This is a collection of short articles that cover the use of Vitamin E in connection with the treatment of neurological problems.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) (March 28, 2000) — Taking vitamin C and vitamin E supplements may help protect memory and mental decline as you age, researchers report.
A new study has found that elderly men who took vitamin E and C supplements at least once a week over a number of years were protected from dementia and actually showed improvements in cognitive function — a catch-all term including memory, creativity and mental acuity. "Vitamin E and C supplements may protect against...dementia and may improve cognitive function in late life," report Dr. Kamal H. Masaki of the Kuakini Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, and colleagues in the March issue of Neurology.
Although a protective effect was seen for two different types of dementia in men who took both vitamins, the supplements did not appear to prevent dementia due to Alzheimer's disease, the authors note.
In the study, Masaki and colleagues looked at supplement use among 3,385 Japanese-American men in 1988, and for a subset of the men, data was collected from 1982 as well. The amount of each vitamin the men took was unknown. The men, who ranged in age from 71 to 93 years, were tested 4 years later in 1993.
At that time, most men were not experiencing any memory problems, although 47 of the men had Alzheimer's dementia, 35 had vascular dementia (a dementia associated with artery-clogging and stroke), 50 had mixed/other types of dementia, and 254 performed poorly on the cognitive tests without diagnosed dementia. Men who took either vitamin C or E alone in 1988 scored better on the 1993 memory tests than men who took no supplements, the investigators report. Men who took both vitamins exhibited only a small improvement over those taking no supplements.
Masaki and co-authors note, however, that men who took both vitamin E and C supplements together for many years showed a substantially greater improvement, "suggesting that long-term use is required to improve cognitive function in late life."
The researchers believe that vitamin C and E may protect from brain damage because they are antioxidants and can mop up brain-damaging free radical particles.
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Food packed with vitamin E may help fight off cognitive impairment in older people. New research confirms the theory that vitamin E from foods and supplements can be beneficial. The study is published in the current issue of Archives of Neurology.
Researchers from Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago studied the role of antioxidant nutrients, including vitamin E, vitamin C and carotene for their effectiveness in reducing cognitive decline in people as they age. They worked with nearly 3,000 people, 65 to 102 years old. The participants were asked to complete questionnaires about what they ate over an 18-month period.
Doctors found people with a higher intake of vitamin E from foods and supplements had less cognitive loss over time. "There was a 36 percent reduction in rate of decline among persons in the highest quintile of total vitamin E," write the study authors. They did not, however, find the same protective effects with vitamin C or carotene.
The authors of this study conclude, "This would seem to indicate that increasing vitamin E intake in the population to at least the recommended levels of 18 to 22 IU/d would have important public health implications."
According to the National Institutes of Health, vegetable oils, nuts, and green leafy vegetables are the main dietary sources of vitamin E. Fortified cereals are also an important source of vitamin E in the United States. People are advised to consult with their physicians before taking high doses (above 2,000 International Units daily) of supplemental vitamin E or other antioxidants.
Washington, Pennsylvania, February 25, 1998 -- Treatment of Alzheimer's disease with Vitamin E has been shown to slow progression of the disease by 53 percent, adding as much as 230 days to the wellness of patients, according to a new survey of scientific studies.
The survey, conducted by Veris Research and Information Service of LaGrange, Ill., said the American Psychiatric Association has issued new clinical practice guidelines recommending that either Vitamin E or the drug selegiline "be considered for use in patients with moderate disease to delay the mental deterioration of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias in the elderly." The survey found that "Vitamin E may be preferred from a safety standpoint, as Vitamin E appears to be very safe."
In a New England Journal of Medicine editorial about Vitamin E, the survey said, "they also noted that Vitamin E is available over the counter, while selegiline is a marketed prescription drug." The Alzheimer's study was one of 47 neurological reports analyzed by the Veris organization, a not-for-profit group supplying nutrition information to health professionals.
Studies focused on the role of antioxidants such as Vitamin E
in preventing or alleviating neurological disorders, including
Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.
Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia,
causing brain cells to degenerate. About five percent of people
over age 65 suffer from some form of dementia.
