Vinpocetine supplement benefit and side
effects
by Ray Sahelian, M.D.
Medical use for mental enhancement and stroke treatment, 5
mg and 10 mg doses
Vinpocetine is chemically related to, and derived from vincamine, an alkaloid
found in the periwinkle plant. Vinpocetine was introduced into clinical
practice in Europe more than two decades ago for its role in cerebrovascular disorders and related symptoms. Experiments with
this periwinkle extract indicate that it can dilate blood vessels, enhance circulation in the brain,
improve oxygen utilization, make red blood cells more pliable, and inhibit aggregation of
platelets. Vinpocetine even has antioxidant properties. Levels peak in the bloodstream within an hour and a half after ingestion. Vinpocetine easily crosses the blood-brain barrier.
Purchase Vinpocetine 5 mg and 10 mg
per capsule
Vinpocetine capsule has been sometimes recommended
for more than once daily however many people may be sensitive to this supplement
and would do fine using half a capsule. Always start your first time with half a 5 mg vinpocetine pill
in order to see if you have any negative responses to it. By taking a small
amount of vinpocetine at first, you could avoid a vinpocetine side effect.
Vinpocetine 5 mg per pill
Vinpocetine 10 mg per pill
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Mind-Power-Rx is a sophisticated cognitive formula
with Vinpocetine. It combines a delicate
balance of brain circulation agents and neurotransmitter precursors with
powerful natural brain chemicals that support healthy:
Memory and Mood
Mental clarity
Concentration
Alertness and Focus
Why buy all the individual herbs and nutrients separately -- at great expense
-- when you can buy this excellent and highly popular combination?
The herbs in Mind Power Rx include: Ashwagandha,
Bacopa, Fo-Ti, Ginkgo biloba, Ginseng, Mucuna pruriens, and Reishi. The
nutrients and vitamins in Mind Power Rx include Acetyl-l-carnitine, Carnitine,
Carnosine, Choline, DMAE, Inositol, Methylcobalamin, Pantothenic acid,
Trimethylglycine, Tyrosine, and Vinpocetine.
Vinpocetine supplement research
There have been quite a few studies with this herbal extract.
Dementia
Researchers at the
University of Surrey in Guildford, England administered vinpocetine to patients suffering
from mild to moderate dementia (Hindmarch 1991). Two hundred and three patients included
in a placebo-controlled, randomized double-blind trial received every day for sixteen
weeks either 10 mg doses of vinpocetine three times a day, 20 mg doses of vinpocetine
three times a day, or placebo three times a day. There were no clinically relevant side
effects reported. Statistically significant cognitive improvements were found in favor of
active treatment groups compared to placebo. The patients on 10 mg performed slightly
better than those on 20 mg. In a double blind clinical trial, vinpocetine was shown to offer significant
improvement in elderly patients with chronic cerebral dysfunction.
Forty-two patients received 10 mg vinpocetine three times a day for thirty days, then 5 mg
three times a day for sixty days. Matching placebo tablets were given to another forty
patients for the ninety-day trial period. Patients on vinpocetine scored consistently
better in all cognitive evaluations. No serious side effects were reported.
Macular degeneration
Q. I read on a website that vinpocetine could be helpful in treating wet macular
degeneration, to help increase available oxygen to the eye. Do you believe it
would be helpful. I am currently being treated for it in my right eye, am
receiving injections in the eye of anti-VEGF factors and taking some additional
supplements as well as, I believe, steroid drop in the eye, all prescribed by a
retinal specialist. He seems open to alternative techniques, probably feeling
the mostly likely wont hurt the situation.
A. I found one Russian study with oral vinpocetine that showed some
benefit.
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; Avetisov SE, Kiseleva TN, Lagutina IuM,
Kravchuk EA.
Forty patients aged 40 to 65 years who had non-exudative forms of age-related
macular degeneration (AMD), including 20 patients with degeneration of the
retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), 15 with retinal drusen, and 5 with RPE atrophy
were examined. All the patients were divided into 2 groups. Group 1 comprised 20
patients receiving, in addition to conventional therapy, cavinton forte (1
tablet contains 10 mg of vinpocetine). Group 2 (control) included 20 patients
receiving conventional therapy (antioxidants, peptide bioregulators, lutein-containing
agents). Medical treatment was performed during 2 months. After a course of
cavinton therapy, patients with AMD were observed to have better visual acuity,
improved retinal function, and increased a- and b-wave amplitudes on a macular
electroretinogram. There was improvement of ocular blood flow values, which is
indicative of better uveal blood supply.
