Extract of Ginkgo, sold in health food stores as an aid to memory and brain function, seems to help people with dementia, researchers said. The tree extract helped patients with Alzheimer's disease, the most common cause of senility, and those with vascular dementia. Pierre LeBars and colleagues at the New York Institute for Medical Research in Tarrytown found. It delayed progression of dementia by the equivalent of six months, they wrote in report in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Half got the extract and half got a placebo.
Cognitive performance includes day-to day activities such as reasoning, memory and learning.
Ginkgo is approved in Germany for treating dementia but its use is not regulated in the United States. U.S. reaction to the study was cautious. He said the association strongly recommends that people talk to their doctors before taking any drug, including herbal extracts like Ginkgo. First, earlier studies have shown that Ginkgo may reduce the ability of the blood to clot. This could cause a big problem, especially when used simultaneously with anti-coagulents such as Aspirin.