Despite my first two substantive posts being about aspects of complementary medicine (and more specifically extracts and supplements) this won't be the primary focus of the blog. Later today I'll post my thoughts on television show 'The Mentalist' as well as typing up something I wrote for AUT's 'debate' magazine when I was studying for a graduate diploma in journalism.
Your view of my specific brand of skepticism should be developing so, to help you along, here's some personal background related to Gingko biloba.
Based on the opening paragraph you may have deduced I'm a journalist. Well I am, of sorts. I work on a New Zealand website updating just about everything but with a focus on sports. I also write match reports and other stories for the website as well as maintaining a sports blog.
But before I landed my dream job I was a scientist, specifically a laboratory manager. I worked in the pharmaceutical industry in my native Scotland and then briefly in New Zealand before heading to the health food and supplement industry.
Without going too much into the details (which will surely, as they say, come out in the wash at some point) my experience there only increased my growing skepticism in both the efficacy and standards of manufacture of a majority of supplements.
This wasn't solely related to the single company I worked for, but based on talking with other people at industry events and my experiences in the pharmaceutical industry.
In any case, to cut a long story short, I had had enough of science as a career. I was doing very little day-to-day science, and I got to the stage where I found myself hating the fact I was working for a company which I came to believe made unethical decisions when it suited the bottom line.
So I left. I packed up and went back to university to become a journalist - and in doing so found I wasn't too bad at writing rugby and basketball match reports and being free from the daily drudgery of 'science' actually reignited the passion I first had when I was doing experiments in the school laboratory.
That said, on to Gingko biloba...
Gingko is widely sold in New Zealand, usually as a memory aide.
But the science behind Gingko isn't exactly compelling. In fact the latest information seems to show it has little efficacy.
However, instead of writing all of the details, I'm simply going to point you in the direction of Dr Steven Novella's excellent Neurologica Blog, and specifically his entry on Gingko and it's ability to help dementia. His conclusion? You'll have to click through and read it for yourself, but don't be too surprised!
At this point, it's worth saying I'm a huge fan of Dr Novella and will surely link to him in the future. He is a shining light in the skeptical community. To be honest, I don't know how he does it. He has a family and career yet still finds the time to write for a multitude of blogs and host the world's best podcast, The Skeptics' Guide To The Universe.
I hope one day I can meet Dr Novella and the rest of the skeptical rogues and pass on my gratitude for the enlightenment they provide to a huge number of people.
Back to the subject in hand. . .
My thoughts on the majority of life is that you should be able to do what you want as long as it doesn't impinge on others. If someone wants to buy a Gingko biloba supplement because they believe it helps, then that's fine. (My interest then becomes ensuring they get what they pay for and understand exactly what they're taking.)
Hopefully a few people will read and absorb the latest information on Gingko and make an informed decision as to whether to continue to take the supplement. A man can dream, can't he?
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