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INTERNAL MEDICINE

Vitamin E Supplementation in Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, Tardive Dyskinesia, and Cataract: Part 2

¹ Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice, Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY; Internal Medicine Pharmacotherapy Specialist, Kings County Hospital Center, Brooklyn
² Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice, Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Long Island University; Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in Ambulatory Care, Bellevue Hospital Center, New York, NY

Reprints: Dr. Pham, Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Long Island University, 75 DeKalb Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11201-5497, fax 718/245-5532, david.pham{at}liu.edu

OBJECTIVE: To review clinical trials evaluating the safety and efficacy of vitamin E supplementation in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, tardive dyskinesia, and cataract.

DATA SOURCES: Using the MeSH terms alpha-tocopherol, tocopherols, vitamin E, Parkinson disease, tardive dyskinesia, Alzheimer disease, cataract, and clinical trials, a literature review was conducted to identify peer-reviewed articles in MEDLINE (1966-July 2005).

STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION: Published materials including original research, review articles, and meta-analyses were reviewed. Only English-language articles and trials that included vitamin E alone or in combination with other vitamins or minerals were reviewed. Emphasis was placed on prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials.

DATA SYNTHESIS: The clinical studies demonstrated contradicting results regarding the benefits of vitamin E in Parkinson's disease, tardive dyskinesia, and cataract. The study reviewed for Alzheimer's disease seemed to show benefit when vitamin E was used; however, the statistical methods employed are questionable. There is enough evidence from large, well-designed studies to discourage the use of vitamin E in Parkinson's disease, cataract, and Alzheimer's disease. We recommend that vitamin E be considered a treatment option in patients with tardive dyskinesia only if they are newly diagnosed.

CONCLUSIONS: We encourage patients to supplement with vitamin E-rich foods. The use of a daily multivitamin, which usually contains 30 IU of alpha-tocopherol, may be beneficial; however, we discourage individual vitamin E supplements that usually contain 400 IU of alpha-tocopherol.

Key Words: alpha-tocopherol, Alzheimer disease, cataract, Parkinson disease, tardive dyskinesia, vitamin E

Published Online, November 15, 2005. www.theannals.com, DOI 10.1345/aph.1G271

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