Sheng-Di Chen from Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China and colleagues reviewed research on Chinese herbal medicine and active agents isolated from herbs which shows that traditional Chinese medicine is a promising treatment for Alzheimer's disease.

Animal studies and clinical trials have proved that ginkgo biloba extracts including EGb 761 can moderately improve cognitive function both in patients with Alzheimer's disease and healthy individuals.

In a 24-week clinical trial, hundreds of patients with Alzheimer's disease or vascular dementia improved their cognitive function, neuropsychiatric symptoms and functional abilities by taking 240 mg of EGb 761.

A recent study published in PLOS | One has found that long term supplementation with the Chinese herbal medicine  ginkgo biloba extracts extract EGb761® slowed down the decline in cognitive function.

In the study, 589 subjects who were free of Alzheimer's disease at baseline and reported using Ginkgo biloba extracts were compared with 2874 healthy individuals who did not use the supplement for their cognitive decline during a period of 20 years.  Both groups of subjects were aged 65 or older.

The study led by Hélène Amieva from University of Bordeaux in Bordeaux, France and colleagues found participants who used Ginkgo biloba experienced a much slower decline than those who did not use the supplement.

Previous studies often did not yield consistent results because either the sample size was too small or the observation period was too short.

Gingko biloba has been used in Korea, Japan and China to treat circulatory problems, asthma, vertigo, fatigue and tinnitus.  Ginkgo buloba is also used in Iran to improve memory loss associated with blood circulation abnormalities. (reporting By david Liu, pHD)