10 Jan Alzheimer Disease: Effect of Vitamin E on Slowing Functional Decline
MedicalResearch.com Interview Invitation
Maurice Dysken, MD
Professor, School of Medicine
Department of Psychiatry
Minneapolis VA Health Care System,
Minneapolis, Minnesota
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Dysken: In patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease who were taking an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, a dosage of 2000 IU/d of vitamin E significantly slowed functional decline compared to placebo by 6.2 months over the mean follow-up period of 2.27 years. Over this period of time caregiver time increased least in the vitamin E group compared to the other three groups (memantine alone, vitamin E plus memantine, and placebo) although the only statistically significant difference was between vitamin E alone and memantine alone. There were no significant safety concerns for vitamin E compared to placebo and mortality was lowest in the vitamin E alone group. It should be noted that patients who were on warfarin were excluded from the study because of a possible interaction with vitamin E that could have possibly increased bleeding events.
MedicalResearch.com: Were any of the findings unexpected?
Dr. Dysken: The combination of vitamin E and memantine did not significantly slow functional decline compared to placebo. Although one measure of cognition (ADAS-cog) favored vitamin E compared to placebo, after adjustment for multiple comparisons, this difference was not statistically significant.
MedicalResearch.com: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?
Dr. Dysken: We concluded that 2000 IU/d of vitamin E appears to be beneficial in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease by slowing functional decline and decreasing caregiver burden. Vitamin E appears to be safe and is also inexpensive. It should be emphasized that our study was not a prevention trial in subjects without a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and as a consequence, vitamin E should be recommended only to patients who have a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Dr. Dysken: It would be interesting to study different dosages of vitamin E and the effectiveness of other antioxidants as well. A combination study with aerobic exercise would be interesting since aerobic exercise also appears to have benefit in slowing decline in AD patients. Although vitamin E is an antioxidant, basic studies are needed to elucidate vitamin E’s specific mechanism of action in Alzheimer’s disease. Additional safety data are needed on the interaction between warfarin and vitamin E.
Citation:
Last Updated on January 10, 2014 by Marie Benz MD FAAD