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Oxidative stress, an imbalance between the production of free radicals and the ability of the body to counteract their harmful effects, has been implicated as a key mechanism in dementia. Consequently, antioxidants have been of interest as a potential treatment for the condition.
A study, published in JAMA Neurology
[1]
(online, 20 March 2017), observed 7,540 older men for an average of 5.4 years and a subset of 3,786 men for up to 6.0 additional years. The men received either vitamin E or selenium alone, a combination of both, or a placebo.
The researchers found that the incidence of dementia (325 of 7,338 men; 4.4%) did not differ between the four study groups. They conclude that neither vitamin E nor selenium should be recommended as a preventive agent but identified the inclusion of only men and the relatively short supplement exposure time as key limitations of the study.
References
[1] Kryscio RJ, Abner EL, Caban-Holt A et al. Association of antioxidant supplement use and dementia in the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease by vitamin E and selenium trial (PREADViSE). JAMA Neurol 2017. doi: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2016.5778
