By David Liu, PHD

Friday Oct 19, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) -- There is no cure for Alzheimer's disease. But the disease may be preventable or at lease there is something that everyone can do to delay the onset of the disease, according to a study in the Journal of Alzheimer's disease.

C.A. von Arnim at Department of Neurology, Ulm University in Ulm, Germany and colleagues conducted the study and found antioxidants like vitamin C and β-carotene were significantly lower in people with dementia than those found in people without the disease.

It should not be a surprise if antioxidants are found able to help prevent dementia like Alzheimer's disease because oxidative stress is believed to be a major player in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.  Early studies reported an association between dietary intake of vitamin C and E and lower risk of the disease.

The current study was meant to examine the association between serum levels of antioxidants and risk of Alzheimer's disease  in 74 people with mild dementia and 158 age- and gender-matched controls.

Blood vitamin C and β-carotene concentrations were found significantly lower in people with dementia than the controls even after adjustment for "school education, intake of dietary supplements, smoking habits, body mass index, and alcohol consumption."

Participants whose vitamin C and  β-carotene concentrations were in the 3rd tertile were 71 percent less likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, compared with those in the 1st tertile.

However, no association was found for vitamin E, lycopene, and coenzyme Q10.

The researchers concluded "Our findings suggest an association of vitamin C and β-carotene with dementia. However this is limited to the cross-sectional character of our study and longitudinal data will give further insight into this association."