An epidemiological study in France has revealed interesting results about the role of Ginkgo special extract EGb 761^® in the prevention of Alzheimer's disease.

Cognitive performance appears to be maintained for longer as a result of long-term treatment with Ginkgo special extract EGb 761^®. There also appears to be a positive effect in preventing the occurrence of Alzheimer's disease.

The primary objective of the Epidemiology of Osteoporosis (EPIDOS) study, a large-scale prospective multicentre study, was to investigate the risk factors associated with femoral neck fracture in elderly women. As numerous health-related data, including drug therapy, were recorded for the subjects over a period of 4 to 7 years, the study data bank lends itself admirably to further analyses. The data analysis presented here investigated factors associated with the development of Alzheimer's disease.

The study enrolled a total of 7598 subjects of at least 75 years of age, 1462 of whom were in the Toulouse centre. On completion of the study, data on the cognitive status of 714 patients in the Toulouse centre were available. 414 who had no cognitive impairment at all on inclusion in the study (score of at least 8 in the Pfeiffer test) were selected from this patient group. Of these, 345 women were still cognitively unimpaired by the end of the study, 69 had developed dementia of the Alzheimer's type.

Interestingly, the women who still had their full cognitive faculties had taken medications such as the Ginkgo special extract EGb 761^® or nootropics to stimulate blood circulation (category C4A medicines) significantly more frequently than the women who developed dementia. Additionally, the healthy women significantly more often had been taken these drugs for over 2 years or longer than the dementia patients. In contrast to the other C4A medicines, evidence of the anti-dementia effect of EGb 761^® became apparent after only one year of taking this substance.

The findings of this study give every reason to believe that long-term treatment with Ginkgo special extract EGb 761^® enables cognitive performance to be maintained for longer, and indicate that the development of Alzheimer's disease can be prevented or at least delayed.

Literature
Andrieu S, Gillette S, Amaouyal K, Nourhashemi F, Reynish E, Ousset PJ, Albarede JL, Vellas B, Grandjean H. Association of Alzheimer's disease onset with Ginkgo biloba and other symptomatic cognitive treatments in a population of women aged 75 years and older from the EPIDOS Study. Journal of Gerontology 2003;58A:372-377.