SCHENECTADY, N.Y.A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests patients with mild to moderate Alzheimers disease who supplemented their diet with high levels of vitamin E showed a slower rate of functional decline by 19%.
The study, independently designed by the Department of Veterans Affairs Cooperative Studies Program, was a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial involving 613 patients with mild to moderate Alzheimers disease. Participants received either 2000 IU/d of Vitamin E, 20 mg/d of memantine (a drug under investigation for its role in the treatment of dementia and Alzheimers), the combination of both, or placebo. DSM Nutritional Products provided the vitamin E (Quali®-E) for the study.
Within the vitamin E only group, vitamin E supplementation delayed the rate of clinical progression of Alzheimers disease by 19% or 6.2 months over the follow-up period and reduced the amount of caregiver time by nearly two hours per day. The placebo group lost approximately three units more on the ADCS-ADL inventory than the vitamin E supplemented group.
The study did not observe any significant safety concerns (including mortality) as had been suggested by a 2005 meta-analysis of supplementation trials with 400 IU or higher of vitamin E.