Ginkgo Biloba Doesn't Prevent Dementia

Supplement Fails To Ward Off Or Slow Alzheimer's Disease in Large Study

(WebMD)  Millions of older people take the herbal supplement ginkgo biloba in hopes that it will prevent or slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease and other age-related dementias, but one of the largest and longest studies to address the issue shows no benefit.

A little more than 3,000 elderly people who did not have Alzheimer's at the start of the study took either ginkgo biloba or a placebo for an average of six years.

In the Nov. 19 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers report that the herbal supplement showed no evidence of reducing the overall incidence of either Alzheimer's disease or dementia .

"It was worth finding out if giving this relatively benign drug to older people would have an effect," study researcher Steven T. DeKosky, MD, tells WebMD. "But based on this research, ginkgo biloba cannot be recommended for preventing dementia."

DeKosky was with the University of Pittsburgh at the time of the study. He is now vice president and dean of the University of Virginia School of Medicine.

Ginkgo vs. Placebo
It is not clear how many people in the United States take ginkgo biloba, but sales of the supplement exceeded $249 million in 2006.

Earlier studies in older people with Alzheimer's disease or other age-related dementias have generally been disappointing.

A 2007 review of 35 such trials involving about 4,200 patients found "inconsistent and unconvincing" evidence of clinically significant benefits for the supplement in people with dementia.

None of the participants in the newly reported Ginkgo Evaluation of Memory (GEM) study had Alzheimer's at enrollment, although about 500 showed evidence of mild cognitive impairment.

In all, 3,069 people aged 75 or older took part in the trial. About half the volunteers took 120 milligrams of ginkgo biloba twice a day and the other half took a placebo. Neither the patients nor the researchers knew which treatment was being given.

Over an average of six years of follow-up, 523 study participants received a diagnosis of dementia, 246 (16%) in the placebo group and 277 (18%) in the ginkgo group.

The rate of Alzheimer's disease did not differ significantly between the two groups, with 3.3 cases occurring for every 100 people treated with ginkgo biloba each year, compared to 2.9 cases in the placebo group. The researchers also found no effect on the progression of mild cognitive impairment to dementia.

Is Ginkgo Harmless?

The findings strongly argue against the use of ginkgo biloba for the prevention of mental decline in older populations, University of Southern California psychiatry and neurology professor Lon S. Schneider, MD, tells WebMD.

He notes that the GEM study is far larger and longer than any previous placebo-controlled ginkgo biloba trial.

"The message to take from this is that this intervention doesn't work," he says.

In an editorial accompanying the study, Schneider pointed to earlier trials suggesting a slight increase in strokes and mini-strokes in patients taking ginkgo biloba.

In the GEM study, there was no difference in heart attack or ischemic strokes between the ginkgo and placebo-treated patients. Ischemic strokes, the most common type of stroke, are caused by a blockage in an artery that supplies blood to the brain. There were more hemorrhagic (bleeding) strokes in the ginkgo group, but the overall number of cases was small and the difference was not found to be significant.

"The potential adverse effects of ginkgo biloba extract illustrate why it is untenable to recommend a drug or nutraceutical in the absence of efficacy evidence simply because it could possibly help and initially appears harmless," Schneider writes.

Although he acknowledges that the GEM study was well designed, Mark Blumenthal, who is founder and executive director of the American Botanica Council, tells WebMD that the trial does not represent the last word on ginkgo biloba and dementia.

"There are other trials that will be coming out," he says. "Whether or not they will show a positive result or not remains to be seen."

He cited several studies suggesting a role for ginkgo biloba in slowing the progression of dementia in elderly people already experiencing cognitive decline.

"In reporting the news that ginkgo biloba didn't work for prevention in this study, it is important not to mislead people into thinking that there is no evidence to support treatment," he says.

If WebMd, a propaganda front for Big Pharma says Ginkgo Biloba doesn''t work and has evidence from a control study, then go the other way and take the opposite results. All they do is protect the profits of Big Pharma the owners of WebMd.

[gaye5]

Consciousnes, I have found the same, it has been fantastic, but I keep forgetting to take it??? just joking..
I found an incredible improvement, but one has to remember that like many things it takes two or three weeks for the full effect, but I was sure that I found some difference almost straight away, and increasing over the next two weeks.. my memory was so much better.

[consciousnes]

That little head ache you get is caused by the blood vessels relaxing and allowing more blood to flow to that oxygen starved brain of yours.
I started taking it almost 20 years ago and remember an immediate increase in my ability to concentrate on my job.
The benefits of keeping you blood vessels flexible far out weigh any mild effects you may realize. Everyone is different, so everyone reacts differently to what ever they consume, but for me Ginko has been a real bonus to my abilities in concentrating at work. By the way, I work in an accounting office.
If you want to dissuade the onslaught of Alzheimer%u2019s start using you mind by playing games, such as cards, doing crossword puzzles, Sudko, etc. Someone who sets in front of a TV and allows themselves to be entertained will see Alzheimer%u2019s much quicker than someone who actually uses their brain for something more than a receptacle for random bits of information.
FYI, your Echinacea is the best thing on the market for stopping or reducing the effects of a cold. Take two (with food) at the first sign of a cold and 1 each day for 7 days after and you will not know you had a cold. Use it for only one week or you body will get use to it.

[gaye5]

It all depends on the parts of the plant that was used, I know of Echinacea which is simply useless but the Echinacea that I get comes from a different country and works a wonder for colds etc.. So what part of the plant are they using etc. I know that pharmaceutical companies have said that Vitamin E us useless but they didn''t tell us that they used a synthetic Vitamin E or that it was only a certain part of the plant etc.. these studies if done by the drug companies can be all lies so as we will be more likely to buy their poisons''

[ed_c_in_ok]

Ginko biloba seemed to give me a head ache at times so I seldom take it...

[erasmus81]

"It is not clear how many people in the United States take ginkgo biloba, but sales of the supplement exceeded $249 million in 2006."

I guess those sales will be dropping now.:)

[asor1-2009]

Ginkgo biloba raised my blood pressure enough that I stopped taking it.
Go with a good, healthy diet and stay active!!!!