Julian Whitaker has one. So do Susan Lark, Stephen Sinatra Marcus Laux, and other prominent alternative medicine doctors. Ditto for chiropractor David Williams. And Amway and Shaklee. Even Prevention magazine have its own.
Memory pills sell ... for as much as $70 a month. And this isn't your grandmother's ginkgo. With so much competition today, companies are scour warehouse shelves for ingredients that will make their brain-boosting pills stand out.
All that's missing, in most cases, is intricate evidence that the stuff works. Here's the research behind some of the most popular ingredients in memory supplements.
Antioxidants
"There's moral reason to contemplate that oxidative stress is deleterious to the aging brain," says Victor Henderson, professor of neurology at Stanford University surrounded by Palo Alto, California. Oxidative stress creates rogue molecules called free radical, which can damage brain cell.
"But this doesn't necessarily mean that taking antioxidants will slow down or reverse some of the unwholesome effects," Henderson cautions. It would lug clinical studies to show that, he says, "and so far the published results for antioxidants are disappointing."
For example, in a study published final December, roughly 3,200 healthy middle-aged and elder U.S. women who took 600 IU of vitamin E every other day for four years score no better on thinking and memory tests than a similar group of women who took a placebo. (1)
That's consistent near the results of two earlier studies that looked at cocktails of antioxidants.
In one, from the United Kingdom, roughly 10,000 men and women aged 40 to 80 near heart disease or diabetes took a daily combination of vitamin E (600 IU), vitamin C (250 mg), and beta-carotene (33,000 IU). After five years, they be just as possible to show mental decline as 10,000 similar people who took a placebo. (2)
And 1,000 U.S. men and women within their 70s who took 400 IU of vitamin E, 500 mg of vitamin C, and 25,000 IU of beta-carotene every day for more than six years score no differently on concentration and memory tests than a comparable group who took a placebo. (3)
There's no convincing evidence for other antioxidants, any:
* Lipoic acid. Lipoic sour, which is found naturally contained by the body, functions as both a fat-soluble and a water-soluble antioxidant. Alternative medicine cardiologist Stephen Sinatra puts 50 mg of it in his Memory Defense pills to "protect against free radical before they can even achieve your brain," according to his Web site.
But no good studies own looked at whether lipoic acid can back protect the brains of healthy folks. In fact, the with the sole purpose study of lipoic acid and cognition showed that it didn't assist HIV-infected patients who had dementia. (4)
* Bacopa. Bacopa monnieri is an Asian plant used surrounded by traditional Indian medicine as a "brain tonic," according to the Alternative Medicine Review. Shaklee add a bacopa extract to its Memory Optimizer pills because the herb "improves memory and the wherewithal to learn current information," according to the company.
That doesn't jibe with results from the just three well-designed studies of bacopa, which were adjectives conducted in Australia.
In one, 23 adolescents and young at heart adults who took 300 mg of bacopa every day for three months score higher on study and memory tests than similar culture who took a placebo, (5) But that finding would have be chalked up to chance if the researchers hadn't be unusually lenient contained by defining what was "statistically significant."
And within the other two studies, 300 mg a day of bacopa for four to six weeks did little or nil for the minds of 80 middle-aged and older adults. (6'7)
Neurotransmitters
Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that relay signals from one bravery cell to another. Beef up neurotransmitters that are involved in memory, like acetylcholine, and probably you can ward off mental decline.
* Choline. While you can't pilfer acetylcholine pills, you can take supplements that contain its trunk building block. Choline "helps your body to net a superior brain substance called acetylcholine," say Prevention magazine, which puts 100 mg of choline in its Memory Support pills.
But choline supplements have inferior just in the order of every test of whether they boost memory or thinking. Maybe that's because the choline never get to where it's needed.
"We've found that, establishment in nouns, people seem to be to lose their ability to transport choline from the blood into the brain," say Bruce Cohen director of the molecular pharmacology laboratory at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts.
"Maybe by taking immense amounts it's to force choline in," he adds. "But we didn't see it near even three grams or more." (Three grams, or 3,000 milligrams, is 30 times more choline than Prevention puts in Memory Support.)
* DMAE. If the choline you take doesn't construct it into your brain, something that your body converts into choline probably won't do you any good any. That hasn't stopped some supplement makers from tallying DMAE (dimethylaminoethanol) their memory formulations.
"Your body uses DMAE to create choline," says alternative women's strength physician Susan Lark on her Web site. Lark includes DMAE in her Memory Answer pills. "While research on DMAE is in its infancy," she notes, "I perceive very strongly that women stipulation a high amount of it."
"Infancy" is giving DMAE far too much credit. We couldn't find a single study that looked at DMAE's impact on memory or powers of concentration in in shape adults. And DMAE has bungled nearly every test of its usefulness surrounded by neurological diseases like Alzheimer's and Huntington's chorea.
