Ginkgo Biloba & Nutritional Intervention

There is a documentary coming out about a woman I have come to know over the last few years. As part of this very special community of parents, Teresa Cashion is definitely someone who has taken her role as advocate and mom very seriously. I was lucky enough to be introduced to her through the Internet on one of my Yahoo groups, DSTNI. This is a group devoted to discussing different natural therapies and nutritional intervention. We've been completely in support of Nutritional Intervention and have had Jaden on supplementation since he was 3 months old. After reading a little about Ginkgo Biloba and its extraordinary effects it has on the memory and for its ability to increase blood flow in the brain, I was more and more intrigued by it's ability to help in Down Syndrome. After all, much of what many top Researchers from Universities across the country are realizing is: If we can help prevent the neurons from dying off in the brain, and at the same time increase blood flow to the region of the brain that is most severely affected in Down Syndrome, they hypocampus, then we could possibly allow for more typical brain development. The studies being done at Stanford Univeristy right now are extremely promising and all point to this hypothesis being correct. Just how to treat the brain, is something that still needs to be completely realized.

In the mean time, parents like me, aren't waiting for all of the trials and medications to be completed and tested. Teresa Cashion, a Dentist from Houston Texas decided to start giving her son Ginkgo Biloba along with different supplementation to see if it could in fact help her son. In her own words, she was completely amazed at the almost immediate results after starting him on Ginkgo. After speaking with her for an extended period of time and her informing me that many other parents were having fantastic results with their own children, I decided to start giving Ginkgo Biloba to Jaden at 16 months of age. After researching Ginkgo Biloba and realizing that the formula I was going to give him had to be regulated, pure and from a reputable company, I was excited to start Jaden on this. Since I research nutritional supplements avidly anyway, I was able to trust the brand I chose. Nature's Way, GinkgGold.

Within the first few hours of giving Jaden his first dosage of Ginkgo Biloba, we noticed immediate changes in his response time. No longer was there a slight delay when calling his name and waiting for a response. It was as if a light bulb went off in his head, and things started to click much faster for him. From that day on Jaden has been on Ginkgo Biloba. We give him 60mg a day, we crush a tablet and put it in some applesauce or soy yogurt. We also give him a multi vitamin supplement every day as well. Many parents also give extra fish oil and other supplements, but as of now we are only giving Jaden these 2 things.

The consistent things we hear almost daily from people who meet Jaden since he was born is, "He doesn't seem like he has Down Syndrome." or other's ask "He's so smart, so alert, does he have just a little Down Syndrome?" Now, we hear it from his pre-school teachers. Over and over people in the profession of working with children with special needs tell us they literally can't believe how "typical" Jaden is. They tell us daily how "on par" he is with other kids his age and in fact is doing many things earlier than he should be! Never has "typical" been such music to my ears. Jaden is breaking down stereotypes just by being himself, showing everyone he meets that Down Syndrome isn't a curse or hindrance. It isn't because it's bad to have Down Syndrome, it's because we all innately want our children to be as independent and healthy as possible. I am not trying to take away his Down Syndrome by giving him these protocols, I am trying to help his body and mind work together as seamlessly as possible. Parent's like me may be up for quite a bit of criticism from other parents who really feel that we're not just accepting our children as they are. I understand this, but it couldn't be further from the truth. If your child had diabetes, you get them treatment, or if they have trouble reading, you get them a tutor, or if your child gets sick, you give them antibiotics. It's the same thing here. I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing I didn't follow my gut instincts for my son and that I wasn't doing everything within my power to allow him a life to the best of his capabilities. Does every parent reading this have to agree? Of course not. That isn't the point of writing this. I am just sharing my personal experience, which is obviously different from everyone Else's.

If you are interested in reading more about these therapies, check out:
changingmindsfoundation.com and when you're done there, check out this excerpt from the documentary they just made about Down Syndrome and Theresa Cody.
http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=WFKW7-DDzNo