WILL THE GOOD FAIRIES PLEASE PROVE TO US THAT VITAMIN-E LESSENS HUMANDEGENERATIVE DISEASE

Recent research about the role of free radical derivatives of oxygen a nd nitrogen in biological systems has highlighted the possibility that antioxidants, such as vitamin El that prevent these processes in vitr o may be capable of carrying out a similar function in living organism s in vivo. There is increasing evidence that free radical reactions ar e involved in the early stages, or sometimes later on, in the developm ent of human diseases, and it is therefore of particular interest to i nquire whether vitamin E and other antioxidants, which are found in th e human diets, may be capable of lowering the incidence of these disea ses. Put simply, the proposition is that by improving human diets by i ncreasing the quantity in them of antioxidants, it might be possible t o reduce the incidence of a number of degenerative diseases. Of partic ular significance to these considerations is the likely role of the pr imary fat-soluble dietary antioxidant vitamin E in the prevention of d egenerative diseases such as arteriosclerosis, which is frequently the cause of consequent heart attacks or stroke, and prevention of certai n forms of cancer, as well as several other diseases. Substantial evid ence for this proposition now exists, and this review is an attempt to give a brief account of the present position. Two kinds of evidence e xist; on the one hand there is very substantial basic science evidence which indicates an involvement of free radical events, and a preventi ve role for vitamin E, in the development of human disease processes. On the other hand, there is also a large body of human epidemiological evidence which suggests that incidence of these diseases is lowered i n populations having a high level of antioxidants, such as vitamin E, in their diet, or who have taken steps to enhance their level of intak e of the vitamin by taking dietary supplements. There is also some evi dence which suggests that intervention with dietary supplements of vit amin E can result in a lowered risk of disease, in particular of cardi ovascular disease, which is a major killer disease among the developed nations of the world. The intense interest in this subject recently h as as its objective the possibility that, by making some simple altera tions to dietary lifestyle, or by enhancing the intake of vitamin E by fortification of foods, or by dietary supplements, it may be possible to reduce substantially the risk of a large amount of common, highly disabling human disease. By this simple means, therefore it may be pos sible to improve substantially the quality of human life, in particula r for people of advancing years.