Antioxidant Vitamin Supplement Use and Risk of Dementia or Alzheimer's Disease in Older Adults

• Published in: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS) 2008-02, Vol.56 (2), p.291-295
• Main Authors: Gray, Shelly L., Anderson, Melissa L., Crane, Paul K., Breitner, John C. S., McCormick, Wayne, Bowen, James D., Teri, Linda, Larson, Eric
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Aged; Alzheimer Disease - epidemiology; Alzheimer's disease; antioxidant supplements; Antioxidants - administration & dosage; Biological and medical sciences; Chi-Square Distribution; Confounding Factors (Epidemiology); Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Dementia; Dementia - epidemiology; Female; General aspects; Humans; Incidence; Male; Medical sciences; Neurology; Older people; Organic mental disorders. Neuropsychology; pharmacoepidemiology; Preventive medicine; Proportional Hazards Models; Prospective Studies; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Risk Factors; Vitamin C; Vitamin E; Vitamins - administration & dosage; Washington - epidemiology
• ISSN: 0002-8614; 1532-5415
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2007.01531.x

OBJECTIVES: 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). DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Group Health Cooperative, Seattle, Washington. PARTICIPANTS: Two thousand nine hundred sixty‐nine participants aged 65 and older without cognitive impairment at baseline in the Adult Changes in Thought study. MEASUREMENTS: 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. CONCLUSION: 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.