Dietary antioxidants and Parkinson disease. The Rotterdam Study.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether high dietary intake of antioxidants decreases the risk of Parkinson disease (PD).


METHODS
The community-based Rotterdam Study, the Netherlands.


METHODS
The cross-sectional study formed part of a large community-based study in which all participants were individually screened for parkinsonism and were administered a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire. The study population consisted of 5342 independently living individuals without dementia between 55 and 95 years of age, including 31 participants with PD (Hoehn-Yahr stages 1-3).


RESULTS
The odds ratio for PD was 0.5 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.2-0.9) per 10-mg daily dietary vitamin E intake, 0.6 (95% CI, 0.3-1.3) per 1-mg beta carotene intake, 0.9 (95% CI, 0.4-1.9) per 100-mg vitamin C intake, and 0.9 (95% CI, 0.7-1.2) per 10-mg flavonoids intake, all adjusted for age, sex, smoking habits, and energy intake. The association with vitamin E intake was dose dependent (P for trend = .03). To assess whether the association was different in participants with more advanced disease, we excluded those with PD who had a Hoehn-Yahr stage of 2.5 or 3. This did not fundamentally alter the results.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data suggest that a high intake of dietary vitamin E may protect against the occurrence of PD.
de Rijk
M C
MC
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Erasmus University Medical School, Rotterdam, The Netherland.
Breteler
M M
MM
den Breeijen
J H
JH
Launer
L J
LJ
Grobbee
D E
DE
van der Meché
F G
FG
Hofman
A
A
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010302:Parkinson Disease, Secondary / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000008:administration & dosage; D019207:beta Carotene / Q000008:administration & dosage
D000975:Antioxidants; D005419:Flavonoids; D019207:beta Carotene; D014810:Vitamin E; D001205:Ascorbic Acid