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Study: Ginkgo not aid to memory
By LINDSEY TANNER, Associated Press CHICAGO -- A study suggests ginkgo supplements do nothing to quickly improve memory in healthy people, a finding that goes against years of well-publicized claims that helped turn the supplements into a multimillion-dollar industry. The over-the-counter supplements are made using extract from the fan-shaped leaves of the ginkgo biloba tree. Early studies suggested the supplements could boost mental function in people with and without mild dementia. However, those studies had methodological flaws and were too short to measure a true effect, the authors of the new study say. The study, reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, involved 230 people older than 60 who had no signs of memory impairment and found that the ginko supplements worked no better to improve memory than dummy pills over a six-week study period. Some of the supplements are advertised to have a noticeable benefit in four weeks. "We don't see any benefit," said lead author Paul Solomon, a psychology professor at Williams College. Solomon said his study involved the same type of rigorous testing required by the Food and Drug Administration for pharmaceutical drugs, though supplements such as gingko are not FDA-regulated. The same battery of mental tests were given at the beginning and end of the study. Though both groups' scores improved slightly, that likely was because they had taken the tests before, and the placebo and ginkgo patients performed equally well the second time around, Solomon said. Ginkgo has been thought to improve blood flow to small veins and capillaries, ostensibly helping deliver oxygen to the brain. It also contains antioxidants, substances that absorb chemicals called free radicals produced during metabolism that are thought to damage cells. Dr. Steven DeKosky, chairman of the University of Pittsburgh's neurology department, said the study doesn't address whether larger doses taken for a longer duration or taken by people who have memory problems would be beneficial. DeKosky is the lead researcher in a government-funded study examining whether ginkgo in doses equal or double those in the Journal of the American Medical Association study can help prevent Alzheimer's disease. Participants in his study are older than 75, have normal mental function or slight memory problems, and are taking ginkgo for five years. Solomon said ginkgo pills could produce mental benefits in healthy people if taken longer than six weeks. But he noted that the tablets used in the study, Pharmaton Natural Health Products' Ginkoba, are marketed as producing noticeable benefits after four weeks at the study's dose, 120 milligrams daily. Pharmaton's David Morrison said the findings are from one study that doesn't "negate the vast body of evidence showing that ginkgo biloba is effective."
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