High-dose antioxidant supplements and cognitive function in community-dwelling elderly women.
BACKGROUND
Experimental data suggest that oxygen free radicals are probably involved in the deterioration of cognitive processes.


OBJECTIVE
Our objective was to investigate the relation of high-dose antioxidant supplements to cognition.


METHODS
Information on the use of specific supplements containing vitamins E and C was collected biennially via mailed questionnaires beginning in 1980 from 14 968 community-dwelling women who participated in the Nurses' Health Study. From 1995 to 2000, telephone tests of cognitive function [Telephone Interview of Cognitive Status (TICS), delayed recall of the TICS 10-word list, immediate and delayed recall of a short paragraph, a test of verbal fluency, and a digit span backwards test] were administered to the women, who were 70-79 y of age at that time. We used linear and logistic regression models to calculate multivariate-adjusted mean differences in test scores and relative risks of a low score for specific supplement users compared with nonusers.


RESULTS
Long-term, current users of vitamin E with vitamin C had significantly better mean performance, as judged by a global score that combined individual test scores, than did women who had never used vitamin E or C (P = 0.03); there was a trend for increasingly higher mean scores with increasing durations of use (P = 0.04). These associations were strongest among women with low dietary intakes of alpha-tocopherol. Benefits were less consistent for women taking vitamin E alone, with no evidence of higher scores with longer durations of use. Use of specific vitamin C supplements alone had little relation to performance on our cognitive tests.


CONCLUSIONS
The use of specific vitamin E supplements, but not specific vitamin C supplements, may be related to modest cognitive benefits in older women.
Grodstein
Francine
F
Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. fran.grodstein@channing.harvard.edu
Chen
Jennifer
J
Willett
Walter C
WC
D000368:Aged; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003071:Cognition; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004032:Diet; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D009726:Nurses; D012306:Risk; D013689:Telephone; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000008:administration & dosage; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol / Q000008:administration & dosage
D000975:Antioxidants; D014810:Vitamin E; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol; D001205:Ascorbic Acid