* Huperzine A. If you can't boost level of acetylcholine in your brain, how about trying to hold more of it around for longer?
Drugs called cholinesterase inhibitors--Tacrine and Aricept--delay the breakdown of acetylcholine. They've be approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treatment of Alzheimer's disease, though their effects are modest.
But Tacrine and Aricept are available only by prescription. Not so huperzine A, a cholines terase inhibitor that's derived from the Chinese herb Huperzia serrata.
For example, naturopathic physician Marcus Laux puts 50 micrograms (mcg) of huperzine A in his BioAdapt Memory Formula. It's "right for your brain," he says on his Web site.
Maybe. Maybe not. Huperzine A pills own never been tested on memory or other brain functions in hearty adults.
"There have be no controlled clinical trials outside China assessing its toxicity and efficacy," says Dana Belongia of Georgetown University contained by Washington, D.C. (The Chinese studies were almost exclusively contained by people near Alzheimer's or other dementias.)
"Huperzine A is a highly potent compound," caution The Natural Pharmacist, a series of reviews of dietary supplement research. (You can access it through Web sites like iherb.com.) "We recommend using it lone under a doctor's supervision."
* Phosphatidylserine (PS). PS is a fat-like substance in brain cell membranes that help the cells transmit and receive electrical signals. Cardiologist Stephen Sinatra puts 100 mg of PS in his Memory Defense pills because it "keep your cell membranes fluid and flexible and helps to aver healthy memory-related pathway."
Two decades ago, a few studies showed that PS might help some race with de mentia or beside serious memory problems. In that pre-mad-cow-disease world, PS was extracted from cow brains. Today, soybeans provide PS.
But the single good study of soy PS, published six years ago, come up empty. Researchers surrounded by the Netherlands gave 300 mg or 600 mg a daytime to 120 men and women aged 58 and older who be suffering from a greater than typical memory decline for their age. After 12 weeks, the volunteers didn't perform any better on memory test than similar people who took a placebo. (8)
In 2004, the FDA concluded that in that is "little scientific evidence" that PS can downsize "the risk of cognitive dysfunction in the elderly."
B Vitamins
"High level of homocysteine in the blood have be linked contained by some studies to poor cognition," says Stanford University's Victor Henderson. Three B vitamins--B-6, B-12, folic acid--can lower homocysteine level. Could they also improve memory and other brain function?
Marcus Laux think so. He adds B-12 (200 mcg) and folic acerbic (400 mcg) to his BioAdapt Memory Formula because "more and more research is emerging linking homocysteine levels and brain robustness," as his Web site claims.
"That's the kind of intervention that make good sense," say Henderson. "But not everything that makes well brought-up sense actually turns out to work."
Through the termination of 2006, 18 trials had tested vitamin B-6, vitamin B-12, folic tart, or a combination of the three on memory and learning surrounded by people who took them for up to two years.
Only one of the 18 found any benefit. And that be a small study of 16 cognitively impaired culture in Italy who took a megadose of 15,000 mcg of folic sour every day for two months. (9) (The recommended day by day intake of folic acid is 400 mcg.)
In a 2007 study, 400 Dutch men and women aged 50 to 70 who took 800 mcg of folic acerbic every day for three years score better on tests of memory and information processing than 400 similar those who took a placebo. (10)
"But the study isn't relevant to people surrounded by the United States," says Martha Morris of the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging in Chicago.
"The Dutch researchers targeted volunteers who be lacking contained by folate when they entered the study," she summary. "But in the United States, the small piece supply is fortified with folic sharp and folate insufficiency is rare." (In the Netherlands, flour and cereal aren't fortified with folic sharp.)
"So it is very misleading to be paid a broad statement about how this study shows that folic acerbic can help your brain."
Blood Boosters
If you can increase the flow of blood through your brain, will it label you smarter or less forgetful?
"I don't assume that's been demonstrated," say Victor Henderson. "In fact, contained by healthy ancestors, brain tissue that's being used neatly in the show of a cognitive task if truth be told requires less blood. So something that increases blood flow short showing at the same time a cognitive benefit doesn't penny-pinching very much."
That hasn't stopped supplement maker from adding blood-flow-boosting ingredients to their memory pills:
* Ginkgo biloba. Naturopathic physician Marcus Laux recommend ginkgo "to enhance circulation, which is critical when it comes to your brain getting the oxygen and nutrients it needs."
Chiropractor David Williams add ginkgo to his Brain Advantage pills because it "improves a choice of brain functions, including memory, attention, recognition tasks, counterattack time, and short-term memory."
Yet "studies of ginkgo in healthy ancestors haven't been that encouraging," say Henderson. In six of the seven trials that tested ginkgo in healthy middle-aged and elder adults over the past five years, the herb did little or zilch.