Memory Twelve healthy female volunteers received pre-treatments with vinpocetine 40 mg
three times a day or placebo for two days according to a randomized, double-blind
crossover design. On the third day of treatment and one hour following
morning dosage, subjects completed a battery of psychological tests. Memory was
significantly improved following treatment with vinpocetine when compared to placebo.
The 40 mg three times a day is a very high dose and could lead to
side effects. Vinpocetine may improve memory if lack of circulation or poor
circulation to the brain or lack of adequate oxygenation is the cause of
the memory loss. I think other supplements, especially a combination of
mind boosting herbs and nutrients is a better option than vinpocetine by
itself.
Alzheimer's disease - vinpocetine is not helpful Fifteen Alzheimer patients were treated with increasing doses of vinpocetine (30,
45, and 60 mg per day) in an open-label pilot trial during a one-year period.
The study was done at VA Medical Center, in San Diego, California. Vinpocetine failed to
improve cognition at any dose tested. There were no significant side effects from the
therapy.
Availability as a
supplement
Vinpocetine is sold in 5 and 10 mg capsules or tablets.
Vinpocetine side effects
To avoid a vinpocetine side effect, always start with a low vinpocetine dose, such as half of a 5 mg
capsule or tablet. High doses of vinpocetine can cause the side effect of
dizziness, weakness, and uneasy feeling. Never take a 10 mg vinpocetine
dosage unless you have first tried half of a 5 mg dose.
Recommendations and review
Vinpocetine appears to be beneficial in cognitive disorders that are due to poor
blood flow to the brain. Therefore, individuals with atherosclerotic vascular disease are
probably the most likely to benefit. Until long-term studies are available, regular
intake for prolonged periods should be limited to 10 mg once daily.
Dr. Sahelian’s Vinpocetine
experience
I like the effects from vinpocetine. On 5 mg, I notice improvement in
concentration and focus and enhancement of color perception peaking at about two hours
after dosing. Thereafter, the effects gradually decrease but persist for a few hours. I do
not notice any significant changes in mood or energy levels, although on higher dosages
there is a brief period of feeling uneasy. Patients often report an enhancement of visual
and auditory perception, along with better focus and clarity of thinking. If I
take more than 10 mg I notice vinpocetine side effects that include a feeling of
lightheadedness, dizziness or nausea.
Vinpocetine research studies Acute and Chronic Effects of Vinpocetine on Cerebral
Hemodynamics and Neuropsychological Performance in Multi-infarct Patients. J Clin Pharmacol. 2005 Sep;45(9):1048-54. A double-blind, prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical
trial was carried out to test the acute and long-term hemodynamical and
beneficial cognitive effects of the vasoactive agent vinpocetine on patients
suffering from multiple cerebral infarcts by means of functional transcranial
Doppler examinations and by neuropsychological tests. Twenty-six patients (17
men, 9 women) with multiple cerebral infarctions, aged between 50 and 83 years
(mean age +/- SD = 63.4 +/- 9.39 years) were examined, 14 of whom received
vinpocetine and 12 placebo. The functional transcranial Doppler included
breath-holding tests, finger movement, word fluency, and picture-discrimination
tasks. Twenty-five patients were assessed by neuropsychological battery. No
serious side effect was found in the vinpocetine group. The flow velocities were
significantly lower in the acute phase after breath holding in the vinpocetine
group than in the placebo group. Three months later, the vinpocetine patients
did not show any significant worsening in digit span backward test, while the
placebo group did. No other significant differences in the neuropsychological
test could be detected between the treatment and the placebo groups. Longer
lasting and higher dosage of vinpocetine therapy is suggested to prove its
potential effect.
Neuroprotective effects of vinpocetine in vivo and
in vitro. Apovincaminic acid derivatives as potential therapeutic tools in
ischemic stroke] Acta Pharm Hung. 2002;72(2):84-91. The aim of the present study was to review neuroprotective therapy from
the preclinical point of view as a potential tool for the treatment of stroke,
as well as to discuss neuroprotective effects of the apovincaminic acid
derivative vinpocetine (Cavinton). Our own in vivo and in vitro experiments were
aimed at further characterizing pharmacological effects involved in the
vinpocetine-induced neuroprotection. The effect of vinpocetine on infarct volume
(obtained by 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium-chloride staining) was studied in
permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion in rats. Vinpocetine treatment significantly decreased infarct volume by
42% compared to control, which was better than the effect of nimodipine (17%) or
MK-801 (18%). These results together with former literature data indicate
that apovincaminic acid derivatives possessing strong neuroprotective potential
may play an important role in the therapy of ischemic stroke.
