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Vitamin E counteracts mental and physical decline in people with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a report at the annual meeting of the American Geriatrics Society in Chicago.
Dr Alireza Atri, of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), reported research sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.
He told Reuters Health: “Our results are consistent for a potential benefit of vitamin E on slowing functional decline and a smaller possible benefit of anti-inflammatory medications on slowing cognitive decline in patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.”
The report is based on a study of 540 patients at the MGH Memory Disorders Unit in which 208 patients took vitamin E but no anti-inflammatory, 49 took an anti-inflammatory but no vitamin E, 177 took both and 106 took neither.
Most were given vitamin E doses ranging from 800 to 1000 units twice daily while undertaking cognitive tests and having their ability to carry out daily functions assessed.
Study investigator Michael Flaherty reports that after three years “there was a modest slowing of decline in function in those patients taking vitamin E.”
Copyright Press Association 2009
