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 nonsmokers, according to a study conducted by researchers at Cornell University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “As lung disease develops, damage occurs to sensitive tissues through several proposed processes, including inflammation and damage from free radicals, and vitamin E may protect the lung against such damage,” said first author Anne Hermetet Agler, Ph.D. ’11, now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Colorado in Denver. Patricia A. Cassano, associate professor of nutritional sciences, is the senior Cornell author of this study.
