Her son’s eczema inspired her to create an anti-inflammatory moisturising cream

Welcoming your first child is a time of great joy, but also a time of great anxiety. Worries about whether you’re feeding him right, carrying her correctly, bathing him properly and interpreting her heart-rending cries accurately, are common emotional companions for first-time parents. So, it’s hard enough coping with a healthy baby, but what if he or she also has a health problem?

Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Department of Bioprocess Technology professor Dr Lai Oi Ming had her first, and only, child in 2013. But her joy in welcoming her firstborn was marred by his unexpected skin condition.

New study finds vitamin E effective at relieving the chronic symptoms of asthma

Asthma, a chronic inflammation of the lung airways, has been around since the ancient Egyptian times. This disease plagues approximately 26 millions Americans today, and the number increases every year. Historical records show hundreds of remedies and recipes to help with the symptoms asthma brings, but none have been successful enough to cure the illness. Fortunately, researchers from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine may be a step closer to discovering the cure: Patients who take vitamin E supplements (gamma tocopherol) were found to have less inflammation in their lung airways.

A New Look at Vitamin E: Tocotrienols

In the recent history of dietary supplements, vitamin E has been around forever. Discovered in 1922, it was once known only as tocopherol because the tocotrienol form had not yet been identified. The bulk of research was on tocopherols until recently, which may explain why alpha-tocopherol is the form used in most multivitamins and supplemented in foods today. Yet, a growing body of evidence suggests tocotrienols—which contain some exceptional benefits not shared by their “older” tocopherol siblings–deserve a closer look.

Homo sapiens Pathway: α-tocopherol degradation

The in vivo function of vitamin E is to scavenge peroxyl radicals via its phenolic (chromanol) hydroxyl group, thus protecting lipids against free radical-catalyzed peroxidation. The tocopheryl radical formed can then be reduced by reductants such as L-ascorbate. Other major products of α-tocopherol oxidation include α-tocopherylquinone and epoxy-α-tocopherols. The metabolites α-tocopheronic acid and its lactone, known as the Simon metabolites, are generally believed to be artefacts. In addition to these oxidation products, the other major class of tocopherol metabolites is the carboxyethyl-hydroxychromans (this pathway). These metabolites are produced in significant amounts in response to excess vitamin E ingestion.

Experimental ‘golden’ potato could hold power to prevent disease in developing nations

An experimental “golden” potato could hold the power to prevent disease and death in developing countries where residents rely heavily upon the starchy food for sustenance, new research suggests.

A serving of the yellow-orange lab-engineered potato has the potential to provide as much as 42 percent of a child’s recommended daily intake of vitamin A and 34 percent of a child’s recommended intake of vitamin E, according to a recent study co-led by researchers at The Ohio State University.

Vitamin E: A Closer Look at Tocotrienols

When vitamin E was discovered in 1922, it was discovered as alpha-tocopherol. Between that time and 1940, scientists delved into tocopherol research, ranging from alpha-tocopherol’s isolation from plants², chemical identification^3,4, complete synthesis⁵, and antioxidant activity⁶. In fact, the tocopherol form remained the main focus of vitamin E science for decades, and, as such, research on tocopherols boomed.^7,8

Tocotrienols were discovered later, in the mid-1960s.^9,10 Tocotrienols’ ability to lower lipids was first reported in the early 1980s; in the 1990s, tocotrienols were associated with reduction of cardiovascular diseases and inhibition of cancers.¹¹ Despite the growing research on tocotrienols, they are still often confused with tocopherols and were not even properly listed in the Merck Index, the encyclopedia of chemicals, drugs, and biologicals, until 2001.¹²

What Is the RDA for Vitamin E?

The Institute of Medicine establishes a recommended dietary allowance, or RDA, for important nutrients. The RDA represents the average daily intake of a nutrient that meets the needs of 97 to 98 percent of healthy people. RDA values for vitamin E vary by age but not by gender.

Steroid-free asthma hope? Vitamin E holds anti-inflammation promise: Human Trial

The γ-Tocopherol isoform of vitamin E can reduce typical inflammatory features of asthma and could be a future steroid-free option for sufferers, say researchers. Published in the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, researchers from the University of North Carolina assessed the impact of γ-Tocopherol supplementation had on airway inflammation among mild asthma sufferers.

Study: Vitamin E supplementation may decrease muscle injury

Can oral ingestion of vitamin E help reduce muscle fiber damage? Yes, according to a group of researchers in Brazil… in mice at least.

”The use of antioxidant as a therapeutic agent has recently gained renewed interest”, wrote the researchers from the State University of Campinas of Sao Paolo, Brazil. ”Several studies have demonstrated positive outcomes regarding some diseases such as cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis, allergic disease, neuromuscular disease, and muscular dystrophies.”

Walnuts lower cardiovascular disease risk by boosting endothelial function: China meta-analysis

Consuming walnuts could help lower the risk of cardiovascular diseases by improving endothelial function, according to new Chinese analysis, which didn’t find the same specific effect from almonds, hazelnuts or pistachios.