Dietary Vitamin E May Reduce Parkinson's Disease Risk

Dietary Vitamin E May Reduce Parkinson's Disease Risk

BOSTON--High dietary intake of vitamin E was foundto significantly reduce the risk of developing Parkinson's disease (PD) in acohort study of more than 120,000 men and women that was reported in the Oct. 22issue of Neurology (59, 8:1161-1169, 2002) (www.neurology.org).However, the researchers found no association between PD risk and total intakeof vitamins E and C or the use of vitamin E or C supplements or multivitamins.

Study authors, led by Shumin Zhang, M.D., from the HarvardSchool of Public Health, documented the occurrence of PD in men and women whocompleted the study's food frequency questionnaires. The women's group comprised76,890 women followed for 14 years in the Nurses' Health Study; the men's groupcomprised 47,331 men followed for 12 years in the Health Professionals Follow-UpStudy. A total of 371 PD cases were diagnosed.

Compared to men and women with the lowest dietary intake ofvitamin E (from foods only), those with the highest intake had a 32-percentlower risk of developing PD. Consumption of nuts was also significantlyassociated with a reduced risk of PD. The researchers concluded that the reducedrisk of PD associated with high dietary vitamin E intake suggests that otherconstituents of foods rich in vitamin E may be protective.