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Regular Use of Vitamin E May Cut COPD Risk |
Regular Use of Vitamin E May Cut Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Risk
ANI, May 17, 2010, 01.46pm IST
A new study conducted by researchers at Cornell University and Brigham and Women's Hospital has suggested that long-term, regular use of vitamin E in women 45 years of age and older may help decrease the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by about 10 percent in both smokers and non-smokers.
"As lung disease develops, damage occurs to sensitive tissues through several proposed processes, including inflammation and damage from free radicals. Vitamin E may protect the lung against such damage," said Anne Hermetet Agler, doctoral candidate with Cornell University's Division of Nutritional Sciences.
Agler and colleagues reviewed data compiled by the Women's Health Study, a multi-year, long-term effort ending in 2004 that focused on the effects of aspirin and vitamin E in the prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer in nearly 40,000 women aged 45 years and older.
Study participants were randomized to receive either 600 mg of vitamin E or a placebo every other day during the course of the research.
Although fewer women taking vitamin E developed COPD, Agler noted the supplements appeared to have no effect on asthma, and women taking vitamin E supplements were diagnosed with asthma at about the same rate as women taking placebo pills.
Importantly, Agler noted the decreased risk of COPD in women who were given vitamin E was the same for smokers as for non-smokers.
Agler said further research will explore the way vitamin E affects the lung tissue and function, and will assess the effects of vitamin E supplements on lung diseases in men.
"If results of this study are borne out by further research, clinicians may recommend that women take vitamin E supplements to prevent COPD," Agler said.
"Remember that vitamin E supplements are known to have detrimental effects in some people; for example vitamin E supplementation increased risk of congestive heart failure in cardiovascular disease patients. Broader recommendations would need to balance both benefits and risks," Agler added.
The results of the study will be presented at the ATS 2010 International Conference in New Orleans.
(Find original article here)
EDITOR'S NOTE:A very important thing to consider when using Vitamin E supplements in protocols for COPD is the type and quality of the Vitamin E you use. Remember that most Vitamin products on the market are synthetic and/or contain source oils (i.e. vegetable oil) in the capsules. A quick read about UNIQUE E on this website will show you how much we care about customers receiving the very best Vitamin E available. |
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Breastfeeding Moms May Not Eat Proper Diet |
Breastfeeding Moms May Not Eat Proper Diet
May 12, 2010 at 7:23 PM
GRANADA, Spain, May 12 (UPI) -- A study of breastfeeding mothers in Spain found 94 percent of mothers did not follow a proper diet, researchers said.
Study leader Jose Luis Gomez Llorente of the University of Granada and colleagues found the breastfeeding mothers ate too much protein -- probably due to their high fish intake -- and not enough vitamins A, E and iron.
The researchers collected 100 milk samples from 34 breastfeeding mothers from the provinces of Granada and Almeria in Spain. The mothers completed a questionnaire on what they ate three days before the sample of breast milk was taken.
Ninety-four percent of mothers consumed a hypocaloric diet -- a low number of dietary calories usually 1,000–1,200 calories -- mainly due to low consumption of fat.
The same number -- 94 percent -- ate a diet rich in proteins exceeding recommended Dietary Reference Intakes.
The study also found 88 percent of the breastfeeding mothers showed a deficiency of vitamin A, 99 percent were deficient vitamin E and 94 percent were deficient in iron.
These micronutrients are essential for the neurological development of infants, the researcher said.
"Breastfeeding mothers can significantly improve the composition of their milk by optimizing their diet by following international recommendations," the study said.
(Find original article here)
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Vitamin E May Help Reduce Alzheimer's Risk! |
Reduced Risk of Alzheimer's Disease Associated with
High Levels of Vitamin E
Source: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease
Senile dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are progressive, degenerative, neurological disorders that result in memory impairment and deterioration in cognitive function, reasoning, and behavior of the individual. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia - accounting for more than 60 percent of late life disorders of cognitive dysfunction. The loss of intellectual function initially interferes with daily life, and after a disease course that may last many years, eventually results in death. Death is usually due to factors such as compromised nutrition, complications of the immune system (pneumonia, sepsis, other infections), trauma, or aspiration.
Vitamin E is actually a group of eight compounds including four tocopherols (alpha, beta, gamma, and delta) and four additional tocotrienol derivatives. Alpha tocopherol is the most common and the most potent form. It is what is usually meant by the term vitamin E. Pure vitamin E compounds are easily oxidized, so they are manufactured as acetate or succinate esters. Evidence suggests that oxidative stress is important in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease. A compound known as beta-amyloid, which occurs abundantly in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients, is capable of inflicting free radical damage on brain cells. It has been shown that vitamin E can prevent the oxidative damage induced by beta-amyloidal and delay the onset of memory deficits in animal models.
In a recent study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease researchers investigated the association between the occurrence of Alzheimer’s disease and blood levels of eight forms of vitamin E. The study involved 232 subjects aged 80+ years and were followed for 6 years. The subjects vitamin E plasma levels (alpha-, beta-, gamma, and delta-tocopherol; alpha-, beta-, gamma-, and delta-tocotrienol) were measured at the beginning of the trial and at the end of the trial. Subjects with high plasma levels of total tocopherols, total tocotrienols, or total vitamin E had a reduced risk of developing AD in comparison to subjects with the lowest levels. A combination of the different forms of vitamin E seems to have more of a neuroprotective effect instead of alpha-tocopherol alone. The authors concluded that “High plasma levels of vitamin E are associated with a reduced risk of AD in advanced age.”1
1 Mangialasche F, Kivipelto M, Mecocci P, et al. High Plasma Levels of Vitamin E Forms and Reduced Alzheimer's Disease Risk in Advanced Age. J Alzheimers Dis. Apr2010.
