VITAMIN E is a powerful protector of the brain and may help prevent diseases such as Alzheimer's, a new study suggests.
Scientists in Japan showed for the first time that it is possible to reverse a degenerative brain disease simply by administering vitamin E.
They indicate that vitamin E is a potent antidote to the oxidative stress linked to brain disorders such as Alzheimer's. Simply taking vitamin supplements could help prevent such diseases, the findings suggest.
The scientists, led by Takanori Yokota at Tokyo Medical and Dental University, bred genetically engineered mice lacking a gene essential for maintaining levels of vitamin E in the body.
The mice showed symptoms of an inherited human neurodegenerative disease caused by vitamin E deficiency which produces poor co-ordination and shaking. But by giving the mice supplements restoring their brain vitamin E levels to just 10pc to 20pc of normal, the symptoms were virtually eradicated.
The scientists said in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that to their knowledge this was the first time a food-administered treatment had been shown to halt, rather than slow, the development of such a disease.