Diversity of Vitamin E Supports Brain Health

While Vitamin E includes eight natural antioxidant compounds (four tocopherols and four tocotrienols), scientists have tended to most often study the alpha-tocopherol form of Vitamin E as it relates to cognitive impairment.  Francesca Mangialasche, from the Karolinska Institutet (Sweden), and colleagues studied a group of 140 elderly Finnish men and women enrolled in the Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging, and Dementia study.  The researchers followed the subjects for eight years to detect cognitive impairments – defined as the development of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or Alzheimer's dementia. The team analyzed baseline serum vitamin E levels as well. Those participants who developed cognitive difficulties were found to have lower serum levels of alpha and gamma tocopherol, total tocopherols, total tocotrienols, and total Vitamin E.  Writing that: “Elevated levels of tocopherol and tocotrienol forms are associated with reduced risk of cognitive impairment in older adults,” the study authors conclude that: “Various vitamin E forms might play a role in cognitive impairment.”