Vitamin E Slows Brain Lesions

Mixed tocotrienols have been shown to be neuroprotective in a number of cell-based and animal studies.  Kah Hay Yuen, from Universiti Sains Malaysia (Malaysia), and colleagues enrolled 121 men and women, ages 35 years and older, affected by cardiovascular risk factors and MRI-confirmed white matter lesions, who received 200 mg mixed tocotrienols, or placebo, twice a day for 2 years. Researchers tracked the volume of the lesions via MRI, and collected blood samples to assess full blood chemistry, during the study period.  Among the subjects who received the tocotrienol supplement, the lesion volume remained unchanged, whereas lesion volume increased, to become significant at the end of the two-year study period among the subjects who received placebo. The study authors submit that: “Mixed tocotrienols were found to attenuate the progression of [white matter lesions].”