Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009;28(6):536-40.
doi: 10.1159/000255105. Epub 2009 Dec 10.

Vitamin E use is associated with improved survival in an Alzheimer's disease cohort

Valory N Pavlik  1 , Rachelle S Doody, Susan D Rountree, Eveleen J Darby
Affiliations

Vitamin E use is associated with improved survival in an Alzheimer's disease cohort

Valory N Pavlik et al. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2009.

Abstract

Background: Vitamin E at a dose of 2,000 IU per day has been shown to delay Alzheimer's disease (AD) progression, but recent studies have questioned the safety of this dose level and the overall efficacy of vitamin E in AD treatment.

Methods: We analyzed the survival history of 847 probable or mixed AD patients followed in a research center between 1990 and the censoring date of December 31, 2004. Standard practice during this period was to recommend vitamin E at 1,000 IU twice daily to all patients. We used Cox proportional hazards modeling to assess the association of vitamin E alone, or in combination with a cholinesterase inhibitor (ChEI), with all-cause mortality, adjusting for important covariates. Approximately two thirds of the patients took vitamin E with a ChEI, 10% took vitamin E alone, and 15% took no antidementia drug.

Results: The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) associated with vitamin E (with or without a ChEI) was 0.71 (95% CI: 0.57-0.89; p = 0.003). Compared to the no drug treatment group, the HR for vitamin E alone or with another drug was 0.77 (95% CI: 0.60-1.0); the HR for ChEI use alone was 1.2 (95% CI: 0.87-1.60).

Conclusion: The results do not support a concern over increased mortality with high-dose vitamin E supplementation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Survival functions associated with the 3 categories of drug exposure evaluated in model 2.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Engelhart MJ, Geerlings MI, Ruitenberg A, et al. Dietary intake of antioxidants and risk of Alzheimer disease. JAMA. 2002;287:3223–3229. - PubMed
    1. Engelhart MJ, Ruitenberg A, Meijer J, et al. Plasma levels of antioxidants are not associated with Alzheimer's disease or cognitive decline. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2005;19:134–139. - PubMed
    1. Zandi PP, Anthony JC, Khachaturian AS, et al. Reduced risk of Alzheimer disease in users of antioxidant vitamin supplements: the Cache County Study. Arch Neurol. 2004;61:82–88. - PubMed
    1. Laurin D, Masaki KH, Foley DJ, White LR, Launer LJ. Midlife dietary intake of antioxidants and risk of late-life incident dementia: the Honolulu-Asia Aging Study. Am J Epidemiol. 2004;159:959–967. - PubMed
    1. Cherubini A, Martin A, Andres-Lacueva C, et al. Vitamin E levels, cognitive impairment and dementia in older persons: the InCHIANTI study. Neurobiol Aging. 2005;26:987–994. - PubMed

Publication types