Vitamin E gets joints going – therapy for arthritis & Co.

Highly dosed vitamin E is a vital partner in treating inflammatory joint diseases such as gout, arthrosis or arthritis. This resulted from an EMNID survey of 100 registered rheumatologists from Germany in 2006. Eighty per cent of the doctors surveyed use fat-soluble vitamins to treat patients with inflammatory joint problems. Vitamin E neutralizes oxygen free radicals, destructive in inflammatory joint diseases, suppressing inflammation and relieving pain.

treatment options

Four out of five rheumatologists use the vitamin in high doses of 400 international units or more, and one in five treats the disease exclusively with vitamin E. Most of those surveyed (69 per cent) used the fat-soluble vitamin primarily in combination with so-called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs ( NSAIDs). NSAIDs are anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving drugs that do not contain cortisol.

The effect of these drugs is given, but there can be severe side effects in the gastrointestinal area. Doctors, therefore, dose these anti-rheumatic drugs as low as possible. The experienced rheumatologist Professor Johann D. Ringe from the Leverkusen Clinic commented: “Additional therapy with high-dose vitamin E is a good way of reducing the dose of NSAIDs and thus significantly increasing the patient’s quality of life.”

 

Positive therapy results

Three out of four rheumatologists rated the therapeutic success of vitamin E as “good” (28 per cent) or “satisfactory” (49 per cent). The doctors describe their patients’ opinion similarly: Almost 80 per cent of the patients told their therapists that the therapy with 400 to 1,000 IU of vitamin E daily had worked “well” or “satisfactorily”.

Increased vitamin E requirement in joint diseases

The potential of vitamin E for the treatment of rheumatic diseases has been shown in a large number of clinical studies. In it, vitamin E was used in dosages between 600 and 1,600 IU over three weeks to three years. These studies provide evidence of apparent pain-relieving effects and improved mobility.

The study results are confirmed by practical experience. dr Wolfgang Brückle, chief physician at the Bad Nenndorf Rheumatism Clinic and specialist consultant for the German Rheumaliga, explains why: “Investigations have shown that patients with inflammatory joint diseases have a higher vitamin E requirement and are therefore often undersupplied.” Due to chronic arthrosis disease, vitamin E is increasingly consumed in the joint – according to the findings of a clinical study carried out in 2010 at the Siriraj University Hospital in Bangkok.

“Vitamin E also plays a role in degenerative diseases, arthrosis. A large part of the pain is caused by so-called activated arthrosis. The worn cartilage irritates the joint, leading to local inflammation and further pain. Vitamin E can help break this cycle.”

 

Vitamin E from natural sources

Many experts recommend vitamin E from natural sources for targeted prevention and therapy, as the body can absorb it twice as well as the synthetic variant. Vegetable oils, hazelnuts, raspberries and savoy cabbage are rich in natural vitamin E. The Latin name for vitamin E is tocopherol, preceded by the Greek letter α (pronounced alpha). The synthetic form is called dl-α-tocopherol.

The natural form of vitamin E is d-α-tocopherol (sometimes called RRR-α-tocopherol). So, a single small letter indicates a big difference in effect.

Source: EMNID survey “Experiences with high-dose vitamin E”, N= 100 rheumatologists in private practice, June 2006