Word: jama
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Sources: JAMA; New England Journal of Medicine; Journal of the American Geriatrics Society...
...seems to be a substance extracted from the leaves of young ginkgo trees that scientists have dubbed EGb 761. In Germany, where ginkgo sales topped $163 million last year, the extract has been the subject of hundreds of scientific studies, some even bigger than the one reported in JAMA. These studies show that among other things, EGb 761 helps keep platelets in the blood from clumping together. That's why ginkgo extract is prescribed in low doses (40 mg a day) in Europe for patients with circulatory problems. Much higher doses (240 mg a day) are used to treat dementia...
What makes the JAMA study particularly noteworthy is its rigorous design. The researchers started with 309 test subjects who either had Alzheimer's disease or had suffered a stroke. These were randomly divided into two groups. One was given 120 mg of ginkgo extract, the other a placebo. Neither the doctors nor their patients knew who had been given what until the end of the study. Meanwhile, researchers measured mental deterioration using three standardized tests. The improvements were modest--a few points, say, on a 70-point scale--and showed up in only two of the three tests, but because...
...Sources: JAMA; Journal of General Internal Medicine; Archives of Disease in Childhood...
Sources: Centers for Disease Control; Meeting: American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology; JAMA...