Serum carotenoids, {{alpha}}-tocopherol and mortality risk in a prospective study among Dutch elderly

Background Although β-carotene has shown inverse associations with chronic diseases involving free radical damage in observational epidemiological studies less attention has been paid to five other major carotenoids also showing antioxidant activity in vitro . Methods We studied the associations between 7.2-year mortality and serum levels of six carotenoids, and α-tocopherol, measured in stored serum, sampled in 1991/1992 during a health survey among 638 independently living elderly subjects aged 65–85 years. Proportional hazards regression was used to estimate hazard ratios of all-cause morta... Mehr ...