IACPV RESEARCH

Posted By Clod on July 5, 2011

Have you ever walked into a room and stopped abruptly wondering what brought you there? Do you have trouble remembering names and finding words? If so, you’re not alone—you may just be over 40, and the herb ginkgo might be able to help your memory.

Ginkgo has been found effective for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and other conditions that cause severe loss of mental function. Until recently, it has not been clear whether ginkgo can also help the normal memory loss that occurs with age.

A new double-blind placebo-controlled trial examined the effects of ginkgo extract in 40 men and women (age 55 to 86) who did not suffer from any mental impairment.1 Over a 6-week period, the results showed improvements in some measurements of mental function. This finding follows other recent studies with positive results.2,3,4

In all of these trials, ginkgo was found effective in some but not all mental tests. This does not mean that ginkgo’s effects are slight. Rather, from a statistical point of view, it is inevitably harder to document the effectiveness of a treatment when the initial condition is relatively mild. Ginkgo naturally makes a stronger showing in Alzheimer’s disease, not necessarily because it is more effective, but because the illness is more severe.

Note: Ginkgo “thins” the blood, so it should not be used just prior to labor or delivery, or combined with other blood thinning drugs. For additional dosage and safety issues, see the article on Ginkgo.

Categories: Health
Tags: memory loss, mental tests, placebo