High Doses of Vitamins Ward Off Alzheimer's

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Misty L. Trepke

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High Doses of Vitamins Ward Off Alzheimer's

 

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Study: High Doses of Vitamins Ward Off Alzheimer'sJanuary 19, 2004

07:36:23 PM PST , Reuters High daily doses of vitamins E and C taken

together reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease (news - web sites)

among elderly people, a study said on Monday.

 

Taken in supplement form, and not in a lower-dose multivitamin, the

vitamins' anti-oxidant properties appear to offset the buildup of

so-called free radicals that are believed to damage cells and lead

to the debilitating brain disease.

 

Alzheimer's gradually robs millions of people of their memories and

ultimately of their mental faculties. Roughly 5 million Americans

suffer from the disease, and the risks of developing it increase

markedly with age. The 4,740 participants in the five-year study

were aged 65 or older when the study began in 1995.

 

In the first phase of the study, 200 cases of Alzheimer's were

diagnosed, and those who had been taking vitamin supplements were at

a 78 percent lower risk of the disease than those who had not. At

the end of the study, another 104 participants had developed the

disease, and the risk factor was 64 percent lower among supplement

users. Taking a lower-dose multivitamin or one of the two vitamin

supplements taken alone did not have the protective effect. A

vitamin E supplement together with a multivitamin may provide some

benefit, the researchers said. Vitamin E supplements contain up to

1,000 international units and most vitamin C supplements between 500

and 1,000 micrograms. The U.S. recommended daily allowance for

vitamin E is 22 international units, and for vitamin C it is 75 to

90 micrograms, said the report, which was published in the Archives

of Neurology.

 

High-dose vitamin supplements are rarely toxic and could have

wide-ranging health benefits, the report said. " These results are

extremely exciting, " study author Peter Zandi of the Johns Hopkins

Bloomberg School of Public Health said. " Our findings suggest that

vitamins E and C may offer protection against Alzheimer's

disease when taken together in the higher doses available from

individual supplements. " Zandi cautioned his was an observational

study, and a full-scale controlled trial was needed.