Benefits of vitamin E

Vitamin E

E is a versatile, multi-tasking vitamin.

That’s not news to e-Alert readers, of course. But now we can add one more benefit to the growing list of vitamin E benefits: the possible prevention of bladder cancer.

At the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting last month, a team from the University of Texas presented a study that included more than 1,000 subjects. Nearly half of these subjects had bladder cancer. Results showed that a high intake of vitamin E reduced the risk of bladder cancer by almost 45 percent when dietary sources of the vitamin were combined with supplements of vitamin E.

Bladder cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death among men. Plus, men are about four times more likely than women to be diagnosed with this type of cancer.

So, gentlemen, if you’re not making a special effort to include more vitamin E in your diet and supplement intake what are you waiting for? In the recent e-Alert “Taking Yourself off the List” (4/22/04), I told you about a study that confirms the powerful effects of vitamin E in helping to prevent prostate cancer. And all of this is in addition to E’s excellent antioxidant qualities.

Obviously, a little E goes a long way.

“Intake of Vitamin E (2-R Isomers of Alpha-Tocopherol) and Gamma-Tocopherol in a Case-Control Study and Bladder Cancer Risk” American Association for Cancer Research, 95th Annual Meeting, Abstract No. 3921, 3/28/04, aacr.org