Men who take beta carotene supplements for 15 years or longer may have less cognitive decline. Researchers assessed the antioxidant beta carotene and its effect on cognitive ability in two groups of men.
A long-term group included 4,052 men who, in 1982, had been randomly assigned to take placebo or 50mg of beta carotene every other day. Between 1998 and 2001, an additional 1,904 men were randomly assigned to one of the two groups.
The long-term participants were treated for an average of 18 years and the short-term participants for an average of one year. Men in the short-term group displayed no differences in cognition, regardless of whether they took beta carotene or placebo, but men in the long-term group who took beta carotene had significantly higher scores in some cognitive tests.
Beta carotene is not without risks– it may increase the risk of lung cancer in smokers, but its benefits against dementia surpassed those of other medications tested in healthy older people, the researchers added. “The public health value of beta carotene supplementation merits careful evaluation. Investigations of additional agents that may provide neuroprotection should be initiated.”
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