BackgroundThe benefit of Ginkgo biloba has been discussed controversially. The aim of this review was to assess the effects of Ginkgo biloba in Alzheimer's disease as well as vascular and mixed dementia covering a variety of outcome domains.MethodsWe searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane databases, CINAHL and PsycINFO for controlled trials of ginkgo for Alzheimer's, vascular or mixed dementia. Studies had to be of a minimum of 12 weeks duration with at least ten participants per group. Clinical characteristics and outcomes were extracted. Meta-analysis results were expressed as risk ratios or standardized mean differences (SMD) in scores.ResultsNine trials using the standardized extract EGb761® met our inclusion criteria. Trials were of 12 to 52 weeks duration and included 2372 patients in total. In the meta-analysis, the SMDs in change scores for cognition were in favor of ginkgo compared to placebo (-0.58, 95% confidence interval [CI] -1.14; -0.01, p = 0.04), but did not show a statistically significant difference from placebo for activities in daily living (ADLs) (SMD = -0.32, 95% CI -0.66; 0.03, p = 0.08). Heterogeneity among studies was high. For the Alzheimer subgroup, the SMDs for ADLs and cognition outcomes were larger than for the whole group of dementias with statistical superiority for ginkgo also for ADL outcomes (SMD = -0.44, 95% CI -0.77; -0.12, p = 0.008). Drop-out rates and side effects did not differ between ginkgo and placebo. No consistent results were available for quality of life and neuropsychiatric symptoms, possibly due to the heterogeneity of the study populations.ConclusionsGinkgo biloba appears more effective than placebo. Effect sizes were moderate, while clinical relevance is, similar to other dementia drugs, difficult to determine.

Financial restrictions and a stronger focus on outcomes assessment require rational decisions regarding the allocation of resources in the health-care system. Such decisions are based on medical, ethical, and economic considerations. Management of the health-care system requires both a medical and an economic orientation at the overall societal level and regarding the selection of appropriate health-care services in hospitals and ambulatory practices. The practical application of health economic methods can be an important tool assuring more transparency and in validating necessary decisions.The methods made available by health economic research represent a rational approach for a structured resource allocation in the health-care system and facilitate the process of a relative assessment of various treatment methods with each other. Although the focus of such studies frequently rests on pharmaceuticals, health economic evaluation methods are suitable for all medical services, procedures, and health-care programs. But, what is assessed from which perspective,

Nonpharmacological secondary prevention is safe and effective, with exercise and multimodal interventions reducing mortality most substantially. There is a lack of studies concerning dietary and smoking cessation interventions. In addition, intervention effectiveness in patient subgroups and of intervention components could not be evaluated conclusively. Future research should investigate these issues in rigorous studies with appropriate follow-up duration to improve the current poor risk factor control of CHD patients.

BackgroundThe number of individuals at risk for dementia will probably increase in ageing societies as will the array of preventive and therapeutic options, both however within limited economic resources. For economic and medical purposes valid instruments are required to assess disease processes and the efficacy of therapeutic interventions for different forms and stages of illness. In principal, the impact of illness and success of an intervention can be assessed with biomedical variables, e.g. severity of symptoms or frequency of complications of a disease. However, this does not allow clear judgement on clinical relevance or comparison across different diseases.DiscussionOutcome model variables such as quality of life (QoL) or health care resource utilization require the patient to appraise their own well-being or third parties to set preferences. In Alzheimer's disease and other dementias the evaluation process performed by the patient is subject to the disease process itself because over progress of the disease neuroanatomical structures are affected that mediate evaluation processes.SummaryPublished research and methodological considerations thus lead to the conclusion that current QoL-instruments, which have been useful in other contexts, are ill-suited and insufficiently validated to play a major role in dementia research, decision making and resource allocation. New models integrating biomedical and outcome variables need to be developed in order to meet the upcoming medical and economic challenges.

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