Ginkgo Doesn't Improve Memory Or Cognitive Skills

JumperCable writes "Ginkgo biloba has failed — again — to live up to its reputation for boosting memory and brain function. Just over a year after a study showed that the herb doesn't prevent dementia and Alzheimer's disease, a new study from the same team of researchers has found no evidence that ginkgo reduces the normal cognitive decline that comes with aging. In the new study, the largest of its kind to date, DeKosky and his colleagues followed more than 3,000 people between the ages of 72 and 96 for an average of six years. Half of the participants took two 120-milligram capsules of ginkgo a day during the study period, and the other half took a placebo. The people who took ginkgo showed no differences in attention, memory, and other cognitive measures compared to those who took the placebo, according to the study, which was published in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association."

Comments

Re:Ginko has a different effect on me

[sakdoctor]

People say the same about crystal meth

Interesting fact

[static416]

You know what they call alternative medicine that works?.... Medicine.

Re:No surprise because of the dosage

[jeffmeden]

Never mind then that Vitamin C (arguably an 'unrefined plant material') has the odd effect of making you *not get scurvy and die* as a result of a daily dosage of around 100mg.

Relatively small doses of simple things can affect you in lots of interesting ways. Look at medication that treats thyroid disorders; it's a simple material (although it doesn't grow on trees) dosed out in *micrograms*, the slightest variation of which (less than 15 micrograms for some people, myself included) your body WILL feel the difference of.

Most things, sure, your body sends in one end and it comes out the other relatively unchanged. Certain things, though, are profoundly influential.

Re:Actually works to their advantage

[TubeSteak]

You could consider this as evidence that depression is overdiagnosed and a prognosis of "light-moderate" depression is most likely bullshit.

I don't see how this is insightful.
It's like saying that since a band-aid can't staunch a bullet wound, that trauma is overdiagnosed and a prognosis of "paper-cut" is most likely bullshit. /. has a cadre of people who seem to deny/downplay the existence of mental disorders.
They contribute nothing to the discussion other than to shit on decades of medical science.

Re:That's just Western prejudice

[Bigjeff5]

If the Ginko was doing anything, it should have shown a slight improvement over the placebo even at 120mg. If the results come back essentially the same, then it is obviously not the Ginko improving memory.

The placebo effect is powerful on its own, and had they used another control group who took nothing you probably would have seen the Ginko and placebo groups both averaging better scores than the control group. That doesn't mean the Ginko itself actually does anything.

Even assuming you are right that Ginko will have literally no affect whatsoever until the dosage is above a certain level (which I find ridiculous, btw), if it is unsafe to use at its effective dosage, what's the point?