For diabetics who may already be worrying about maintaining lower blood sugar, one supplement could help reduce the effects of another symptom of the condition: neuropathic pain.

It’s a mental response that can make a simple touch or temperature change painful, and also affects those with some herpes viruses.

Researchers at the Catholic University of Seoul say that gingko biloba supplements used in a study helped to reduce twinges associated with stimuli for up to two hours, and offers a potential new reason to pick up the supplement.

Dr Steven L. Schafer, editor of Anesthesia & Analgesia where the study was published cautioned that more research may be necessary to confirm how the effects were achieved, but is optimistic about the work of "scientists [who] are investigating the properties of this ancient oriental herbal medication in an effort to determine what chemical constituents account for the many beneficial effects traditionally ascribed to it."

Gingko biloba is commonly used as a memory aid, but it’s suggested that its effect in pain reduction could come from antioxidant or anti-inflammatory effects that may limit the onset of other conditions as well.