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I have in the past written about the potential of Ginkgo Biloba in the prevention of memory loss.  In the interest of fairness, I need to tell you about the latest research findings in this regard.  In a study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, 240 milligrams per day of the dietary supplement Ginkgo Biloba was found to be statistically ineffective in reducing the development of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in older people.

3,069 people age 75 or older were followed by the study for an average of 6 years each.  They started out with normal cognition or mild cognitive impairment.  People who already had dementia were excluded from the study. Study participants were given twice-daily doses of either 120 milligrams of ginkgo extract or a placebo. The study was primarily designed to find out whether ginkgo would decrease dementia, especially Alzheimer’s disease.  A second purpose was to evaluate ginkgo for its effects on generally cognitive decline, such as memory loss, disability, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and total mortality.

Dr. Steven T. DeKosky was the lead researcher on the project.  At the conclusion of the study, he said, “The results of this study confirm the importance of randomized trials in the development of new therapies for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease and in determining therapeutic benefit not only for conventional therapies but also complementary therapies like ginkgo… If older patients are considering using ginkgo for preventing dementia, I urge them to speak with their health care providers about the results of this study and work together to create the best treatment plan.”

523 of the participants were diagnosed with dementia during the study.  246 of them were in the placebo group and 277 were in the ginkgo group.  Therefore, the conclusion was that ginkgo showed no ability to reduce dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. However, the study did not find significant adverse effects from ginkgo either.  The next step is to analyze the data for conclusions about the other factors studied.  According to Kr. DeKosky, “Future analyses will provide us with additional information on ginkgo’s possible effects on cardiovascular disease, cancer, depression and other age-related conditions.”

It is important to emphasize that the only conclusions of the study thus far are related to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.  People have been taking Ginkgo for many years, and it has been reported effective for the treatment of many conditions.  You shouldn’t go beyond the conclusions of the study to decide whether Ginkgo is effective in other ways.  I don’t take it but I know that many respected people do.  The use of any dietary supplement should be based on discussion with medical professionals.

source information from: Alzheimer’s Reading Room: Ginkgo Biloba — Two Thumbs Down for Treatment of Alzheimer’s and Dementia.

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