In the study reporting the 53 percent gain in Alzheimer's
treatment with Vitamin E, the length of time until occurrence of
a "primary endpoint" - need for institutionalization or
loss of ability to perform activities - was increased by 230 days
in a group receiving Vitamin E. The group received 2000
International Units (IU) of Vitamin E daily for two years.
Other groups received Vitamin E in combination with the drug selegiline, the drug alone, or a placebo. "During the study period, the percentage of patients who required institutionalization or lost the ability to perform activities of daily living was lowest in the Vitamin E group and highest in the placebo group," the Veris survey said.
Parkinson's disease is a neurological disorder that affects about 10 percent of people over 65 and involves progressive degeneration of nerve cells in the brain. "The possible pharmacological use of Vitamin E and other antioxidants in Parkinson's disease has been investigated in several studies," the Veris survey said. "In a study of 14 patients with Parkinson's disease who were taking Vitamin E daily (400 to 3200 IU for an average of seven years), the disease was significantly less severe in the Vitamin E-supplemented group than in age-matched, unsupplemented subjects.
"The reduced disease severity was reflected in the ability to carry out activities of daily living. In a group of patients with early Parkinson's disease who received high daily intakes of antioxidants (3200 IU of Vitamin E and 3000 milligrams of Vitamin C), the length of time before levodopa therapy was required to treat symptoms averaged 66 months.
"Patients on antioxidant therapy went two and one-half years longer than untreated patients before requiring levodopa to treat their symptoms," the survey reported. The survey cited evidence that natural-source Vitamin E gets nutrients to the brain in five times higher concentration than synthetic Vitamin E.
Washington, Pennsylvania, February 25, 1998 -- Vitamin E may play a role as add-on therapy in improving seizure control of epileptic patients, according to a new survey of scientific literature."Based on the demonstrated neurological role of Vitamin E and reports of low blood Vitamin E levels in epileptic patients on long-term anti-convulsant drug therapy," the survey said, "researchers have evaluated a possible role for Vitamin E as add-on therapy to improve seizure control." Seizures are inadequately controlled in 10 percent to 20 percent of epileptic children despite adequate blood anti-convulsant drug levels, Veris Research and Information Service of LaGrange, Ill., author of the new health survey, said.
A study of 24 children with epilepsy evaluated the effectiveness of Vitamin E therapy -- 400 International Units (IU) daily - in addition to anti-convulsants and, the survey noted, found that: "There was a significant reduction in seizures in 10 of 12 children on add-on Vitamin E therapy ...
In comparison, none of the children on placebo had a significant improvement in seizure control." While other studies also found Vitamin E to be effective, the survey said, one study found no significant change in seizure frequency in 43 patients with uncontrolled epilepsy.
In another study of 13 patients with uncontrolled seizures who were on standard anti-convulsant drug therapy, however, Vitamin E as add-on therapy (600 IU per day for four weeks) increased blood Vitamin E levels and activity of an enzyme shown to prevent or control seizures in animals. "The frequency of seizures also decreased and the patients' general state improved," the survey reported.
"Although the clinical data on effectiveness of Vitamin E in addition to standard anti-convulsant drug therapy are limited," the survey said, "the majority of the study results suggest that Vitamin E supplements may have a role as add-on therapy in improving seizure control. "These findings justify additional controlled clinical trials on Vitamin E supplementation as add-on therapy in patients with uncontrolled epilepsy." The survey also found that Vitamin E has shown "generally positive" results in tardive dyskinesia patients who have been on neuroleptic drug therapy for five years or less.
Tardive dyskinesia is a movement disorder occurring in about 20 percent of patients on long-term anti-psychotic drug therapy. Excess free-radicals may be responsible for its development. Vitamin E as an antioxidant combats free-radicals, which restrict blood flow and can lead to a number of diseases. Vitamin E was not as effective in some studies of patients on long-term neuroleptic drug therapy, however.
"The researchers concluded that Vitamin E appears to be effective in decreasing the severity of tardive dyskinesia, especially in patients who have had tardive dyskinesia for five years or less," the survey said.