Vitamin E may slow
functional decline in patients with Alzheimers disease (AD) and decrease
caregiver burden, a U.S. study said Tuesday.
Previous research has found that alpha tocopherol, a fat- soluble
vitamin E and antioxidant, slowed disease progression in patients with
moderately severe Alzheimers disease.
Researchers from Minneapolis VA Health Care System and Icahn School
of Medicine at Mount Sinai examined the effectiveness and safety of
vitamin E, the drug called memantine, and the combination for treatment
of functional decline in patients with mild to moderate AD. These
patients were also taking anti-dementia drugs known as
acetylcholinesterase inhibitors.
The trial included 613 patients at 14 Veterans Affairs medical
centers. Participants received either a daily 2,000 IUs of vitamin E
(2g), a daily 20 mg of memantine, the combination, or placebo.
The researchers found that vitamin E delays progression of
functional decline by 19 percent per year, which translates into 6.
2-month benefit over placebo. Neither memantine nor the combination of
vitamin E and memantine showed clinical benefit in this trial.
In addition, caregiver time was reduced by about 2 hours per day in the vitamin E group.
The researchers found no significant increase in mortality with
vitamin E. The annual mortality rate was 7.3 percent in the alpha
tocopherol group compared with 9.4 percent for the placebo group.
The findings are valuable because vitamin E is easy to purchase at
local drugstores and it is also inexpensive, said the researchers, while
recommending it as a treatment strategy, based on the randomized
controlled trial.
"This study is the first to show an added benefit for vitamin E in
mild-to-moderate disease," Professor Kenneth Davis, chief executive
officer and President of the Mount Sinai Health System, said in a
statement.
"Now that we have a strong clinical trial showing that
vitamin E slows functional decline and reduces the burdens on
caregivers, vitamin E should be offered to patients with
mild-to-moderate Alzheimers disease."
The findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Source : Antara
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