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Oxidative stress has been implicated in the development of cognitive decline and dementia. Several studies have assessed whether antioxidant vitamins can lower the risk for cognitive decline, and results have been mixed. Researchers from the Physicians’ Health Study (PHS) II, an extension of the original PHS, assessed whether participants randomized to receive beta carotene (50 mg on alternate days) had a lower risk for cognitive decline than placebo recipients. Participants included 4052 male physicians enrolled in the original PHS and 1904 new recruits. Because cognition was added to the PHS as an ancillary study, it was not measured at baseline but only near the close of the beta carotene arm, which ended in 2003.
Among new recruits, who …