Medical research is finally starting to catch up with millions of Americans who have been taking vitamins and supplements for years. But people who swear by their pills to stay fit and sharp may not like the evidence that’s starting to accumulate.
The latest comes from a federally funded study of ginkgo biloba, a supplement widely used to improve memory and other cognitive functions. More than 3,000 people between the ages of 72 and 96 were randomly assigned to take a placebo or 120 mg of ginkgo twice a day. None of the patients had dementia when the study began, and they were followed for a median of just over six years.
Those who took ginkgo fared no better than those who took placebo on a battery of tests that examined memory, language, attention and other measures of cognitive function. The results are published in this week’s JAMA; an earlier analysis of the same study also found that ginkgo didn’t reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s.
As this New York Times column noted earlier this year, several big studies in the past few years have suggested that certain vitamins pills and other supplements don’t improve key health outcomes.
“I’m puzzled why the public in general ignores the results of well-done trials,” one doc who has studied this stuff told the NYT. “The public’s belief in the benefits of vitamins and nutrients is not supported by the available scientific data.”
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