Vitamin E

• What other names is Vitamin E known by?
• What is Vitamin E?
• How does Vitamin E work?
• Are there safety concerns?
• Are there any interactions with medications?
• Dosing considerations for Vitamin E.

What other names is Vitamin E known by?

Acétate d'Alpha Tocophérol, Acétate d'Alpha Tocophéryl, Acétate de D-Alpha-Tocophéryl, Acétate de DL-Alpha-Tocophéryl, Acétate de Tocophérol, Acétate de Tocophéryl, Acétate de Vitamine E, All Rac-Alpha-Tocopherol, All-Rac-Alpha-Tocophérol, Alpha-Tocophérol, Alpha Tocopherol Acetate, Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate, Alpha tocotrienol, Alpha tocotriénol, Alpha-tocopherol, Alpha-Tocophérol, Beta tocotrienol, Bêta-tocotriénol, Beta-tocopherol, Bêta-tocophérol, Concentré de Tocotriénol, D-Alpha Tocopherol, D-Alpha Tocophérol, D-Alpha Tocopheryl Succinate, D-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate, D-Alpha Tocotrienol, D-Alpha Tocotriénol, D-Alpha-Tocopherol, D-Alpha-Tocophérol, D-Alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate, D-Alpha-Tocopheryl Acid Succinate, D-Alpha-Tocopheryl Succinate, D-Alpha-Tocopheryl, D-Alpha-Tocophéryl, D-Beta-Tocopherol, D-Bêta-Tocophérol, D-Delta-Tocopherol, D-Delta-Tocophérol, Delta Tocotrienol, Delta-Tocotriénol, Delta-tocopherol, Delta-tocophérol, D-Gamma Tocotrienol, D-Gamma-Tocotriénol, D-Gamma-Tocopherol, D-Gamma-Tocophérol, DL-Alpha-Tocopherol, DL-Alpha-Tocophérol, DL-Alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate, DL-Alpha-Tocopheryl, DL-Alpha-Tocophéryl, DL-Tocopherol, DL-Tocophérol, D-Tocopherol, D-Tocophérol, D-Tocopheryl Acetate, Fat-Soluble Vitamin, Gamma tocotrienol, Gamma-tocotriénol, Gamma-tocopherol, Gamma-tocophérol, Mixed Tocopherols, Mixed Tocotrienols, Palm Tocotrienols, Rice Tocotrienols, RRR-Alpha-Tocopherol, RRR-Alpha-Tocophérol, Succinate Acide de D-Alpha-Tocophéryl, Succinate Acide de Tocophéryl, Succinate de D-Alpha-Tocophéryl, Succinate de Tocophéryl, Succinate de Vitamine E, Tocopherol Acetate, Tocopherol, Tocophérol, Tocophérols Mixtes, Tocotriénols de Palme, Tocotriénols de Riz, Tocotriénols Mixtes, Tocopheryl Acetate, Tocopheryl Acid Succinate, Tocopheryl Succinate, Tocotrienol, Tocotriénol, Tocotrienol Concentrate, Tocotrienols, Tocotriénols, Vitamin E Acetate, Vitamin E Succinate, Vitamina E, Vitamine E, Vitamine Liposoluble, Vitamine Soluble dans les Graisses.

What is Vitamin E?

Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin found in many foods including vegetable oils, cereals, meat, poultry, eggs, fruits, vegetables, and wheat germ oil.

Effective for...

• Vitamin E deficiency.

Possibly Effective for...

• Movement disorders called tardive dyskinesia and dyspraxia.
• Reducing the chance of dying from bladder cancer.
• Alzheimer's disease. Vitamin E might slow down the worsening of memory loss in people with moderately severe Alzheimer's disease. But vitamin E does not seem to prevent progression from mild memory problems to full-blown Alzheimer's disease.
• A type of arthritis called rheumatoid arthritis. Taking vitamin E pills with regular treatment seems to help reduce pain.
• Male infertility.
• Painful menstruation in teenage girls (dysmenorrhea). Taking vitamin E 2 days before and for 3 days after bleeding begins seems to decrease pain severity and duration, and reduce menstrual blood loss.
• High blood pressure during pregnancy (pre-eclampsia).
• Premenstrual syndrome (PMS).
• Preventing Parkinson's disease.
• Helping to treat kidney problems in children (glomerulosclerosis).
• Helping to treat an inherited disorder called G6PD deficiency.
• Beta-thalassemia.
• Chemotherapy-related nerve damage. Taking vitamin E before and after treatment with cisplatin chemotherapy might reduce the chance of getting nerve damage.
• Preventing dementia in old age.
• Healing a type of skin sore called granuloma annulare when put on the skin.
• Improving vision in people with an eye disorder called uveitis.
• Decreasing sunburn.
• Reducing the symptoms of a disease called Huntington's chorea.
• Helping the eyes heal after surgery.
• Treating a type of eye disease in newborns called retrolental fibroplasia.
• Decreasing brain and heart bleeding in premature babies.
• Helping some heart medications called "nitrates" work better.
• Treating an eye disease called AMD (age-related macular degeneration) when used with other medicines.
• Improving physical performance and strength in the elderly.
• Fibrosis caused by radiation.

Possibly Ineffective for...

• Anemia in people having hemodialysis.
• Chest pain (angina).
• Hot flashes in people who have had breast cancer.
• Hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis).
• Breathing problems in newborns.
• Lung infections in elderly persons.
• Heart failure.
• Treating muscle diseases called Duchenne muscular dystrophy and myotonic dystrophy.
• High blood pressure.
• Helping people walk without pain when they have a disease called intermittent claudication.
• A type of arthritis called osteoarthritis. Vitamin E does not seem to decrease pain or stiffness and does not seem to prevent osteoarthritis from getting worse.
• Head and neck cancer.
• Sores in the mouths of people who smoke.
• Cancer of the pancreas.
• Pharyngeal cancer prevention.
• Prostate cancer prevention.
• Reducing scarring after surgery.
• Colorectal cancer.
• An eye condition called retinitis pigmentosa.

Likely Ineffective for...

• Preventing heart disease. Taking vitamin E supplements does not prevent heart disease. But increasing vitamin E in the diet might be beneficial.
• Benign breast disease.
• Breast cancer.
• Lung cancer.

Insufficient Evidence to Rate Effectiveness for...

• Allergies, asthma, skin disorders, cloudy vision in older people (cataracts), diabetes, esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), oral cancer, skin cancer, epilepsy, menstrual disorders, high blood fat levels, liver disease, stroke, leg cramps, common cold, and other conditions.

Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database rates effectiveness based on scientific evidence according to the following scale: Effective, Likely Effective, Possibly Effective, Possibly Ineffective, Likely Ineffective, and Insufficient Evidence to Rate (detailed description of each of the ratings).