Ginkgo biloba should not be recommended for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) because there is no evidence of its effectiveness.
The assessment of the popular complementary medicine was made in a new study published in the journal of the American Heart Association, Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.
Researchers analysed a trial of 3,069 participants older than 75 years who either took 120mg of ginkgo biloba twice daily or a placebo, concluding that there was no evidence that it reduced CVD mortality or CVD events.
"There were 355 deaths in the study, 87 due to coronary heart disease with no differences between G biloba and placebo," the study's authors wrote.
"There were no differences in incident myocardial infarction, angina pectoris or stroke between G biloba and placebo."