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GuidAge results admitted that the results were not statistically significant for the
study group as a whole.^26 But for those unwilling to concede that Ginkgo is ineffective
in preventing AD, the remaining contention is: “The brain pathology that leads to overt
Alzheimer’s disease develops over the course of many years. It is therefore not
surprising that those study participants who developed dementia early in the study
gained less protective benefit from EGb 761^ treatment, because they already had the
disease. When these subjects as well as those who left the study prematurely (i.e., all
study participants) were included in the analysis, the overall treatment effect was still
detectable, although not statistically significant.”^27
Kaschel, professor of clinical neuropsychology at the University of Osnabruck,
concluded: ‘Meta-analyses of the data by independent scientists consistently
substantiate the efficacy of EGb 761 at the onset of cognitive decline.’”^28 Pending
further analysis of the GuidAge and subsequent studies, though its efficacy is in serious
doubt, the jury is still out on ginkgo.
- CONCLUSIONS
Until a scientific and popular consensus emerges, ginkgo will continue to be used as a
neuro-protective CAM treatment for incipient dementia, in preventing and treating
memory impairment, lack of concentration, and cerebral-vascular insufficiency, as
well as age-related and dementia-related cognitive weaknesses. Absent any other
obvious CAM alternative for preservation of cognitive faculties through the aging
process, many researchers and health care practitioners are awaiting further
developments before discarding ginkgo as a CAM treatment for mild cognitive
impairment/dementia. If you are using ginkgo and tolerating it well, there is no reason
to stop.
However, the evidence counsels looking at additional CAM treatments for cognitive
challenges, including rhodiola, SAM-e, folate, omega-3s, and CDP-choline, discussed in
separate chapters of this outline.
