Ginkgo biloba – No Effect

[HuckleB]

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=3235

"Another one bites the dust.

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) is generally a waste of taxpayer money, but they have sponsored several well-designed large trials of popular herbal supplements. And one by one these studies have shown these popular products, such as echinacea for the common cold, to be ineffective.

To add to the list, published in JAMA this week are the results of the largest and longest trial to date of Gingko biloba for the improvement of cognitive function and to treat, prevent, or reduce the effects of Alzheimers disease or other dementia. The results of the study are completely negative.

The study was very rigorous – a consensus trial designed to address all the criticisms of prior smaller studies. It was a direct comparison of Gingko biloba at 120mg twice a day, double blind, randomized, multi-center trial involving 3019 subjects aged 72-96 for a median of 6.1 years. Subjects were followed with standardized tests of cognitive function.

The results are easy to report – every measure showed no difference between G biloba and placebo. There was no difference in cognitive function, risk of developing dementia, rate of progression of dementia or normal cognitive decline with aging. Usually such studies involve some random noise in the results, especially when several outcomes are measured. But with such a large study, random fluctuations should average out, and that is exactly what happened.

..."


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That's too bad, but it's good to know. I admit that I spent money on Ginkgo for a few years, until I inadvertently stopped taking it and noticed no difference. That placebo was comforting for a while, however.


:hi:

[harun]

1. Doesn't affect old people, might affect young. They didn't study that.

[MineralMan]

5. Odds are it won't do anything for the young either.

I'd bag that one.

[stopbush]

2. It won't stop the "alternative medicine" woo-ists. What does modern science know, anyway?

The Martians told the ancients about Ginkgo, don't you know?

Silly blind-test scientific research sticks-in-the-mud!

[HuckleB]

3. Indeed.

The DU wooers are already on the unrec path.

[MineralMan]

4. I experimented with Ginkgo Biloba for my cluster headaches

for about three months during one episode. No detectable effects, and no change when I stopped. It was recommended to me by an alternative health person and I figured it was worth trying, but no effect.

It appears to be a useless, expensive product.

[MineralMan]

6. Pretty expensive placebo. Let them what wants it buy it.

It doesn't seem to do any harm, and it fattens the wallets of the purveyors of natural nostrums. Good for the economy, eh?

[HuckleB]

7. Perhaps.

However, we do provide some programs for gambling addiction, thus, wouldn't it be fair if we provided programs for people "addicted to placebos?"

:shrug:

:)

[MineralMan]

9. It would only work if some NewAger started it up.

That's the only way the herb-gobblers would participate. Crystal-based detox, I think, would be the key. 28 days of having crystals waved over your midsection should do it.

[jobycom]

8. I used to take it. Never helped my memory, but I did once have some minor surgery

(Just to remove a weird skin bump), and I healed about twice as fast as the doctor predicted, and without the pain meds she swore I'd need badly. The only thing unusual I was doing was taking GB.

Always wondered if the Ginko had anything to do with the quick healing. I didn't want to run experiments to find out. :) Probably just my Krypton heritage.

[Still Blue in PDX]

10. While taking ginkgo, I had a naughty dream involving all the Baldwin brothers.

I had quite a number of naughty dreams, but that was the weirdest.

[wuvuj]

21. That would sure steer me clear of Ginko....

...

[Sanity Claws]

11. Study is limited

DeKosky admits that the study has its limitations - the subjects were more than 70 years old, and it's not clear whether ginkgo's effect on the brain may be more profound if introduced earlier. Then there is the question of exactly how ginkgo is acting on the body; if the compound works by improving circulation not just in the brain but throughout the body, for example, then this study may not have been refined enough to pick up those subtle, more indirect effects. "What we would really like to see is additional research," says Douglas MacKay, vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs for the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a leading trade organization of dietary-supplement makers. "What we would not like to see is this study closing the door on answering other questions or subsets of questions on ginkgo." The bar, however, for those additional studies seems to be getting higher.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20091230/hl_time/08599195045400

The link to the JAMA summary indicates that the subjects were over 75. http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/300/19/2253
The summary also noted that Ginkgo has effects as an antioxidant and anti-amyloid aggregation. (See footnotes 6 and 7). In other words, it has proved to have beneficial effects, just not proved to prevent or reverse dementia or Alzheimer's in persons over 75.

[stopbush]

12. I'm sure more $ will be put into research. I'll be surprised if anyting positive is found.

That $ will hardly match the amounts that will continue to be spent promoting Gingkoa, nor the amounts that will be thrown down the rat hole of consumer spending on this crap.

[Sanity Claws]

13. Positive things have already been found

Ginkgo is a proven antioxidant. See footnote 6 to the JAMA article I cited.
Antioxidants protects cells against damage caused by free radicals.

I am surprised by your complaint about money spent promoting ginkgo. I have never seen a commercial about it.
I am also surprised by your calling it "crap" when JAMA itself recognizes that studies prove Ginkgo has positive effects.
Oh well. Some people just have automatic unthinking reactions.

[HuckleB]

15. Can you explain how those "positive things" actually help people?

Read up before attempting to answer: http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=38

[progressoid]

14. **Snort**

gettin unrec'd fast. :eyes:

[HuckleB]

16. What you got against research?

[progressoid]

17. We have a 40 yr old ginkgo tree in the back yard.

This research is ruining my plans to sell the 200 pounds of leaves that fall off my Ginkgo tree every year. ;)

[HuckleB]

19. I'm sure you can still sell them!

Come up with a new theory, and you could be in the big money.

:)

[JoeyT]

20. Look on the bright side.

With 200 pounds of Ginko leaves you could make a batch of homeopathic medicine the size of our entire solar system.
You could sell it dirt cheap and be a trillionaire in no time! And it'd be just as effective as every other homeopathic remedy out there.

[progressoid]

23. AND none of that nasty oversight from the FDA.

I'm gonna be rich!

[jimlup]

18. I use Ginko for altitude acclimatization

I climb in Colorado and Washington State (summited Mt. Rainier this past summer) and I've found Ginko helpful for altitude aclimatization.

As I understand - there is some evidence that it is effective in this regard. 60mg twice a day the week prior to exposure through my climb or until I'm sure I've adjusted.

[wuvuj]

22. What does work...

http://www.lef.org/protocols/neurological/mild_cognitive_impairment_01.htm

[Tumbulu]

24. 30 years ago I took Ginko

after a serious head injury. I took it for a few years and then my eeg's normalized enough for me to get off the anti seizure meds. My neurologist was so happy for me and had never had a patient with my injuries recover as I did.

I am convinced it is the way they farm Ginko nowadays. It used to be harvested from mature trees (this means old trees as Ginkos are very slow growing) but is now harvested from small shrubs grown in dense plantings. So, it does not surprise me that it is not effective any more.