article in on-line WSJ about Brain Gum
interactive.wsj.com
Can Brain Gum Save
A Shrinking Memory?
MY COLLEAGUE Michael Waldholz is a Pulitzer Prize-winning science reporter who can quickly grasp difficult biological concepts and analyze their medical and business implications. But he sometimes can't remember where he left his car keys or, for that matter, his car.
Michael, 48 years old, is experiencing a nearly universal phenomenon of middle age: memory lapses. Like many people, Michael recalls a time when he had a "phenomenal memory" and finds it troubling when he forgets appointments, names or phone numbers. Like many others, he has different strategies to compensate, such as taking careful notes and using a Filofax pocket calendar and, more recently, a Palm Pilot, to keep track of information he previously kept in his head.
But many people go further, looking for products to slow or reverse their memory decline. This is fueling a surging market for supplements, such as ginkgo biloba and vitamin E, that some believe help memory. Despite their claims, most experts say, none of the products have been convincingly shown to improve memory in normal individuals.
Still, the products are big sellers, and large pharmaceuticals companies, such as American Home Products Corp. and Warner-Lambert Co., are jumping into the ginkgo market, estimated at $100 million to $300 million.
THE LATEST product capturing the imagination -- and the dollars -- of worried baby boomers is Brain Gum, created and distributed by a small, Reno, Nev., company called KR Research Inc. Billed as the "mental alertness dietary supplement chewing gum," the product contains phosphatidylserine, a nutrient the company claims improves concentration and name and face recognition, aids in recalling telephone numbers, helps in learning and remembering information and improves recalling the location of misplaced objects. As with all dietary supplements, the claims aren't reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration.
Phosphatidylserine, which can also be found in capsule form in drugstores and health-food shops, was called "the incredible memory-boosting supplement" in a book titled "The Memory Cure," by Thomas H. Crook III, a psychologist, and Brenda Adderly. Dr. Crook, a former researcher at the National Institute of Mental Health, says his company, Psychologix, has tested dozens of compounds, but the only one that had an effect was phosphatidylserine.
Brain Gum is selling well, according to Brian Reichenberg, KR's president. Mr. Reichenberg says his company sold about $2 million of Brain Gum in its first year, and it expects sales of $15 million to $20 million this year as the product gets into more stores.
We ordered a box and conscripted Michael Waldholz to try it in a very unscientific study. Before beginning the gum-chewing regimen, he underwent a simple memory test of 20 words; he could recall six. We planned to test him again after three weeks to see if the gum made any difference. (The box says it takes three weeks to see any improvement). He chewed two sticks three times a day.
We checked with some other experts. Nunzio Pomara, director of the geriatric-psychiatry program at the Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, in Orangeburg, N.Y., is skeptical of claims made by any memory-enhancement product. "There's very little empirical data that would permit me to recommend a pharmacological strategy that is going to work. We need more studies to test the potential efficacy of antioxidants, ginkgo and others," he says.
The government's National Institutes of Health is hoping to produce some of that needed data. Noting that large numbers of people take ginkgo biloba "without clear, compelling evidence of benefit," the NIH plans to begin a $15 million study of the effects of ginkgo on the elderly. The NIH also recently announced a study looking at the effects of vitamin E and an approved Alzheimer's disease drug, Aricept, on people with mild cognitive impairment.
Definitive answers about the drugs' effectiveness are years away. What should people worried about their memories do in the meantime?
AT THE MOMENT, the best therapy is to stay healthy, doctors say. Treat problems that can affect the memory, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and depression. Memory exercises such as board games can also help the aging brain, Dr. Crook says.
Glenn Smith, a neuropsychologist at the Mayo Clinic and Foundation in Rochester, Minn., wonders whether people should worry about normal memory lapses. "Why are we trying to treat things that are the natural course of life?" he says.
People can compensate for a slowing brain by making more notes, taking more time to learn new things or simplifying their lives, he adds. "Those compensation strategies have as much effectiveness as endeavoring to change our neurochemistry."
As for Michael's neurochemistry, he didn't notice any obvious change and, in fact, forgot the names of two longtime colleagues while walking with them to get coffee. And he complained constantly about the gum's "tastelessness" and the drudgery of chewing for 15 minutes at a time. But on a second memory test, he remembered 11 of 20 words, nearly doubling his previous score.
Dr. Pomara warns that such an unscientific test can be deceptive. Performance improves with repeated testing, he says, in part because a person may be calmer and more attentive. The results of any one person may be due to chance. Still, Mike says he's thinking about continuing to use the gum. |
