Vitamin E, a well-known antioxidant, has been used to treat Alzheimer’s disease, but with mixed results, especially in patients with advanced symptoms. A risk factor for Alzheimer’s is oxidative stress, a clinical condition characterized by an excessive production of reactive chemicals in the brain, which can damage important regions of this organ.Domenico Praticò, M.D., assistant professor of pharmacology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and colleagues tested the idea that timing of vitamin E supplementation for treating Alzheimer’s might be an important factor in its effectiveness. They found that vitamin E given to young transgenic mice before the formation of telltale plaques reduces by up to half the levels of amyloid deposited in the brain over time compared to aged mice on the same regimen. This study appears in the February edition of The FASEB Journal.
