Antioxidant vitamin supplement use and risk of dementia or Alzheimer's disease in older adults.
OBJECTIVE
To examine whether use of vitamins C or E alone or in combination was associated with lower incidence of dementia or Alzheimer's disease (AD).


METHODS
Prospective cohort study.


METHODS
Group Health Cooperative, Seattle, Washington.


METHODS
Two thousand nine hundred sixty-nine participants aged 65 and older without cognitive impairment at baseline in the Adult Changes in Thought study.


METHODS
Participants were followed biennially to identify incident dementia and AD diagnosed according to standard criteria. Participants were considered to be users of vitamins C or E if they self-reported use for at least 1 week during the month before baseline.


RESULTS
Over a mean follow-up+/-standard deviation of 5.5+/-2.7 years, 405 subjects developed dementia (289 developed AD). The use of vitamin E was not associated with dementia (adjusted hazard ratio (HR)=0.98, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.77-1.25) or with AD (HR=1.04; 95% CI=0.78-1.39). No association was found between vitamin C alone (dementia: HR=0.90, 95% CI=0.71-1.13; AD: HR=0.95, 95% CI=0.72-1.25) or concurrent use of vitamin C and E (dementia: HR=0.93, 95% CI=0.72-1.20; AD: HR=1.00, 95% CI=0.73-1.35) and either outcome.


CONCLUSIONS
In this study, the use of supplemental vitamin E and C, alone or in combination, did not reduce risk of AD or overall dementia over 5.5 years of follow-up.
School of Pharmacy, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA. slgray@u.washington.edu
Shelly L
SL
Gray
Melissa L
ML
Anderson
Paul K
PK
Crane
John C S
JC
Breitner
Wayne
W
McCormick
James D
JD
Bowen
Linda
L
Teri
Eric
E
Larson
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000453:epidemiology; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D003704:Dementia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D014815:Vitamins / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D014861:Washington / Q000453:epidemiology
D000975:Antioxidants; D014815:Vitamins