Vitamin E and vitamin C supplement use and risk of incident Alzheimer disease.
Oxidative stress may play a role in neurologic disease. The present study examined the relation between use of vitamin E and vitamin C and incident Alzheimer disease in a prospective study of 633 persons 65 years and older. A stratified random sample was selected from a disease-free population. At baseline, all vitamin supplements taken in the previous 2 weeks were identified by direct inspection. After an average follow-up period of 4.3 years, 91 of the sample participants with vitamin information met accepted criteria for the clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer disease. None of the 27 vitamin E supplement users had Alzheimer disease compared with 3.9 predicted based on the crude observed incidence among nonusers (p = 0.04) and 2.5 predicted based on age, sex, years of education, and length of follow-up interval (p = 0.23). None of the 23 vitamin C supplement users had Alzheimer disease compared with 3.3 predicted based on the crude observed incidence among nonusers (p = 0.10) and 3.2 predicted adjusted for age, sex, education, and follow-up interval (p = 0.04). There was no relation between Alzheimer disease and use of multivitamins. These data suggest that use of the higher-dose vitamin E and vitamin C supplements may lower the risk of Alzheimer disease.
Morris
M C
MC
Rush Institute for Healthy Aging and Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, Rush University, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Beckett
L A
LA
Scherr
P A
PA
Hebert
L E
LE
Bennett
D A
DA
Field
T S
TS
Evans
D A
DA
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001900:Boston / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000008:administration & dosage*
D000975:Antioxidants; D014810:Vitamin E; D001205:Ascorbic Acid