Ginkgo biloba improves the restoration of the sense of smell after viral infection

People who have viral infections can loose their sense of smell. The standard treatment is with glucocorticoid drugs such as prednisone. This new study included 71 patients diagnosed with post-viral olfactory loss that had lost their sense of smell but had no current evidence of sinus inflammation. All participants were treated with prednisolone for 2 weeks. Forty-three participants also received 80 milligrams of the herb Ginkgo biloba three times per day for four weeks. The subjects received two olfactory function tests at the beginning of the study and at the end of the four week treatment period to test their sense of smell. The herb Ginkgo biloba improved the ability of glucocorticoid treatment to restore the sense of smell following upper respiratory viral infection. The report is published in the October, 2009 issue of the American Medical Association Journal Archives of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery . Commentary by Jerry Hickey, R.Ph. In my experience the combination of ALCAR with ALA is a far better choice for restoring the sense of smell and also the sense of taste and this supplement can safely be combined with other treatments.