Friday, August 16, 2013

Vitamin E on the Comeback Trail

The misunderstood, much maligned vitamin E, has made a comeback of sorts in the eyes of researchers. This study, published in Diabetes Care, is the latest to exhibit impressive results.

Among people with type 1 diabetes, a greater potential capacity to respond to oxidative stress may mitigate the future development of coronary artery disease (CAD). This means that utilizing antioxidant therapy, whether from large quantities in food or individualized dietary supplements, has a measurable effect in preventing CAD.

According to the authors, although two individuals may have similarly high levels of oxidative stress, there may be differences in the [plasma] concentration of antioxidant vitamins between the two that may put them in different risk categories, with one individual potentially requiring vitamin supplementation.
Subjects were assessed for urinary isoprostane (IsoP) levels — a biomarker of oxidative stress — and plasma levels of the antioxidant vitamins α-tocopherol (a component of vitamin E) as a way of gauging the potential to respond to oxidative stress.

The researchers found that concentrations of α-tocopherol increased over time, paralleling the use of vitamin supplements in the population. 
Over the 20-year follow-up, 24.7% of the subjects with no baseline CAD had a coronary event. There was a significant association in reduced CAD events in subjects with higher α-tocopherol concentration, as well as a strong reduction in the development of CAD.

The authors acknowledge a previous study of patients with type 2 diabetes found that those with a particular genotype have a higher risk of heart disease and that supplementation with vitamin E can reduce that risk by 53%.

Bonnie: For those who take vitamin E as a therapeutic supplement, we always recommend taking it in mixed tocopherol form. 

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