• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • WordPress
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
Science Update

Science Update

Sharing Science | Satisfying Curiosity | Debunking BS

  • Spotlights
  • Reality Check
  • Why Is It?
  • Radio Archives
  • Sciup @ School
Home » Radio Archive » Daily Show » Disappointing Ginkgo

Disappointing Ginkgo

January 25, 2010
https://podcast.scienceupdate.com/100125_sciup_gink.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window

BOB HIRSHON (host):
Ginkgo on the mind…I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.

The supplement Ginkgo biloba has long been touted as a memory enhancer. But in the largest clinical trial of its kind ever conducted, researchers have found that ginkgo is ineffective at staving off cognitive decline in older adults. Dr. Steven Dekosky of the University of Virginia and his colleagues followed over 3,000 people ages 72 and older for about six years each. Half took ginkgo pills twice a day and the other half took a placebo.

STEVEN DeKOSKY (University of Virginia School of Medicine):
This study didn’t find any difference between the two froups in language function, memory function, visual spatial function and what we call executive function, the ability to make decisions. The good news about ginkgo is that it’s inexpensive and it appears to be safe, but the bad news is, it doesn’t work.

HIRSHON:
He says U.S. citizens spend 100 million dollars on ginkgo preparations every year. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.

Category: Daily ShowTag: Medicine & Health, Plants & Agriculture
Previous Post:Podcast
Next Post:Mountaintop Removal Mining

Sidebar

Radio Program Archives

Want to learn more about the brain? The environment? Here you can browse the topics that come up regularly on Science Update.

Search the Archives

Categories

  • Daily Show
  • Station Download
  • Weekly Show

Find By Tag

  • 2020
  • Acoustics & Sound
  • Aging
  • Animal Behavior
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Astronomy & Space
  • Biology
  • Brain Science
  • Bugs
  • Chemistry
  • Children & Families
  • cicadas
  • Climate & Weather
  • Communications
  • Computer Science
  • Economics & Business
  • Education
  • Energy
  • Engineering & Technology
  • Environment & Conservation
  • Genetics & Evolution
  • Geology
  • Marine Science
  • Materials Science
  • Mathematics
  • Medicine & Health
  • Microbiology
  • Nanotechnology
  • Nutrition & Food Science
  • Paleontology & Dinosaurs
  • Physics
  • Plants & Agriculture
  • Political Science
  • Reality Check
  • Social & Behavioral Sciences
  • Sports & Fitness
  • spotlight
  • Spotlight Bugs
  • Terrorism & War
  • Why Is It? Questions
  • Wildlife
  • Year in Review

Find By Date

Science Update
  • About Science Update
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

Mayan Honeybee hives
House sparrow wearing top hat rides aboard a red fireworks rocket

Copyright © 2023 · Springtail Media LLC · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Pongos