|
|
|
|
- Wound healing Do to its good penetration into deep dermal tissue when applied topically, vitamin E has been commonly considered to be beneficial for wound healing and scar repair. Instead, several studies have shown no benefit and possible harm due to vitamin E use. Jenkins et al were unable to demonstrate any benefit with use of vitamin E in treating patients after surgery for postburn contractures. Baumann and Spencer found that about one third of their patients reported local reactions to vitamin E cream which may have lead to worsening of the cosmetic appearance of their scars. - Pregnancy Scholl et al found that in 1231 healthy pregnant patients, plasma concentrations of alpha-tocopherol were positively correlated with increased fetal growth (p<0.0001). Litonjua et al found an increased maternal intake of vitamin E during pregnancy lowered the risk of wheezing illnesses in 2-year old children (this was subject to maternal report.) - Heart disease Vitamin E has been commonly believed to have a protective effect against arterial plaque buildup; however, several studies have suggested that vitamin E supplementation offers little help in the prevention of coronary artery disease. One study supporting this common belief is the Women's Health Study by Lee et al, a true primary prevention effect may be present in older women. This double-blind placebo controlled trial incorporated 39,876 female subjects aged 45 years and older to receive vitamin E supplementation or placebo as well as aspirin or placebo for 10.1 years. Among women aged 65 or older there was a 26% reduction in major coronary events. There seemed to be fewer sudden deaths in the vitamin E group versus the placebo group. - Cancer In the study mentioned above, Lee et al found the incidence of breast, lung, and colon cancer were all decreased. Wright et al found among 29133 male smokers in a double-blind randomized placebo controlled trial that if they took 50 mg of Vit E or 20mg beta-carotene the incidence of lung and other cancers was reduced compared to those patients taking placebo. The vitamin E serum concentration of 13-14 mg/L is associated with lower total and cause-specific mortality in older smokers. Also, mortality decreased below 9.1 mg/L and improved above this level. Lin et al studied the effects of vitamins C and E and beta carotene. They found no benefit to supplementation of these antioxidants in women at high risk for cardiovascular events with respect to total cancer incidence or cancer mortality. - Diabetes Also in the groundbreaking Women's Health Study, Liu et al found a nonsignificant 5% risk reduction in initially healthy women (95% CI=0.87-1.05) and a borderline significant 12% reduction among women with a family history of the diabetes. - Cognitive Function In a study of 6,377 women aged 65 or older, Kang et al randomly assigned them to receive vitamin E or placebo. Subjects were administered 5 cognitive tests after four years passed and were given a global composite score. There were no differences in cognitive function when looking at global score, but there was a nonsignificant 8% lower risk of substantial decline in the vitamin E group compared with placebo group. - Ataxia Since low levels of vitamin E are associated with neurological symptoms, it has been postulated that vitamin E may be used to help treat diseases such as Friedreich's ataxia. Cooper et al studied both coenzyme Q10 and vitamin E together in this subset of patients and found that about one third of them presented with deficiencies of these substances. About half of the patients taking combination supplementations responded clinically over 2 years; however, when they compared high-dose and low-dose therapy, they found no difference between the groups. Due to the significant reduction in the rate of change of both ataxia and kinetic scores, they concluded that both coenzyme Q10 and vitamin E therapy can modify disease progression in a proportion of patients with Friedreich's ataxia. |