PASSING UP THE PILLS: A new analysis confirms earlier studies showing no cognitive benefit--at least for older adults--to taking ginkgo supplements, even when they're consumed for years on end.
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Having trouble remembering to take your Ginkgo supplement? The pills themselves might not help with that forgetfulness—or any other age-related cognitive decline, according to a new study published online Tuesday in JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association.
"Compared with placebo, the use of G. biloba, 120 milligrams twice daily, did not result in less cognitive decline in older adults," the authors of the study concluded.
The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study is the largest of its kind, having followed 3,069 older adults (72 to 96 years old) who started the trial with no or only mild cognitive impairment. After following the individuals for six years, administering regular testing and interviewing people close to them, the researchers found that those who had been given gingko pills performed the same in memory, language, attention, visuo-spatial judgment and executive function tests as those in the placebo group.
The authors, whose research was supported by the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine among other government groups, expected to see at least minor benefits in the ginkgo cohort. "We're a bit surprised [ginkgo is] as ineffective as it turned out to be," says Steven DeKosky, vice president and dean of the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville and study co-author. Laboratory tests of the substance have shown "biological effects that give you a pretty good rationale" for expecting it to help shield neural cells, he says. And given the herb's antioxidant properties, many researchers have anticipated positive findings in human subjects.
An analysis published last year in JAMA using the same data pool, the Ginkgo Evaluation of Memory (GEM) study, found that the herbal supplement was ineffective in preventing Alzheimer's disease. Still, DeKosky and his colleagues thought they might uncover more specific cognitive functions, such as language or executive function, that were being aided by ginkgo. In many treatment studies, he explains, differences often emerge on a small scale, "but we didn't see any differences."
The ginkgo plant has been used in traditional Chinese cooking and medicine for at least 1,500 years, and the tree itself dates back some 270 million years. In modern form, extracts from the Ginkgo biloba's leaves are often ground up into pill capsules and taken for everything from memory loss to tinnitus (ringing in the ears). In the GEM study, a standard ginkgo extract—manufactured by German-based Schwabe Pharmaceuticals—was given alongside an identical placebo made by the same company.
Although regimented scientific studies have felled one herbal treatment after the next in recent years (including the popular Echinacea supplement), many researchers maintain that they are not simply out to debunk these complementary treatments. "We're always hoping to find something," says DeKosky, who studies Alzheimer's disease.
Williams College professor Paul Solomon, who did not contribute to this study, agreed, saying he would be "delighted" if gingko works, adding: "It's relatively inexpensive, and it has relatively benign side effects." It is always possible a future study will show benefits, he says, but he thinks that, "the likelihood of that is remote."
The new paper did not examine other purported benefits of the supplement, such as improved vascular functioning or reductions in tinnitus. And those in the herbal products industry have noted that these older adult studies do not show whether such supplements can have benefits if they are taken starting in young or middle age. But in such long-term studies—following people from their 50s to their 80s, for example—it can be difficult to maintain strict monitoring and blinds, DeKosky says.
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11 Comments
Add CommentThe only thing I've ever seen ginkgo do is relieve muscle cramps. For mental and physical stamina, try glutamine.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGinkgo is not a hard drug to be used in severe cases, as in these studies. It is a circulation herb like gota cola and it improves the same when used in conjunction with a healthy diet. With a rich flow of blood to the brain, everyone will benefit something. Even their chemical drugs cannot bring back a destroyed memory from brain cell destruction. This study expected miracles, which even their chemical drugs could not produce.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhen in college, I used ginko to improve circulation to my brain and it did allow me to think clearer where I could remember crammed material for tests. The brain, just like any body organ, when cleaned of toxins produces good results; don't expect miricles, it is a preventive herb. When used with horse chestnut and gota cola it greatly improves circulation and I noticed an improved difference in my thinking...you will to.
Are you advocating, or advertising?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSounds to me like hes on aroll.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWe are living in a new age of snake oil salesmen. While I do not doubt that there are benefits to be learned from traditional medicine there is an entire industry that is willing to make any claim it can about some new herb or plant extract and as long as they call it "natural" they don't need to back up their claims with anything but anecdotal evidence.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis isn't a direct swipe at JamesDavis' comments. For all I know he may have benefited from the herbs he took. But until there is something more to a lot of these claims other than slogans like "Millions have been benefiting from these natural supplements and you will too!" I will continue to doubt the veracity of the ads I hear every day.
This study is anything BUT conclusive! Over 33% of the study participants DROPPED OUT OF THE STUDY DURING THE COURSE OF THE STUDY, but THEIR DATA WAS HYPOTHESIZED AND INCLUDED IN THE STUDY!!! There are over 11 GOOD studies (1,2,3,4) that show that Ginkgo Biloba is useful for supporting and improving short term memory and cognitive function!!! Read all of the studies people, and don't believe what the popular media tells you!!! READ THE STUDIES FOR YOURSELVES!!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this1. IQWiG Reports - Commission No. A05-19B. Ginkgo in Alzheimer's disease. Executive Summary. Cologne: IQWiG, 2008.
2. Kaschel R. Ginkgo biloba: specificity of neuropsychological improvement - a selective review in search of differential effects. Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental 2009;24:345-370.
3. Kasper S, Schubert H. Ginkgo- [Ginkgo biloba extract EGb 761(R) in the treatment of dementia: evidence of efficacy and tolerability.] Fortschritte Neurologie Psychiatrie 2009;77:494-506.
4. Crews W, Harrison DW, Griggin ML, Falwell KD, Crist T, Longest L, Hehemann L, Rey ST. The neuropsychological efficacy of ginkgo preparations in healthy and cognitively intact adults; A comprehensive review. HerbalGram 2005;67:42-62.
So, what you're saying is that in a carefully controlled study in which thousands of participants showed no improvement whatsoever over 6 years we shouldn't have expected miracles. Yet, in your four years of college, you had miraculous results from your own anecdotal test? Tell me, what criteria did you use to determine you "thought better"?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf you want smart drugs - try hydergine, piracetam, deprenyl and modafinil.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis should be front page news in every paper. I hate to think about how much money has been wasted by people thinking that ginkgo would help them.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisInteresting!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisInteresting!
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