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Topical Area: Nutritional Epidemiology

Nutritional Epidemiology (II) (Poster Session)

(P29-035-23) The Association of Egg Consumption With Alzheimer’s Dementia Risk - The Rush Memory and Aging Project

Monday, July 24, 2023
12:45 PM – 1:45 PM ET
Location: Poster Board 160

    Presenting Author(s)

  • Yongyi Pan (she/her/hers)

    MS/MPH candidate
    Tufts University

    • Co-Author(s)

  • Taylor C. Wallace, PhD, CFS, FACN

    Principal & CEO / Adjunct Professor
    Think Healthy Group, LLC
    Washington, District of Columbia, United States

  • PA

    Puja Argawal

    Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center

  • DB

    David A. Bennet, MD

    Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center
    Chicago, Illinois, United States

  • MC

    Mei Chung, PhD

    Associate Professor of Public Health and Community Medicine
    Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University
    Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Disclosure(s):
Yongyi Pan: No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.


Objectives: To examine the relationship of egg consumption on the risk of Alzheimer's dementia incidence in a cohort of community-dwelling older adults.

Methods: This study utilized data from the Rush Memory and Aging Project (NIA: R01AG017917), collected from 2007 to 2013. Study participants (n=1025; mean age 81.4 ± 7.2 years) were free of Alzheimer’s dementia (AD) at baseline and had completed at least one food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). AD diagnosis was assessed clinically in a 3-stage process using clinical judgment and cognitive exams. Cox proportional hazard models were used to assess the incident of AD with egg consumption frequency ("Never/less than 1 eggs/month," "1-3 eggs/month," "1 egg/week," and "2 or more eggs/week"). Covariates used in the fully adjusted model included age, gender, education, body mass index, smoking status, physical activity, cognitive activity, cardiovascular conditions, APOE-ε4 status, total calorie intake and intakes of dark green leafy vegetables, berries, and seafood.

Results: Over an average follow-up period of 8.36 ± 4.98 years, 27.8% of participants (n=285) were diagnosed with AD. Higher weekly egg consumption, ( >1 egg per week [HR: 0.49, 95% CI: 0.32–0.74, P = < 0.001] and >2 eggs per week (HR: 0.49, 95% CI: 0.33–0.72, P = < 0.001) was associated with reduced risk of AD in the fully-adjusted model. Results were similar in the partially adjusted (age, gender, and education) model. The highest vs. lowest quartile intake of choline (HR: 0.55, 95% CI: 0.32–0.96, P = 0.034), which is highly correlated to egg consumption, was also associated with a lower risk AD incidence in the fully-adjusted model.

Conclusions: More frequent consumption of eggs and foods rich in choline may reduce the risk of AD in the elderly. Randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm these findings.

Funding Sources: Funding for the Rush University qualifications of choline intake was provided through an unrestricted investigator-initiated grant from the Egg Nutrition Center to Think Healthy Group, LLC.