A Look at Vitamin E
Vitamin E has been in the news recently, both as a potential preventive for certain kinds of cancer as well as a natural way to help alleviate hot flashes.
Vitamin E has long been touted as a powerful antioxidant that may play a role in cancer prevention. Antioxidants are nutrients that help neutralize the effects of free radicals-molecules that cause an oxidation process that eventually damages cells. Researchers believe such cell damage might be a precursor to cancer.
In addition, studies have shown that vitamin E may be one of only a handful of remedies that may provide at least some meaningful relief for breast cancer patients suffering from hot flashes.
In a presentation at a recent meeting of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dr. Magdy Mikhail of Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center in New York reported that women who have pre-cancerous cervical lesions and lack certain antioxidants-in particular vitamin E and coenzyme Q10-appear to have a greater risk of developing cervical cancer.
Mikhail reported on a study of 102 women, 55 of whom had a condition called cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), which involves precancerous cervical cells. Another 20 women had cervical cancer and 27 women served as healthy controls. Mikhail's team found that the women who had either CIN or cervical cancer had markedly lower levels of both vitamin E and coenzyme Q10 in their blood and cervical cells.
Mikhail's study was the first to link lower coenzyme Q10 with cervical cancer risk. Other studies have already suggested a similar link with vitamin E, as well as other antioxidants such as vitamin C and beta carotene.
Mikhail said more research is needed to see if increasing the intake of vitamin E, coenzyme Q10 and other antioxidants can have a preventive effects on cervical and other cancers-or even act to reverse the cancer process once it has begun.
While certainly not recommending vitamin E supplements as a definitive cancer preventive, Mikhail suggested that it can't hurt to take antioxidant supplements in reasonable amounts in conjunction with an overall healthy diet.
A recent article in the journal Lancet Oncology touted vitamin E as one of only a handful of remedies that appear to provide at least some meaningful relief for breast cancer patients suffering from hot flashes.
Hot flashes occur as a result of diminished function by the ovaries, which is a natural result of menopause. However, for breast cancer survivors, premature menopause can also result due to chemotherapy. These resultant hot flashes can be more severe and frequent than those experienced by other women.
Dr. Charles Loprinzi of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. and colleagues analyzed a number of the most common treatments for alleviating hot flashes, including vitamin E. They found that vitamin E had a modest alleviating effect on hot flashes, with few if any side effects.
At a dose of 800 international units a day, they said the number of hot flashes were reduced by an average of at least one per day. They referred to vitamin E as "safe, inexpensive, and with some demonstrated efficacy."
Interestingly, Loprinzi's team found that as many as 20 percent of women who are given a placebo to treat their hot flashes report at least some relief of their symptoms, although there is no apparent reason for this high "placebo effect."
SOURCES:
49th annual clinical meeting of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, April 30, 2001, Chicago, Illinois
American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (http://www.acog.org)
The Lancet Oncology, April 2001; 2:199-204
The Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. (http://www.mayo.edu)