The antioxidant vitamins C and E do not ward off dementia, say researchers from the National Institute on Aging. Previous research has suggested that the vitamins may help to protect against dementia, however this most recent study by Dr Lenore Launer indicates that the vitamins have no effect on dementia risk whether taken separately or together.
Introduction
In the past century, a combination of successful public health campaigns, changes in living environments, and advances in medicine have led to a dramatic increase in human life expectancy. Long lives experienced by unprecedented numbers of people in developed countries are a triumph of human ingenuity.
A review of clinical trials of the supplement Ginkgo biloba has produced "promising evidence" that supplements containing the herbal extract can help to improve the memory and mental function of people with dementia. Studies of the effectiveness of Ginkgo on the memory of dementia patients have produced widely conflicting results, however according to Britain's Alzheimer's Society the review of 33 clinical trials provided "promising evidence of improvement in cognition and function associated with Ginkgo.
Results of a recent study carried out on mice suggest that vitamin-E may help to reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Japanese researchers found that it was possible to reverse the effects of a neurodegenerative disease in the animals simply by giving them doses of alpha-Tocopherol (vitamin-E).
A small-scale clinical trial carried out at Penn State and Helen Hayes Hospital in New York has found that a daily dose of vitamin D may benefit patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Researchers found that 1000 IU of vitamin D - a dose equivalent to 2
Eating a diet rich in vitamin-C can significantly reduce the risk of death from all causes, according to scientists in the UK. The study of nearly 20,000 people revealed that just one extra serving of fruit or vegetables per day was associated with a 20% lower risk of death regardless of age, blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking habits, diabetes, and use of dietary supplements.
Women whose bodies stop producing estrogen at an early age may be at increased risk from developing the neurodegenerative condition Parkinson's disease, suggest results of a recent study. Researchers from the Mayo Clinic found that women with the disease were three times more likely to have had a hysterectomy and twice as likely to have experienced early menopause, thus suggesting that estrogen may somehow offer protection from Parkinson's.
Eating a vitamin C and E rich-diet could help protect asthmatic children's lungs from the damaging effects of ozone, according to Mexican researchers. Study author Dr Isabelle Romieu of the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico and colleagues studied asthmatic children to see if antioxidant supplements could help to protect them from urban air pollution.
People afflicted with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) -- particularly blue-eyed people -- may improve their vision by taking lutein supplements. Lutein is an antioxidant found naturally in eggs and some vegetables. It is needed by the retina to help protect against damaging short-wavelength light and molecules called free radicals that harm cells.
Researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, report that low doses of anti-depressants may reduce hot flashes in menopausal women. Mayo researchers studied a group of 229 women, most of whom were breast cancer survivors, none of whome were clinically depressed. The women were given three different doses of the anti-depressant Effexor.
