Vitamin E may be effective at slowing the progress of Alzheimer’s disease, researchers reported last night.
It is the latest of several studies on the potential benefits of vitamin supplements on cognitive decline.
But researchers say this trial, based at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System, USA, is an important addition as it was large, had a long duration, and had no commercial links.
Dr Maurice Dysken and colleagues looked at the effectiveness and safety of vitamin E, the Alzheimer’s drug memantine, or both on "functional decline" in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. They recruited 613 patients who were all taking an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor for their Alzheimer’s disease.
Patients were then given either 2,000 IU per day of vitamin E, 20 mg/day of memantine, both, or placebo. Their functional decline was measured using a reliable and widely-used inventory over the next 2.3 years on average.
Results showed that those taking vitamin E had slower functional decline than those on placebo. Vitamin E was linked to a 19% reduced annual rate of decline in activities of daily living.
"This treatment effect translates into a clinically meaningful delay in progression in the vitamin E group of 6.2 months," report the authors in the 1 January issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
For example, this could translate into maintaining the ability to dress or bath independently. Caregiver time in assisting patients was also reduced, by about two hours per day. On the other hand, neither memantine nor the combination of vitamin E and memantine showed a clinical benefit.
The team say this trial provides information on the safety issues of vitamin E, and shows there was no rise in death rates.
Dysken, M. W. et al. Effect of Vitamin E and Memantine on Functional Decline in Alzheimer Disease: The TEAM-AD VA Cooperative Randomized Trial. JAMA 1 January 2014 doi:10.1001/jama.2013.282834
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