TY - JOUR
T1 - Reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease with high folate intake
T2 - The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging
AU - Corrada, María M.
AU - Kawas, Claudia H.
AU - Hallfrisch, Judith
AU - Muller, Denis
AU - Brookmeyer, Ron
N1 - Funding Information:
Study supported by extramural grants AG05146 (“Alzheimer’s disease and animal models”) and AG08325 (“Risk factors and early signs in Alzheimer’s disease/BLSA”) and by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Aging. This work was done at the Department of Neurology of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, National Institute on Aging. The authors thank BLSA participants, scientists, and staff who made this work possible. The authors also acknowledge the great work of all psychometric testers and neurologic examiners throughout the years. Thanks also to Dr. Paul S. Aisen and Dr. Robert Katzman for their critical review of the manuscript.
PY - 2005/7
Y1 - 2005/7
N2 - Background: Study findings have suggested an association between Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk and several vitamins and have speculated about their use as preventive agents. Here, we examine whether total intake (intake from diet plus supplements) of antioxidant vitamins (E, C, carotenoids) and B vitamins (folate, B6, and B12) is associated with a reduced risk of AD. Methods: Participants were 579 nondemented elderly volunteers from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging who completed dietary diaries and recorded supplement intake for a 7-day period. Cox regression was used to estimate the relative risk (RR) of AD associated with total vitamin intake categorized into levels above or below the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA). Results: After a mean follow-up of 9.3 years, AD developed in 57 participants. Higher intake of folate (RR, 0.41; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.22 to 0.76), vitamin E (RR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.30 to 1.06), and vitamin B6 (RR, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.20 to 0.84) were associated individually with a decreased risk of AD after adjusting for age, gender, education, and caloric intake. When these 3 vitamins were analyzed together, only total intake of folate at or above the RDA (RR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.21 to 0.97) was associated with a significant decreased risk of AD. No association was found between total intake of vitamins C, carotenoids, or vitamin B12 and risk of AD. Conclusions: These findings suggest that total intake of folate at or above the RDA is associated with a reduced risk of AD. Additional studies are necessary to further investigate whether folate or other(s) unmeasured factor(s) may be responsible for this reduction in risk.
AB - Background: Study findings have suggested an association between Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk and several vitamins and have speculated about their use as preventive agents. Here, we examine whether total intake (intake from diet plus supplements) of antioxidant vitamins (E, C, carotenoids) and B vitamins (folate, B6, and B12) is associated with a reduced risk of AD. Methods: Participants were 579 nondemented elderly volunteers from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging who completed dietary diaries and recorded supplement intake for a 7-day period. Cox regression was used to estimate the relative risk (RR) of AD associated with total vitamin intake categorized into levels above or below the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA). Results: After a mean follow-up of 9.3 years, AD developed in 57 participants. Higher intake of folate (RR, 0.41; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.22 to 0.76), vitamin E (RR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.30 to 1.06), and vitamin B6 (RR, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.20 to 0.84) were associated individually with a decreased risk of AD after adjusting for age, gender, education, and caloric intake. When these 3 vitamins were analyzed together, only total intake of folate at or above the RDA (RR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.21 to 0.97) was associated with a significant decreased risk of AD. No association was found between total intake of vitamins C, carotenoids, or vitamin B12 and risk of AD. Conclusions: These findings suggest that total intake of folate at or above the RDA is associated with a reduced risk of AD. Additional studies are necessary to further investigate whether folate or other(s) unmeasured factor(s) may be responsible for this reduction in risk.
KW - Alzheimer's disease
KW - Antioxidants
KW - B vitamins
KW - Dementia
KW - Folate
KW - Longitudinal studies
KW - Prospective studies
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=28444460680&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jalz.2005.06.001
DO - 10.1016/j.jalz.2005.06.001
M3 - Article
C2 - 19595811
AN - SCOPUS:28444460680
SN - 1552-5260
VL - 1
SP - 11
EP - 18
JO - Alzheimer's and Dementia
JF - Alzheimer's and Dementia
IS - 1
ER -