The most recent: Australian researchers gave 80 men and women aged 55 to 79 any 120 mg of ginkgo or a placebo every day for three months. (11) The ginkgo takers score better on one of 14 tests of brain function, a result the researchers said "may not be reliable." (When just one out of many test yields promising results, researchers suspect that it may be due to unpredictability.)
* Vinpocetine. Vinpocetine is sold in Europe as a drug for treating dementia, but it's available as a supplement in the United States.
Alternative medicine physician Julian Whitaker add vinpocetine to his Memory Essentials pills "for healthy oxygen flow, nutrient supply, and animation production in the brain," according to his Web site.
Yet no published studies hold looked at whether a daily dose of vinpocetine can comfort healthy adults' brains hold humming along normally.
Maybe Whitaker be thinking of the handful of preliminary studies, conducted more than 15 years ago, in which vinpocetine seem to help some patients suffering from stroke or Alzheimer's disease.
Three to Forget
Which of today's "brain-booster" pills will go in these three supplements, which we described in September 2001 ("Memory Pills--Mostly Forgettable")?
* Cognita, It "represents ... the best available science," General Nutrition Centers said when it introduced Cognita in 2001. But that science slipshod to materialize. GNC never published the study that it told us it was conducting in 2001. Instead, the company soothingly stopped selling Cognita in 2003.
* Focus Factor. "Dramatically improve your focus, concentration and memory, and do away with mental fatigue in one month or smaller quantity," promised Texas chiropractor Kyl Smith. But Smith never published the clinical trial that he said would back up his ad.
In 2004, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission fined Smith $60,000 for making "false or misleading" advertising claims. (The "consumers" who endorsed Focus Factor contained by his infomercials turned out to be Smith's attorney, employees of the public relations firm he hired to promote Focus Factor, and distributors of the supplement.)
Focus Factor is very soon sold by a Portland, Maine, company that advertises it simply as support for "tough brain function"--a claim that requires no evidence.
* Senior Moment. Manufacturer Nutramax never had any proof for what it call "the next age group in memory improvement."
In 2002, the Council of Better Business Bureaus' National Advertising Division recommended that Senior Moment's advertising claims "be substantially modified or discontinued." And in 2004, the Federal Trade Commission prohibited Nutramax from claiming that Senior Moment could "prevent or reverse the effects of memory loss."
Nutramax no longer sell Senior Moment.
Test Yourself
How do researchers measure whether a personality's memory or capacity to hold your attention new information is dilapidated as they age?
They administer tests that determine how well and how without delay the person can falsify and retain information. Then they wait--six months, a year, or more--and give matching person one and the same tests.
Here are two examples of the kind of tests that be used in a recent study of hormone replacement psychiatric therapy and brain aging in women aged 65 and older. (1)
Verbal Fluency
You enjoy one minute to say aloud the name of as many animals as you can, and a different minute to say aloud adjectives the words you can think of that set off with the packages F, S, and A.
How'd you do? See how you compare to these results from 1,300 healthy Canadian volunteers.
California Verbal Learning Test
Someone read you a list of 16 nouns that are drawn from four different categories--fruits, tools, clothing, and spices, for example. You try to forthwith recall as tons of the 16 as possible. The test is repeated four more times. The entire examination (all five attempts) typically takes 15 to 30 minutes.
Example: Have someone read you this document (don't peek at it first): drill, plums, vest, parsley, grapes, paprika, sweater, wrench, chives, tangerines, chisel, jacket, nutmeg, apricots, pliers, slacks.
How'd you do? If you could remember adjectives 16 words five successive times, you'd have a dependable score of 80 (16 x 5). Here's the average mark of a group of 210 well-educated people living in the Midwest.
(1) Arch. Intern. Med. 166: 2462, 2006.
(2) Lancet 360: 7, 2002.
(3) Neurology 63: 1705, 2004.
(4) Neurology 50: 645, 1998.
(5) Psychopharmacology 156: 481, 2001.
(6) Neuropsychopharmacology 27: 279, 2002.
(7) Hum. Psychopharmacol 19: 91, 2004.
(8) Nutr. Neurosci. 4:121, 2001.
(9) Arch. Gerontol. Geriatr. 26: 1, 1997.
(10) Lancet 369: 208, 2007.
(11) Hum. PsychopharmacoL 21: 27, 2006.
Number Number
Age of of
F/S/A Animal
Words Words
16-19 39 22
20-29 41 20
30-39 43 22
40-49 44 21
50-59 42 20
60-69 39 18
70-79 35 16
80-89 29 14
90-95 28 13
Source: Arch. Clin. Neuropsychology 14: 167, 1999.
Score
Age Men Women
59 45 52
62 45 51
65 43 50
68 43 49
71 41 47
74 41 47
77 40 46
80 38 44
86 37 43
Source: J. Clin. Exp. Neuropsychology 19: 220, 1997.
(1) Clinical Trials 1: 440, 2004.
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