Vitamin E

Vitamin E refers to any or all of the group of fat-soluble vitamins consisting of tocopherols. Vitamin E is essential for normal reproduction, muscle development, the resistance of erythrocytes to hemolysis, and various other biochemical functions in the human body. The substance acts as an intracellular oxidant and works to maintain the stability of polyunsaturated fatty acids and other fatlike substances, including vitamin A and hormones of the pituitary, adrenal, and sex glands. A deficiency in vitamin E leads to muscle degeneration, abnormalities in the vascular system, megaloblastic anemia, hemolytic anemia, infertility, creatinuria, and liver and kidney damage. Deficiency is also associated with the aging process. The richest dietary sources are wheat germ, soybean, cottonseed, peanut and corn oils, margarine, whole raw seeds and nuts, soybeans, eggs, butter, liver, sweet potatoes, and the leaves of many vegetables, such as turnip greens. Vitamin E is stored in the body for a long periods of time so that severe deficiency is rare. The substance is considered nontoxic except in hypertensive patients and those with chronic rheumatic heart disease (Mosby's Medical and Nursing Dictionary, 2nd edition 835).

A role has been suggested for vitamin E as an antioxidant that may prevent serious disease by preventing the harmful oxidation of fats in the blood and so protecting arteries from the damage that leads to heart disease. Blood cholesterol comes in two forms, the "

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nted to interesting possibilities. One major study showed that vitamin E supplements gave subjects half the risk of oral cancer compared to those who did not take the supplements. Vitamin E from foods, supplements of other individual vitamins, and multivitamins (which contain a relatively small amount of E) did not protect against oral cancer. Researchers noted that they could not rule out a combination of vitamins as the reason for the difference, though, and also that the reduced risk might be attributable to some hidden factor common to people who take vitamin pills. Another recent study also found that vitamin E reduced the risk of oral as well as esophageal cancer. A study from Harvard suggests that vitamin E supplements may reduce the risk of heart disease by one-quarter to one-half. It was theorized that vitamin E and other antioxidants decrease the oxidation of LDL cholesterol and thus reduce plaque building up in coronary arteries ("E: the evidence grows stronger" 2-3). These results remain preliminary, and the beneficial effects of high doses of vitamin E are thus not scientifically assured. Many people are taking supplements of vitamin E in the hope that these studies are pointing in the right direction. Wor

Category: Medical - V