• Seon-Sook Han, Eui-Cheol Nam, Jun Yeon Won, Kang Uk Lee, Wanjoo Chun, Hyun Kyung Choi, and Robert Aaron Levine.
• Department of Internal Medicine, Kangwon National University, School of Medicine, Chuncheon, Republic of Korea.
• J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr.. 2012 Aug 1;83(8):821-7.

ObjectiveTo assess the effect of Ginkgo biloba and clonazepam, a γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-receptor agonist, upon tinnitus.MethodsThis was an open-label, randomised, crossover study. 27 men and 11 women (aged 16-80 (mean 58)) with tinnitus for more than 2 months were enrolled. Participants were randomised to either clonazepam or G biloba for the first 3 weeks. For the next 2 weeks of washout no medication was taken. For the final 3 weeks, subjects were given the other drug. The initial dose of clonazepam and G biloba was one tablet daily (clonazepam 0.5 mg; G biloba 40 mg). Subjects were instructed to increase the dose by one tablet every 3 days to a maximum of four tablets daily until they perceived a satisfactory decrease in tinnitus loudness or intolerable side effects. Tinnitus was assessed with pitch and loudness matching, tinnitus handicap inventory, and visual analogue scales of loudness, duration and annoyance.ResultsComparing before and after each drug, clonazepam significantly improved tinnitus loudness (74% of subjects), duration (63%), annoyance (79%), and tinnitus handicap inventory score (61%), whereas the G biloba showed no significant differences on any of these measures.ConclusionClonazepam is effective in treating tinnitus; G biloba is ineffective.

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