Toronto - The herbal supplement ginkgo biloba doesn’t delay or prevent dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
The clinical trial provided 3,069 people aged 75 years or older with ginkgo or a placebo for a period of six years; both group’s participants were divided evenly between having normal cognition or mild cognitive impairment. According to the study, about one in 10 of the participants developed a form of dementia.
“We found that giving a standardized dose of ginkgo biloba over a period of time does not slow down the incidence rate of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr. Steven DeKosky, the study’s lead author and previously the chair of the Neurology department at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Medical Center.
While researchers believe these findings will warn the public about blindly taking herbal supplements, the American Botanical Council (ABC) disputes the study, claiming other research has determined that gingko can aid in the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease.
ABC believes the 6-year time length of JAMA’s study was much too short. The study’s authors agreed with ABC in their findings: “because the delay from initial brain changes to clinical dementia is known to be long, it is possible that an effect of G. biloba, positive or negative, may take many more years to manifest.”
Americans spend $250 million annually on gingko biloba, according to The Wall Street Journal.