Pycnogenol=AE is a patented extract from the bark of the French
Maritime Pine Tree. It is touted as being a 100% non-toxic, natural and
powerfully effective nutritional antioxidant which is 20 times more powerful
than vitamin C and 50 times more powerful than vitamin E as an antioxidant
supplement.
It also has the somewhat unique ability to cross the blood-brain
barrier to directly protect blood vessels and brain cells.=20
Horphag Research Ltd. of France owns U.S. Patent Number 4,698,360
and is quick to emphasize that imitators with a mixture of grape seed
extract and pine bark extract have no claim to similar success with their
inferior product.
Our friend Kathrynne Holden, MS, RD (not to mention Editor-in-Chief
of "Spotlight on Food) is on vacation in Florida with her husband, but she
did respond from memory with a couple of warnings:
1) studies had been performed "in vitro" but not "in vivo"
therefore results could not be generalized to humans. It would be better if
there were a substantial number of well-controlled human studies included,
not just a bunch of animal or test-tube studies, and,
2) a number of the journal studies addressing the product
were performed on antioxidants in general (e.g., vitamins C and E) rather
than performed on the product in question.
What I could learn otherwise is that the pine bark extract has been
used for over 450 years. Isn't that about the time Columbus returned from
his third voyage with blood on his sword because the Indians couldn't find
any gold on their sandy island? But, I digress. The patented extract has
been used in Europe for about a decade to help patients with attention
deficit disorder (ADD) and there is a study released last week about its
potential benefit for Multiple Sclerosis and full-scale, double-blind
research studies currently being undertaken for such conditions as
Alzheimer's disease, immune system dysfunctional conditions and others.=20
I have no clue as to what a dosage might be for PD benefit. The
seller would have us believe this compound should be viewed as completely
safe. They do mention, in a real general sense, that a recommended daily
dosage of Pycnogenol=AE for a 300-pound patient, and at "double saturation"
level, would only involve 840 milligrams per day and that chronic toxicity
studies reveal no adverse effect in man, from massive daily doses of up to
35,000 milligrams per day for more than six months.
According to researchers at the Pasteur Institute and the Huntington
Institute, Pycnogenol=AE is virtually nontoxic to humans and mammals.
Water-soluble, it is also a non-allergenic, non-carcinogenic, non-mutagenic,
non-antigenic and non-habit forming nutritional antioxidant.
Would any of you alternative medicine brave souls share your
experiences of dosages you have tried and found beneficial? Thanks.
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