A study published in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) concluded, a few days ago that the extract of Ginkgo biloba (from the leaves of an Asian tree) has no effect on cognitive decline. But a meta-analysis of 33 clinical trials contradicts these results, concluding that Ginkgo biloba mainly benefits patients with neuropsychiatric symptoms, which is the case for the majority of patients with dementia and that the extract EGB 761 has its place in the treatment of Alzheimer's type dementia.
This first JAMA study "Ginkgo Evaluation of Memory study", published on December 30, 2009, from the University of Pittsburgh (Dr Beth E. Snitz et al.), Concerned 3.069 men and women aged 72 to 96 and had The objective is to determine whether Ginkgo biloba could help curb the decline in cognitive functions in patients without or already suffering from mild cognitive impairment.
If the Pittsburgh team had not found evidence of an effect modifying general cognitive functions and more specifically memory, language, attention, visiospatial capacities, praxies, according to the data published in particular in the last issue of 2009 of JAMA, the medical service of the Schwabe laboratory had then invoked an unconvincing methodology of the published study, to defend "the known positive effects" of the special extract of Ginkgo biloba EGb 761®.
In November a meta-analysis of 33 clinical trials published by Cochrane Collaboration concluded that the extract of Gingko biloba could improve cognitive functions (including memory) in patients already suffering from dementia, this effect being attributed to the ginkgolides specific for this plant, which would have a cerebral vasodilator action and an antioxidant activity in particular on the cerebral level.
This favorable opinion for Gingko biloba could previously be highlighted in a compilation of 10 randomized and double-blind controlled studies, presented by two Austrian scientists, S. Kasper and H. Schubert (Faculty of Medicine of Vienna) in the medical journal German-speaking Fortschritte der Neurologie-Psychiatrie (September 2009), suggesting that Gingko biloba extract (or EGB 761) is at least as effective as the drugs usually prescribed for Alzheimer's dementia (such as cholinesterase inhibitors) or of vascular origin.
According to these authors, three of the four large studies showed that the EGB 761 was significantly more active than the placebo on cognitive functions. Six more limited studies also confirm these conclusions…
In short, this study suggests, like some of the other positive ones, that Ginkgo biloba extract mainly benefits patients with neuropsychiatric symptoms, which is the case for the majority of patients with dementia. Austrian authors' conclusion: EGB 761 has its place in the treatment of Alzheimer's dementia.
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