vitamin C and dementia

Doug Skrecky (oberon@vcn.bc.ca)
Wed, 27 Jan 1999 01:30:06 -0800 (PST)

Authors
Paleologos M. Cumming RG. Lazarus R. Institution
Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Title
Cohort study of vitamin C
intake and cognitive impairment.
Source
American Journal of Epidemiology. 148(1):45-50, 1998 Jul 1. Abstract
To test the hypothesis that vitamin C protects against cognitive impairment, the authors conducted a cohort study (n=117) in a retirement community in Sydney, Australia. Vitamin C intake was assessed at baseline (1991) with a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire, and cognitive function was assessed 4 years later (1995). After adjustment for age, sex, smoking, education, total energy intake, and use of psychotropic medications, consumption of vitamin C supplements was associated with a lower prevalence of more severe cognitive impairment (based on scores on the Mini-Mental State Examination; adjusted odds ratio=0.39, 95% confidence interval 0.18-0.84). There were no associations between vitamin C intake and scores on tests of verbal and category fluency. This study suggests that vitamin C might protect against cognitive impairment.