Vitamin C Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Vitamin C, including details on benefits, dosage, supplements, information.

Intake of vitamin E, vitamin C, and carotenoids and the risk of Parkinson's disease: a meta-analysis.

Etminan M, Gill SS, Samii A

Division of Clinical Epidemiology, Royal Victoria Hospital and McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. metminan@shaw.ca <metminan@shaw.ca>

We studied the effect of vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta carotene intake on the risk of Parkinson's disease (PD). We did a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies published between 1966 and March 2005 searching MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library. Eight studies were identified (six case-control, one cohort, and one cross-sectional). We found that dietary intake of vitamin E protects against PD. This protective influence was seen with both moderate intake (relative risk 0.81, 95% CI 0.67-0.98) and high intake (0.78, 0.57-1.06) of vitamin E, although the possible benefit associated with high intake of vitamin E was not significant. The studies did not suggest any protective effects associated with vitamin C or beta carotene. We conclude that dietary vitamin E may have a neuroprotective effect attenuating the risk of PD. These results require confirmation in randomised controlled trials.

Published 23 May 2005 in Lancet Neurol, 4(6): 362-5.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2004-2008 Vitamin C Research Today. All Rights Reserved.