Benefits or Uses of vitamin E Include

Are there any nutrients that help Vitamin E work more effectively?
Selenium, zinc, vitamin C, lipoic acid, and all carotenoids increase the effectiveness of vitamin E.

Are there any drug or condition contraindications with taking vitamin E?
Those on blood pressure drugs should start with 50-100 IUs and work up to 400 IUs. Do not use with blood thinning drugs. Some conditions that should not take vitamin E include hypertension, rheumatic heart disease, and anytime 2 weeks pre-and post- surgery.

Disease prevention
Recent studies have shown that Vitamin E can prevent heart disease, reduce the risk of prostate cancer, and even slow down the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

Antioxidant
Vitamin E’s antioxidant functions help to protect our cell membranes and lung tissue from pollution. Research in rats clearly showed their ability to tolerate increased ozone levels and to survive much longer with vitamin E.¹⁰

PMS, Menopause, & Birth Control Pills
Research shows relief from menstrual pains, as well as general relief from various menstrual disorders. Many problems of menopause, such as headaches, hot flashes, or vaginal itching due to dryness, may be reduced with the use of supplemental vitamin E. It may also help decrease the side effects of birth control pills.¹⁰

Atherosclerosis
Vitamin E may help prevent atherosclerosis. Its antioxidant effect reduces thrombin formation and therefore helps decrease blood clotting, as well as minimize platelet aggregation.¹⁰

Cholesterol
Taken along with vitamin A, vitamin E can help decrease cholesterol and general fat accumulation.¹⁰

Healing Powers
Vitamin E is used both internally and externally to assist in the repair of skin lesions, ulcers, burns, abrasions, and dry skin. It is also used to diminish scars caused by surgery or injury.¹⁰ Tardive Dyskinesia: Harmful side effect of psychiatric drugs can be treated with vitamins E, B6

Autism Research Review International. 1999, V.13, No. 3. p.2
Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) is a fairly rare but serious side effect on many psychiatric drugs. Symptoms of the disorder include rigid muscles, altered consciousness, high fever, and hypertension. While the condition usually can be reversed, NMS is often fatal. Although NMS can be treated with drugs, S.M. Dursun and colleagues not that “drug treatments should be used with extreme caution especially in elderly patients with concomitant medical illness since these drugs may cause further deterioration." A less dangerous alternative, they suggest, is treatment with vitamin E and vitamin B6.

The researchers report on a recent case involving a 74-year-old woman with schizoaffective disorder, who developed NMS during treatment with risperidone and other drugs. Dursun et al. treated the woman with 1600 IU/day of vitamin E and 200 mg/ day of vitamin B6, because they regarded drug treatment as too dangerous given the woman's fragile medical condition. The researchers report that their patient fully recovered from NMS. "Interestingly," they say, "her brief psychiatric rating scale [a measure of psychiatric symptom severity] also decreased from 74 down to 45."

Vitamin E also is being used to treat tardive dyskinesia (TD), another neurological disorder caused by psychotropic drugs (see ARRI 10/2, 8/3). Some researchers speculate that vitamin therapy reduces drug-induced neurological symptoms because it reduces the damage done to the brain by free radicals. This would explain, Dursun and colleagues say, "why advanced age, smoking, and alcohol abuse, which are all associated with increased radical production or damage, are risk factors for TD." However, they say, there also is evidence that vitamin E can protect against drug-induced hypersensitivity of the brain's dopamine system.

Dursun et al. believe this could explain why their patient's psychiatric symptoms, as well as her NMS symptoms, improved when she received vitamin therapy. Given their findings, the researchers say, "it is interesting to postulate whether the use of vitamin E could help prevent recurrence of NMS in people who require neuroleptics and yet are sensitive to even the newer antipsychotics." They note that one large scale study showed an unusually low rate of tardive dyskinesia in patients using neuroleptic drugs for long periods but also receiving high doses of vitamins including vitamin E. "High-dose vitamin E plus vitamin B6 treatment of risperidone-related neuroleptic malignant syndrome," S. M. Dursun, 0. J. Oluboka, S. Devarajan, and S. P. Kutcher; Journal of Psychopharmacology, Vol. 12, No. 2, 1998, pp. 220-22. ¹⁸