foodconsumer.org: Vitamin E rich foods cut dementia risk

Vitamin E rich foods cut dementia risk
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admin on 07/13/2010 18:38:00
 
Eating dietary vitamin E may help prevent dementia and Alzheimer's disease,
according to a report in the July 2010 issue of Archives of Neurology.
The study on four antixodants, vitamin E, vitamin C, beta carotene and
flavonoids showed that those who had highest intakes of dietary vitamin E were
25 percent less likely to develop dementia over a 9.6 year follow-up.
However, vitamin C, beta carotene and flavonoids were not linked with reduced
risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
Elizabeth E. Devore, Sc.D., of Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the
Netherlands, and colleagues surveyed 5,395 participants aged 55 or older without
dementia when entering the study between 1990 and 1993.
Oxidation-induced damage is thought to be at least one cause for the development
of Alzheimer's disease, according to background information in the report.
"The brain is a site of high metabolic activity, which makes it vulnerable to
oxidative damage, and slow accumulation of such damage over a lifetime may
contribute to the development of dementia," the authors wrote.
"In particular, when beta-amyloid (a hallmark of pathologic Alzheimer's disease)
accumulates in the brain, an inflammatory response is likely evoked that
produces nitric oxide radicals and downstream neurodegenerative effects. Vitamin
E is a powerful fat-soluble antioxidant that may help to inhibit the
pathogenesis of dementia."
The study revealed an association between vitamin E and reduced risk of
Alzheimer's disease. It remains unknown whether it is vitamin E that reduced the
risk.
Dr. Francesca Mangialasche at the Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institutet
in Stockholm, Sweden, and at the Institute of Gerontology and Geriatrics,
University of Perugia in Italy warned in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease that
taking only one vitamin E such as tocopherol can increase risk of death.
One study cited in the report showed that people who had high all forms of
vitamin E were 45 to 54 percent less likely to have Alzheimer's disease.
But vitamin E supplements were found apparently more harmful than ever thought.
The study involved 232 people aged 80 and older and dementia free at baseline. 
At the end of the 6-year follow-up, 57 cases of Alzheimer's disease were
identified.
Studies presented at a conference in Honolulu this week suggest that exercise,
drinking tea, and vitamin D may help reduce risk of dementia, particularly
Alzheimer's disease.
By Jimmy Downs