NCCAM Awards Funds For Ginkgo Biloba Trial, Five Research Centers
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
The National Center for Complementary & Alternative Medicine is sponsoring a multicenter study to test the safety, efficacy and tolerability of ginkgo biloba for the prevention of dementia in the elderly, the center announced Sept. 30.
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Ginkgo biloba
Recruitment underway for four-year Oregon Health Sciences University study examining standardized ginkgo biloba extract's effects in preventing or delaying cognitive decline in people ages 85 and older. Randomized, double-blind trial is enrolling 200 cognitively healthy subjects who will be followed for mild cognitive impairment, a precursor to dementia. Subjects will be randomized to either placebo or 240 mg ginkgo extract per day. Placebo subjects will be placed on ginkgo 24 months after entry. Changes in MRI-determined volume will be assessed at baseline, 24 and 42 months. Principal investigator is Jeffrey Kaye, MD, director of OHSU's Oregon Aging & Alzheimer's Disease Center. OHSU received $7.8 mil. from NCCAM for neurological disorders research in 1999 (1"The Tan Sheet" Oct. 4, 1999, p. 4)
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Ginkgo biloba
Researchers in the NIH-funded study on the botanical and prevention of dementia in the elderly have begun enrolling 3,000 participants, rather than 2,000 as initially planned. The cohort size has been adjusted to boost the statistical results of the study. Last fall, NCCAM and the National Institute on Aging awarded $15 mil. for the six-year study to the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (1"The Tan Sheet" Oct. 4, 1999, p. 4). The Dr. Willmar Schwabe company of Germany will supply the ginkgo extract - EGb 761 - for the trial. A pharmaceutical grade preparation, the extract is marketed as a prescription drug in Germany. The company will donate 12 mil. tablets for the study at an estimated market value of roughly $4 mil. Schwabe owns 50% of Murdock Madaus Schwabe, of which Nature's Way is the main marketing and distribution arm. Nature's Way markets EGb 761-containing Ginkgold