General Health
Vitamin E boosts survival of Alzheimer's patients
By David Liu, Ph. D.
Apr 23, 2008 - 3:19:35 PM

WEDNESDAY April 23, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- Taking vitamin E supplements reduces risk of premature death from Alzheimer's disease, according to a study presented at the American Academy of Neurology 60th Anniversary Annual Meeting in Chicago.

The study of 847 people with Alzheimer's disease showed those who regularly took vitamin E supplements were 26 percent less likely to die prematurely.

Early studies have showed Vitamin E delays the progression of moderately severe Alzheimer's disease.  And the current study by Valory Pavlik, PhD., from Baylor College of Medicine showed the vitamin increased the survival time of Alzheimer's patients.

For the study, Pavlik and colleagues followed study participants with Alzheimer’s disease aged 73.5 on average for nearly five years.  As recommended, the patients took 2000 IU of vitamin E daily from commercially available supplements.

"The daily amount of vitamin E taken by patients in this study was much higher than what is currently recommended for the general population," Pavlik was quoted by Nutraingredients.com as saying.

At the end of this study, 66 percent of participants took the recommended dose of vitamin E twice a day daily along with an Alzheimer’s drug.

Taking the drug or not, those who took vitamin E supplements were 26 percent less likely to die from any causes than those who did not take vitamin E.