Ginkgo No Shield Against Alzheimer's(eloped dementia and 92 percent of those ...),Health

Overall, the dementia rate for those taking ginkgo was 3.3 per 100 person-years of follow-up versus 2.9 per 100 person-years for the placebo group.

"If you're in your 70s or 80s, and you're contemplating taking ginkgo to prevent Alzheimer's or dementia, the idea that it can prevent these is not true," said DeKosky, who is vice president and dean of the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville.

But, said DeKosky, the good news from this study is that there appear to be "no major problems for safety" where ginkgo is concerned.

However, the author of an accompanying editorial in the same issue of the journal, Dr. Lon Schneider, director of the State of California Alzheimer's Disease Research and Clinical Center at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, pointed out that for people with a history of cardiovascular disease, there was an increased risk of hemorrhagic stroke in the group taking ginkgo, though the difference didn't reach statistical significance. Eight people in the placebo compared to 16 in the ginkgo group had a hemorrhagic stroke, Schneider noted.

He also pointed out that at least one smaller trial found an increased risk of the more common type of stroke, ischemic stroke, and transient ischemic attacks, in people taking ginkgo.

"In the absence of efficacy, people should be fairly careful about taking a drug anyway, and here, we've seen no evidence for potential gain, and there's some reason to be concerned about its use in the long term," said Schneider.

More information

Learn more about ginkgo from the U.S. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

SOURCES: Steven T. DeKosky, M.D., vice president and
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