Asymptomatic ischemic cerebrovascular disorders and neuroprotection with
vinpocetine. Ideggyogy Sz. 2003 May 20;56(5-6):166-72. Vinpocetine has been found to interfere with various stages of the
ischemic cascade: ATP depletion, activation of voltage-sensitive Na(+)- and
Ca(++)-channels, glutamate and free radicals release. The inhibition of the
voltage-sensitive Na(+)-channels appears to be especially relevant to the
neuroprotective effect of vinpocetine. Pronounced antioxidant activity of the
drug could also contribute to the neuroprotection. PET studies in primates and
man showed that 11C labelled vinpocetine passes the blood-brain barrier rapidly.
Heterogeneous brain distribution of the compound was observed mainly in the
thalamus, basal ganglia, occipital, parietal and temporal cortex, regions which
are closely related to the cognitive functions. PET studies in chronic ischemic
stroke patients revealed favourable effects of vinpocetine on rCBF and glucose
metabolism in the thalamus, basal ganglia and primary visual cortex. It seems,
vinpocetine could be of benefit for the treatment in this early stage of
cerebrovascular disease. Vinpocetine may also become a new therapeutic approach
to prophylactic neuroprotection in patients at high risk of ischemic stroke.
Human positron emission tomography with oral 11C-vinpocetine
Vas A, Christer H,
Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Psychiatry Section, Karolinska Institute,
Stockholm.
Orv Hetil. 2003 Nov 16;144(46):2271-6. Positron emission tomography (PET) is a useful tool for the
investigation of certain physiological changes and for the evaluation of the
distribution, and receptor binding of drugs labelled with positron emitting
isotopes. Vinpocetine (ethyl-apovincaminate) is a neuroprotective drug widely
used in the prevention and treatment of cerebrovascular diseases. In the
clinical practice vinpocetine is usually administered to the patients in
intravenous infusion followed by long-term oral treatment. Until presently human
data describing vinpocetine's kinetics and brain distribution came from ex vivo
(blood, plasma, liquor) and post mortem (brain autoradiography) measurements.
AIM: The authors wished to investigate the kinetics and distribution of
vinpocetine in the brain and body after oral administration with PET in order to
prove, that PET is useful in the non-invasive in vivo determination of these
parameters. Vinpocetine was labelled with carbon-11 and the
radioactivity was measured by PET in the stomach, liver, brain, colon and
kidneys in healthy male volunteers. The radioactivity in the blood and urine was
also determined. After oral administration, [11C]vinpocetine appeared
immediately in the stomach and within minutes in the liver and the blood. In the
blood the level of radioactivity continuously increased until the end of the
measurement period, whereas the fraction of the unchanged mother compound
decreased. Radioactivity uptake and distribution in the brain were demonstrable
from the tenth minute after the oral administration of the labelled drug
(average maximum uptake: 0.7% of the administered total dose). Brain
distribution was heterogeneous (with preferences in the thalamus, basal ganglia
and occipital cortex), similar to the distribution previously reported by the
authors after intravenous administration. Vinpocetine, administered
orally to human volunteers, readily entered the bloodstream from the stomach and
the gastrointestinal tract and thereafter passed the blood-brain barrier and
entered the brain. Radioactivity from [11C]vinpocetine was also demonstrated in
the kidneys and in urine. The study demonstrates that PET might be a useful,
direct and non-invasive tool to study the distribution and pharmacokinetics of
orally administered labeled drugs, such as vinpocetine, active in the central nervous system in the
living human body.
Synaptosomal response to oxidative stress: effect
of vinpocetine. University of Coimbra, Portugal.:
Free Radic Res 2000
Jan;32(1):57-66. It has been suggested that reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a role in the
neuronal damage occurring in ischemic injury and neurodegenerative disorders and that
their neutralization by antioxidant drugs may delay or minimize neurodegeneration. In the
present study we examine whether vinpocetine can act as an antioxidant and prevent the
formation of ROS and lipid peroxidation in rat brain synaptosomes. After ascorbate/Fe2+
treatment a significant increase in oxygen consumption (about 5-fold) and thiobarbituric
acid reactive substances (TBARS) formation (about 7-fold) occurred as compared to control
conditions. Vinpocetine inhibited the ascorbate / Fe2+ stimulated consumption of oxygen and TBARS accumulation, an indicator of lipid peroxidation, in a concentration-dependent
manner. The ROS formation was also prevented by vinpocetine. Oxidative stress increased
significantly the fluorescence of the probes 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein (DCFH2-DA)
(about 6-fold) and dihydrorhodamine (DHR) 123 (about 10-fold), which is indicative of
intrasynaptosomal ROS generation. Vinpocetine at 100 microM concentration decreased the
fluorescence of DCFH2-DA and DHR 123 by about 50% and 83%, respectively. We
conclude that the antioxidant effect of vinpocetine might contribute to the protective
role exerted by the drug in reducing neuronal damage in pathological situations.
