Word: gingko
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...that when people who are at highest risk of Alzheimer's try to recognize a famous name, their brains activate in very different ways from those of people who aren't at risk. And scientists can actually see this difference using functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI. (Read "Gingko Biloba Does Not Prevent Alzheimer...
...Think Gum Think Gum features a concoction of "brain-boosting" herbs (including gingko biloba, bacopa and peppermint) and naturally occurring caffeine (guarana) that's supposed to help with not only alertness but memory too. I wouldn't discount the placebo effect, but I can't guarantee the instructions on the package - "For best results, chew while learning or studying and again to recall information" - will make you smarter. Still, this gum does deliver an even-keeled, concentrated boost, vs. a spiked buzz. I started chewing the recommended two-piece dose and felt a little more alert but not antsy. Then...
...This study puts a period on the debate," says Dr. Bill Thies, vice president of medical and scientific relations for the Alzheimer's Association. "These results allow the Association to say with some confidence that gingko doesn't work in spite of what anybody trying to sell it says...
...understandable that so many people would try almost anything, including popping gingko supplements - on which Americans spend more than $100 million annually - in the hopes of holding off the slow and agonizing mental decline that characterizes dementia. The claimed benefits of gingko have mostly been based on the supplement's antioxidant effects, which have been shown in lab studies - but not in patients - to gnaw away at the fatty plaques that infiltrate the Alzheimer's brain and destroy nerve cells. Studies in patients have involved only small groups, making those results interesting but hardly definitive...
DeKosky, who was at the University of Pittsburgh between 2000 and 2008, when the trial was conducted, decided to address the uncertainties by designing a randomized, controlled, double-blinded trial - the most rigorous study of gingko biloba to date. The end result is scientific confidence that the findings are both reliable and reproducible: At the end of six years of follow up, 523 of the more than 3,000 healthy subjects had developed dementia - 277 of those patients had taken gingko, and 246 had received the placebo. Of these cases, 92% were likely in the first phase of Alzheimer...