern Med Rev. 2002 Jun; 7(3):240-3 [8] Vinpocetine as a potent antiinflammatory agent. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Jun 1; 107(22):9921-2 Medina AE [9] Multimodal therapy for chronic tinnitus. Int Tinnitus J. 2008; 14(1):69-72 Hahn A, Radkova L, Achiemere G, Klement V, Alpini D, Strouhal J [10] [Approaches to the therapy of neurological presentations in diabetes mellitus]. Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova. 2010; 110(4):63-6 Baratsevich ER, Posokhina OV [11] Recent advances in adjunctive therapy for epilepsy: focus on sodium channel blockers as third-generation antiepileptic drugs. Drugs Today (Barc). 2010 Apr; 46(4):265-77 Vohora D, Saraogi P, Yazdani MA, Bhowmik M, Khanam R, Pillai KK [12] Comparison of acute, chronic and post-treatment effects of carbamazepine and vinpocetine on hearing loss and seizures induced by 4-aminopyridine. Clin Neurophysiol. 2008 Nov; 119(11):2608-14 Nekrassov V, Sitges M [13] [Investigation of the effect of vinpocetine on cerebral blood flow and cognitive functions]. Ideggyogy Sz. 2007 Jul 30; 60(7-8):301-10 Valikovics A [14] Amelioration of intracerebroventricular streptozotocin induced cognitive dysfunction and oxidative stress by vinpocetine -- a PDE1 inhibitor. Eur J Pharmacol. 2009 Oct 12; 620(1-3):49-56 Deshmukh R, Sharma V, Mehan S, Sharma N, Bedi KL [15] [The new scheme of cavinton application to the treatment of chronic neurosensory loss of hearing]. Vestn Otorinolaringol. 2009; (6):69-70 Afon'kin VIu, Dobretsov KG, Sipkin AV [16] Ethyl apovincaminate in the treatment of sensorineural impairment of hearing. Arzneimittelforschung. 1976; 26(10a):1977-80 Ribári O, Zelen B, Kollár B [17] [Membrane and functional effects of vinpocetine and tocopherol in rats with experimental cerebral ischemia]. Biomed Khim. 2009 Sep-Oct; 55(5):635-42 Vishnevski AA, Korotkevich IG, Zhaparalieva ChO [18] Phosphodiesterase inhibition increases CREB phosphorylation and restores orientation selectivity in a model of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. PLoS One. 2009; 4(8):e6643 Krahe TE, Wang W, Medina AE [19] Characterization of phosphodiesterase 1 in human malignant melanoma cell lines. Anticancer Res. 2009 Apr; 29(4):1119-22 Shimizu K, Murata T, Watanabe Y, Sato C, Morita H, Tagawa T [20] Phosphodiesterase type 1 inhibition improves learning in rats exposed to alcohol during the third trimester equivalent of human gestation. Neurosci Lett. 2010 Apr 12; 473(3):202-7 Filgueiras CC, Krahe TE, Medina AE [21] [Effect of vasoactive agents on visual functions and ocular blood flow in patients with early manifestations of age-related macular degeneration]. Vestn Oftalmol. 2007 May-Jun; 123(3):26-8 Avetisov SE, Kiseleva TN, Lagutina IuM, Kravchuk EA [22] Vinpocetine and piracetam exert antinociceptive effect in visceral pain model in mice. Pharmacol Rep. 2006 Sep-Oct; 58(5):680-91 AbdelSalam OM [23] [Effect of vasoactive drugs on visual functions and ocular hemodynamics in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma]. Vestn Oftalmol. 2008 Sep-Oct; 124(5):55-9 Makashova NV, Kiseleva TN, Ronzina IA, Vasil'eva AE [24] Vinpocetine ameliorates acute hepatic damage caused by administration of carbon tetrachloride in rats. Acta Biol Hung. 2007 Dec; 58(4):411-9 AbdelSalam OM, Oraby FH, Hassan NS [25] Tumoral calcinosis: Clinical and biochemical aspects of a patient treated with vinpocetine. Eur J Intern Med. 2006 Oct; 17(6):436-8 Seyahi A, Atalar AC, Ergin HK [26] Clinical appraisal of vinpocetine for the removal of intractable tumoral calcinosis in haemodialysis patients with renal failure. J Int Med Res. 1992 Sep; 20(5):435-43 Ueyoshi A, Ota K [27] Glaucoma Wikipedia website [28] Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder Wikipedia website [29] Inflammation in stroke and focal cerebral ischemia. Surg Neurol. 2006 Sep; 66(3):232-45 Huang J, Upadhyay UM, Tamargo RJ [30] Vinpocetine inhibits NF-kappaB-dependent inflammation via an IKK-dependent but PDE-independent mechanism. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 May 25; 107(21):9795-800 Jeon KI, Xu X, Aizawa T, Lim JH, Jono H, Kwon DS, Abe J, Berk BC, Li JD, Yan C |
