Review finds mixed results on the effectiveness and safety of brain and memory supplements

Nat­ur­al Sup­ple­ments and Vit­a­mins for Treat­ment and Pre­ven­tion of Demen­tia and Cog­ni­tive Decline (Psy­chi­atric Times):

“Demen­tia, also referred to as major neu­rocog­ni­tive dis­or­der (includ­ing Alzheimer dis­ease [AD]), is a grow­ing prob­lem because of increased lifes­pan. There is no known cure. Sev­er­al drugs are FDA-approved for the treat­ment of demen­tia, includ­ing acetyl­cholinesterase inhibitors (eg, donepezil, rivastig­mine, galan­t­a­mine) and an N‑methyl-D-aspar­tate (NMDA) recep­tor antag­o­nist, but these have lim­it­ed effi­ca­cy, adverse effects, and sig­nif­i­cant cost—all of which con­tribute to the search for alter­na­tive ther­a­pies to improve cognition.

In this arti­cle, we look at sev­er­al nat­ur­al prod­ucts used to improve cog­ni­tive impair­ment or cog­ni­tive symp­toms of dementia…The major­i­ty of tri­als that show the ben­e­fits of gink­go bilo­ba per­tain to improved cog­ni­tion in per­sons who already have a major neu­rocog­ni­tive dis­or­der or demen­tia. How­ev­er, the data regard­ing a ben­e­fit in cog­ni­tive­ly intact indi­vid­u­als are mixed. ”

To learn more: 

• Can you grow your hip­pocam­pus? Yes. Here’s how, and why it matters
• Ques­tion: Do “brain sup­ple­ments” work?