BrainBlog

From an NIH press release earlier today: Ginkgo Evaluation of Memory (GEM) Study Fails To Show Benefit in Preventing Dementia in the Elderly The dietary supplement Ginkgo biloba was found to be ineffective in reducing the development of dementia and Alzheimer's disease in older people, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association1. Researchers led by Stephen T. DeKosky, M.D., formerly of the University of Pittsburgh, vice president and dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, conducted the trial known as the Ginkgo Evaluation of Memory (GEM) study at four clinical sites over the course of 8 years. GEM is the largest clinical trial ever to evaluate ginkgo's effect on the occurrence of dementia. This research was co-funded by five components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH): National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM); National Institute on Aging (NIA); National Heart, Lu...