title: Association of vitamin E and C supplement use with cognitive function and dementia in elderly men.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether use of vitamin E and C supplements protects against subsequent development of dementia and poor cognitive functioning.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Honolulu-Asia Aging Study is a longitudinal study of Japanese-American men living in Hawaii. Data for this study were obtained from a subsample of the cohort interviewed in 1982, and from the entire cohort from a mailed questionnaire in 1988 and the dementia prevalence survey in 1991 to 1993. The subjects included 3,385 men, age 71 to 93 years, whose use of vitamin E and C supplements had been ascertained previously. Cognitive performance was assessed with the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument, and subjects were stratified into four groups: low, low normal, mid normal, and high normal. For the dementia analyses, subjects were divided into five mutually exclusive groups: AD (n = 47), vascular dementia (n = 35), mixed/other types of dementia (n = 50), low cognitive test scorers without diagnosed dementia (n = 254), and cognitively intact (n = 2,999; reference).
  
  
  RESULTS
  In a multivariate model controlling for other factors, a significant protective effect was found for vascular dementia in men who had reported taking both vitamin E and C supplements in 1988 (odds ratio [OR], 0.12; 95% CI, 0.02 to 0.88). They were also protected against mixed/other dementia (OR, 0.31; 95% CI, 0.11 to 0.89). No protective effect was found for Alzheimer's dementia (OR, 1.81; 95% CI, 0.91 to 3.62). Among those without dementia, use of either vitamin E or C supplements alone in 1988 was associated significantly with better cognitive test performance at the 1991 to 1993 examination (OR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.04 to 1.50), and use of both vitamin E and C together had borderline significance (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 0.995 to 1.39).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that vitamin E and C supplements may protect against vascular dementia and may improve cognitive function in late life.
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatric Medicine, University of Hawaii, John A. Burns School of Medicine, Honolulu, USA. kamal@hhp2.hawaii-health.com
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Masaki
authors.forename: K G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Losonczy
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Izmirlian
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Foley
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Petrovitch
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Havlik
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: White
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects*; D003704:Dementia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013997:Time Factors; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D014810:Vitamin E; D001205:Ascorbic Acid