Vitamin E for degenerative osteoarthritis

Vitamin E
Vitamin E has two possible ways of blocking pain: by working with endorphins and by acting as an antioxidant. A study of women with dysmenorrhea (painful menstruation) found that vitamin E could reduce discomfort and that endorphin levels rose. However, when the women were given naloxone, a substance that blocks endorphins, vitamin E lost its pain-killing power (Kryzhanovskii et al. 1988). This suggests that vitamin E and the natural morphine within are linked.

Vitamin E was put to the test in a double-blind study involving 50 patients with primary degenerative osteoarthritis. The participants were given either vitamin E or a placebo (a Sugar pill). After 6 weeks, the vitamin E group reported less pain while moving or at rest and less pain when their joints were subjected to pressure (Blankenhorn 1986).

In another test of the efficacy of vitamin E against arthritis, 29 patients were given vitamin E for 10 days, and a placebo was given for another 10 days. (The patients did not know which one they were receiving at any given time.) When taking vitamin E, 52% reported relief from pain, compared to only 4% when taking the placebo (Machtey et al. 1978).

A suggested dose is 400 IU a day of D-alpha- tocopheryl succinate along with a separate supplement that provides at least 200 mg of gamma tocopherol. This vitamin is also found in green leafy vegetables, green beans, seeds, broccoli, and nuts. Check all supplements you are taking to be certain that your total vitamin E intake does not exceed 1200 IU a day (unless otherwise directed by your physician).

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