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Dementia study finds ginkgo of little help
Source: Agencies |
September 7, 2012, Friday
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TAKING the popular dietary supplement ginkgo biloba doesn't prevent Alzheimer's disease in older adults, according to the biggest prevention study in Europe.
Research in animals suggested the plant extract might ward off the most common form of dementia, but previous studies in humans found no evidence that it does.
In the latest research, French scientists studied the effects of ginkgo in more than 2,800 people over 70 with memory problems. About half got a daily 240mg dose while the other half got dummy pills. Patients were given yearly cognitive tests and followed for up to five years, though only about 70 percent of them took the ginkgo biloba or placebo pills for several years.
In the ginkgo biloba group, 61 people were diagnosed with likely Alzheimer's disease versus 73 people in the placebo group. The difference was not statistically significant, meaning it could have happened by chance.
The study, published in the journal Lancet Neurology yesterday, was paid for by Ipsen, a producer of ginkgo biloba supplements.
The authors weren't sure why ginkgo didn't seem to work. "It may be that people need to take it for longer," said Dr Bruno Vellas of University Hospital in Toulouse, France, the study's lead author.
Others said that people should now stop taking the extract.
Research in animals suggested the plant extract might ward off the most common form of dementia, but previous studies in humans found no evidence that it does.
In the latest research, French scientists studied the effects of ginkgo in more than 2,800 people over 70 with memory problems. About half got a daily 240mg dose while the other half got dummy pills. Patients were given yearly cognitive tests and followed for up to five years, though only about 70 percent of them took the ginkgo biloba or placebo pills for several years.
In the ginkgo biloba group, 61 people were diagnosed with likely Alzheimer's disease versus 73 people in the placebo group. The difference was not statistically significant, meaning it could have happened by chance.
The study, published in the journal Lancet Neurology yesterday, was paid for by Ipsen, a producer of ginkgo biloba supplements.
The authors weren't sure why ginkgo didn't seem to work. "It may be that people need to take it for longer," said Dr Bruno Vellas of University Hospital in Toulouse, France, the study's lead author.
Others said that people should now stop taking the extract.
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