(Find original article here) |
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Tocotrienols Found to Induce Cell Death in Human Breast Cancer Cells |
University of Texas, US, Finds Tocotrienols at Low Levels, as a potent Natural Vitamin E to Induce Apoptosis (Cell Death) in Human Breast Cancer Cells
March 15th, 2000
In a recent (1999) publication in the prestigious journal of Nutrition and Cancer, researchers at the University of Texas, US, joined four other research institutions worldwide, in confirming that tocotrienols, especially the delta-tocotrienol, are potent inhibitor of human breast cancer cells by inducing cell death (apoptosis)in them.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, excluding non-melanoma skin cancers. The American Cancer Society estimates that in the year 2000, about 182,800 new cases of invasive breast cancer (stage I - IV) will be diagnosed among women in the United States. Breast cancer also occurs in men. An estimated 14,000 cases will be diagnosed among men. The incidence of breast cancer has more than doubled over the past 30 years. In 1964, the lifetime risk was 1 in 20 women. Today, it is 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. It is sad to say that breast cancer is the most common cancer for women in the world.
The usual treatments for breast cancers are surgery, radiation therapy, hormone therapy and chemo-therapy. The drug, Tamoxifen is the widely used hormone therapy for women who already have breast cancers. The down side of Tamoxifen is that long-term treatment increases a woman¡¦s chance of three rare but serious health problems: endometrial cancer, pulmonary embolism (a blood clot in the lung) and deep vein thrombosis (a blood clot in a major vein).
Tocotrienol's ability to inhibit and induce the apoptosis of breast cancer cells, may be an additional natural way of supplement (in addition to the drug treatment, chemo and radiation therapy recommended by surgeon) for women who have developed breast cancer and for women who have a family history of breast cancer.
In the study carried out at the University of Texas, Austin, the apoptosis-inducing properties of natural RRR-α-, β-, γ-, δ-tocopherols, α-, γ-, δ-tocotrienols, RRR-α-tocopheryl acetate (vitamin E acetate) and RRR-ƒÑ-tocopheryl succinate (vitamin E succinate) were investigated in estrogen-responsive MCF7 and estrogen-nonresponsive MDA-MB-435 human breast cancer cell lines. Vitamin E succinate, a known inducer of apoptosis in several cell lines, including human breast cancer cells, served as a positive control. The results of the study found that estrogen-responsive MCF7 cells were more susceptible than the estrogen-nonresponsive MDA-MB-435 cells. Delta-tocotrienol was found be the most potent inducer of apoptosis in both types of human breast cancer cells and was twice as potent as gamma-tocotrienol in inducing apoptosis.
With the exception of RRR-δ-tocopherol, the tocopherols (alpha, beta and gamma-tocopherol) and RRR-α-tocopheryl acetate were ineffective in induction of apoptosis in both cell lines when tested within the range of their solubility, i.e., 10 - 200μg/ml.
In summary, these studies demonstrate that naturally occurring tocotrienols and delta-tocopherol are effective to induce cell deaths of human breast cancer cells, irrespective of estrogen receptor status. The ability of tocotrienols, especially delta-tocotrienol at low levels, to induce human breast cancer to undergo cell death, makes this compound a promising natural and side-effect free candidate for possible chemotherapeutic use.
Tocotrienol may be a new word to many. It sounds much like the more familiar ¡§tocopherol¡¨. Indeed, tocotrienols are related to tocopherols. Both tocotrienols and tocopherols are Vitamin E. Tocotrienols differ from tocopherols in their molecular structure only by having an unsaturated isoprenoid side chain. Tocopherols have saturated side chain, ie : lacking double bonds. Tocotrienols are widely distributed in the plant kingdom, with the highest concentration found in palm oil. They are also found in grains such as barley, rice bran, oats, etc. In comparison, delta-tocotrienol is found in significantly high level in the fruits of oil palm (highest in nature) but low or absent in other sources.
Possible clues to how tocotrienols inhibit cancer cell proliferation may be attributed to the following mechanisms 1. by reducing of protein kinase C activity in human breast cancer cells (Guthrie et al., 1997), 2. by affecting the tyrosine phosphorylation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (Carroll, et al.), 3. by suppression of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase, the rate limiting enzyme for cholesterol synthesis (Elson & Qureshi et al., 1995). The Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia (PORIM) and Carotech have embarked on a double-blind clinical human study to determine possible therapeutic applications.
Individuals who are diagnosed with breast cancer may want to consider supplementing their diet with natural tocotrienols vitamin E as part of a long-term nutritional plan, in addition to the therapeutic treatments recommended by their physicians. Most of the palm tocotrienols supplements in the market contain typically 30 - 50mg of tocotrienols per capsules.
Source: NPI Center
A.C. GRACE COMPANY COMMENT: Although this is an older article, we feel it is important to show that Tocotrienols have been studied for more than a decade and are recently a very recognized Vitamin E supplement for use in your diet. Tocotrienenols, especially the superior function of delta-tocotrienol, have been found to provide benefits in managing cholesterol levels and cardiovascular disease, to influence metabolic syndrome and diabetes, and shows potential in cancer and chemoprevention. Read about A.C. Grace Company's high delta-tocotrieniol UNIQUE E® Tocotrienols here.
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