Research has shown that vitamin E helps the body ward off many diseases, and it protects cells from certain kinds of damage, which helps them live longer. The effect of this protection over time is that vitamin E helps slow down the cell damage that happens naturally as we age.

Vitamin E protects the body against some disorders and helps treat others.

This is a partial list of these disorders:

• Cancer. Vitamin E plays an important role in cancer treatment, including cancers of the skin, mouth and throat, stomach, colon, breast, and prostate gland. It may also reduce the risk of cancers of the lung, esophagus, and cervix. Vitamin E seems to interfere with the oxygen-controlled signals that make cancer cells grow. It also protects normal cells from the damaging effects of chemotherapy, but leaves cancer cells vulnerable.
• Heart attacks and strokes. Research suggests that vitamin E helps prevent arteries from clogging by blocking the conversion of cholesterol into its most dangerous form. Vitamin E is also a powerful anti-clotting agent, which helps blood flow more easily through arteries when fatty plaques (fat deposits that stick to blood vessel walls) are present.
• Immune system disorders. These disorders lower the body's defenses against illness, but vitamin E can bring your level of immunity up again.
• Aging-related diseases. Vitamin E can prevent the progress of these diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, which can cause physical and mental decline.
• Cataracts and macular degeneration. Vitamin E can counteract these conditions, which affect your eyesight and can lead to blindness.
• Diabetes. Vitamin E can help reduce the risk of heart disease in people with diabetes.

Vitamin E also helps in other ways:

• Slows the aging of all cells and tissues
• Protects against environmental pollutants
• Keeps red blood cells healthy and helps prevent anemia
• Treats disorders related to trouble digesting fats
• Serves in the treatment of most skin diseases; may soften thickened skin in patients with scleroderma
• Helps wounds heal faster
• Promotes the treatment of reproductive disorders
• Reduces premenstrual discomforts
• Decreases symptoms of lupus
• Reduces pain associated with osteoarthritis

Foods that contain a significant amount of vitamin E include: nuts (including almonds, hazelnuts, and walnuts) as well as sunflower seeds, corn-oil margarine, mayonnaise, cold-pressed vegetable oils, including corn, safflower, soybean, cottonseed, canola, and wheat germ (the richest one), spinach and kale, sweet potatoes, and yams.

You can choose between natural and synthetic forms of vitamin E. Health care providers usually recommend natural vitamin E (d-alpha-tocopherol). The synthetic form is called dl-alpha-tocopherol.

Vitamin E comes as softgels, tablets and capsules. You will find them in doses that include 50 IU, 100 IU, 200 IU, 400 IU, 500 IU, 600 IU, and 1,000 IU.

For people who have trouble digesting fats, vitamin E succinate ("dry-E") is best.

Based on clinical trials, the recommended dose for disease prevention and treatment for adults is 400 to 800 IU/day.

As with all supplements, check with a healthcare provider before giving vitamin E to a child.

Daily intake of dietary Vitamin E (according to the U.S. RDA) are listed below. (Note: 1 mg vitamin E equals 1.5 IU.)

Pediatric

• Neonates to 6 months: 4 IU
• Infants 6 months to 1 year: 6 IU
• Children 1 to 3 years: 9 IU
• Children 4 to 10 years: 10 IU
• Adolescent males 11 to 14 years: 15 IU
• Adolescent females 11 to 14 years: 12 IU

Adult

• Females 15 and older: 12 IU
• Males 15 and older: 15 IU
• Pregnant females: 15 IU
• Breastfeeding females–first 6 months: 18 IU
• Breastfeeding females–second 6 months: 16 IU

Vitamin E is generally nontoxic. In high doses (more than 1,200 IU daily) it can cause nausea, gas, diarrhea, and heart palpitations.

Check with your health care provider before taking vitamin E under the following conditions:

• If you have high blood pressure
• If you are taking blood-thinners such as warfarin

Taking vitamin E at the same time as warfarin, a blood-thinning medication, increases the risk of abnormal bleeding, especially in vitamin K-deficient individuals.

A study evaluating the effects of vitamin E and aspirin suggests that the combination appears to be safe and may benefit patients at risk for stroke. Consult your healthcare provider before taking this supplement.

Cholesterol-lowering medications such as colestipol and cholestyramine, called bile-acid sequestrants, decrease the absorption of vitamin E. Gemfibrozil, a different type of cholesterol-lowering medication, may also reduce vitamin E levels.

Although statins, another class of medications used to lower cholesterol levels, may reduce the antioxidant activity of vitamin E, there may be other benefits derived from the combination of vitamin E and these medications. Consult your healthcare practitioner to determine whether it would be appropriate for you to take vitamin E supplements if you are taking any of these medications.

Vitamin E may interact with cyclosporine, a medication used to treat cancer, reducing the effectiveness of both the supplement and the medication. However, there appears to be some controversy regarding the nature of this interaction; another study suggests that the combination of vitamin E and cyclosporine may actually increase the effects of the medication. More research is needed to know for certain if it is safe to take the two together.

Vitamin E may affect the levels and effectiveness of a variety of medications such as chloroquine, chlorpromazine, desipramine, and propranolol.

Vitamin E supplements may benefit women taking hormone replacement therapy by improving lipid profiles. It may also provide antioxidant benefits to women taking birth control medications.

Vitamin E may protect against toxicity from AZT, a medication used to treat AIDS. If you are taking AZT, consult your healthcare provider to determine whether vitamin E supplements may be appropriate for you.

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