Maybe Vitamin E Does Help in Alzheimer’s . . .

It’s only a year ago that a comprehensive review of published clinical trials showed that there was no evidence that vitamin E has beneficial effects in the development of dementia.  Now there are two reports from Scandinavia suggesting that there is, indeed, some data to support a role for vitamin E in Alzheimer’s. 

Information from the Rotterdam Study in the Netherlands was published in the Archives of Neurology.  Dietary intake of vitamin E, vitamin C, beta carotene, and flavonoids was compared with the incidence of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in 5,395 participants over 55 in the study.  During a follow-up period of 9½ years, dementia developed in 465 of the subjects; 365 of these were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.  After adjustment for age, education, calorie intake, body mass index, alcohol use, smoking, supplement use, and apolipoprotein E4 genotype, all of which might influence the frequency of dementia, it was found that a higher intake of vitamin E at baseline was associated with a reduced long-term risk of dementia.  Dietary intake levels of the other substances studied were not linked with a risk of dementia. 

The second report, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, was from the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm.  The researchers studied the association between plasma levels of 8 forms of vitamin E and the onset of Alzheimer’s in 232 dementia-free 80-year-olds over a 6-year period.  Those subjects with a higher plasma levels of total vitamin E forms had a 45-54% reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s. 

Vitamin E in the diet is found chiefly in veggies, oils, and nuts.  If you eat a healthy diet you are probably getting enough vitamin E, especially as many cereals are fortified with the vitamin.  Very high doses of supplemental vitamin E have been reported to be dangerous.