Vinpocetine supplement pill email questions and comments
Q. Do vinpocetine and ginkgo biloba work well together?
A. Since they work by different mechanisms, half
the amount of vinpocetine and ginkgo biloba taken together seems reasonable.
Q. What's
your opinion on vinpocetine in sexual enhancement?
A. We have not had any direct experience or any feedback from users
regarding this effect.
Q. Do you have
any information on using Vinpocetine for prevention of high altitude symptoms or problems
while mountain climbing?
A. I have not come across any studies regarding this connection.
Q. Are here any precautions or known side effects or contra indications in use Vinpocetine
by adolescent or younger children.
A. I’m not familiar with research regarding vinpocetine in children.
Q. I have read your article on vinpocetine and would
like to know if it could be helpful in managing Meniere's disease by increasing blood flow
to the inner ear and decrease the vertigo attacks? It would be worth the try.
A. I agree that it would be worth a try. There’s been one small
study showing positive effects, but I haven’t had a chance to try it with a patient
in my office.
Q. My 7 year old daughter has mild spastic dyplasia and has a hard
time focusing on simple tasks. Would Vinpocetine be something that may help her?
A. Vinpocetine is a good mind booster, mostly working as a
dilator of blood vessels in the brain. It also helps improve vision. I have not come
across any studies with vinpocetine use in this condition and my educated guess would be
that it may not have an effect but I can't be sure.
Q. Thank you for your great website. Are you aware of any
research showing that vincopetine can reduce or eliminate seizures? A publication,
"Astonishing Mental Miracles", says that a Russian study shows this to be true,
but does not have a bibliography or any way to verify the statement. My daughter has had
seizures for 21 years, with many falls and injuries. Does vincopetine interact with
Tegretol (carbamazepine)? She has taken Tegretol for about 20 years, with bad effect on
her white blood cell count.
A. One or two small foreign studies have indicated that vinpocetine may be slightly
helpful for seizures, but it is unlikely that vinpocetine has any significant influence.
Vinpocetine is a mind booster that works by improving blood flow to the brain. Most cases
of seizures are not due to poor blood flow. Based on my current knowledge of vinpocetine,
I doubt if this supplement would make a significant impact on seizures. I don't know of
any research done with vinpocetine in combination with Tegretol.
Q. I started with vinpocetine and stayed on it
for several months. Amazing I noticed a new clarity for a day or so when I
began. The problem I had was the vinpocetine side effect when I went off. Head flutters for two weeks, (I
thought I was coming down with a head-cold). Sometimes, I thought I was going to
faint. I thought this vinpocetine side effect was permanent for a few days and was ready to go to an MD.
But it passed.
Q. I noticed this question concerning vinpocetine;
i.e., in coming off it, and am wondering if there is an answer? Seems a rather
serious adverse effect, which I hadn't noticed reading about anywhere
else concerning this dietary supplement. Any comments on this?
A. We publish emails that people send to us that seem reasonable.
This is the first we had heard of this potential vinpocetine side effect so we
really don't have much to say except to report it. Since then we have not had
anyone else mention this type of side effect. As a general rule, it is a good
idea to take a break one or two days a week from most supplements, and a full
week off every couple of months.
"Q. I started with vinpocetine and stayed on it for several months. Amazing I
noticed a new clarity for a day or so when I began. The problem I had was the
vinpocetine side effect when I went off. Head flutters for two weeks, (I thought
I was coming down with a head-cold). Sometimes, I thought I was going to faint.
I thought this vinpocetine side effect was permanent for a few days and was
ready to go to an MD. But it passed."
Q. Does
vinpocetine improve memory?
A. It's hard to say. Vinpocetine may improve memory if
lack of circulation or poor circulation to the brain or lack of adequate
oxygenation is the cause of the memory loss. I think other supplements,
especially a combination of mind boosting herbs and nutrients is a better option
than vinpocetine by itself.
Q. Is vinpocetine useful in tinnitus?
A. I have not seen enough studies regarding vinpocetine
and tinnitus to know for sure.
I had a sudden blood platelet increase after taking vinpocetine 10 mg twice a day. I have stopped taking the two pills per day and
have not had high platelet counts.
This is the first we have heard of this supplement leading to high
platelet count. We actually prefer people not take vinpocetine more than 5 mg a
few times a week. We'll see if others report high platelet count associated with
vinpocetine use.
