Vitamin E is a potential lifesaver for your liver

Out of the Dark

I hate to be so cliché…but I have good news and bad news.

And the bad news is pretty bad. Because you could be one of the millions of people with a condition called nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) who doesn’t know they’re in serious danger.

Now the good news. If you are secretly suffering with NASH, researchers have discovered a simple way to keep yourself healthy…a vitamin therapy that could even prevent liver cancer.

E-trade

In NASH, an excessive amount of fat accumulates in the liver. This fat buildup is commonly caused by a less-than- ideal diet and sedentary lifestyle. What follows isn’t surprising: Insulin resistance, obesity, high triglycerides, and type 2 diabetes all become complicating factors.

And that’s when things get very serious, because NASH sharply increases risk of cirrhosis, liver failure, and liver cancer.

Since NASH is closely linked to oxidative stress and insulin resistance, the Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Research Network mounted a clinical trial to test vitamin E and the diabetes drug Actos.

As reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, nearly 250 NASH patients were given either 800 IU of vitamin E daily, 30 mg of Actos daily, or a placebo. None of the subjects had yet developed type 2 diabetes.

For nearly two years, researchers closely monitored the subjects, tracking changes in several biological markers that reveal NASH severity.

Those markers significantly improved in 43 percent of the subjects who took vitamin E. In the Actos group, 34 percent had similar improvement.

Now, nine percentage points might not seem like a lot. But add side effects to the equation and everything changes.

Mild side effects occurred in all three groups. But the most pronounced side effect–weight gain–was significant in only one group: Actos.

That’s right: weight gain. Which happens to be one of the causes of NASH. The Actos website (actos.com) also notes that the drug can cause heart failure.

So, given the dangers of Actos, and given that there’s no FDA-approved treatment for NASH, vitamin E is clearly the smart choice.

To find out the best vitamin E supplement for you, read Dr. Spreen’s comments in “Silent Partners” (6/9/09).

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson

Source:
“Pioglitazone, Vitamin E, or Placebo for Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis” New England Journal of Medicine, Published online ahead of print 4/28/10, content.nejm.org