Tuesday, United States researchers revealed that the Ginkgo biloba herbal supplement did not prevent the elderly from developing Alzheimer’s disease, neither where healthy nor mildly cognitively impaired people were concerned.

The study, which was conducted on 3,069 people aged 75 or older from five different U.S. areas, monitored the participants for an approximate period of six years. Half of the elderly people were taking two doses of 120 milligrams of the Ginkgo biloba herbal supplement per day, while the other half were given a placebo instead.

Researchers found that the extract from the leaves of the ginkgo tree did not have any effect where protecting the ones taking it from developing Alzheimer’s or any other type of dementia was concerned. Moreover, during the study, 18 percent of the ginkgo biloba group were diagnosed with Alzheimer's or other form of dementia, while in the control group, the percentage was reported to have been 16.

The study’s results were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, thus invalidating previous indications that pointed to the fact that the antioxidant in the ginkgo biloba supplement, along with other of its properties, might prevent cognitive impairment and preserve memory.

Dr. Steven DeKosky, dean of the University of Virginia School of Medicine and also lead author of the study, said that even though the extract did not protect people against developing Alzheimer’s disease, it neither did any harm to people taking it, so the elderly could continue using Ginkgo biloba, still not in the hope it would prevent dementia.