The Ginkgo biloba has a long history of traditional use as a daily food medicine in China. Since the 1960s it has been introduced by mostly German researchers into modern organic chemistry and clinical practice. The results obtained from purified Ginkgo biloba extract (=EGB) have been remarkable. The highly complex coordination of antioxidation, vasodilatation and activated neurotransmission effects produced by the several flavonoids and terpenoids in EGB brought about marked improvement on dementia and related diseases, while the range of other diseases treatable by EGB is rapidly expanding. There is a wide range of opinion varying from country to country as to whether this unique preparation (EGB) should be treated as a drug or a food. At present EGB has been approved for pharmaceutical use in European countries, while in the U.S.A. and Japan it is permitted not as a drug but as a natural food.