Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Vitamin E pills can helps people with a nonalcoholic fatty liver disease called steatohepatitis, researchers reported. There is currently no treatment for the disease, which is similar to the liver disease that is caused by excessive drinking and that can lead to cirrhosis and scarring the impair function of the organ, eventually proving fatal. It can affect people of all ages and most of them drink little, if any, alcohol. It is believed to be caused by abnormal metabolism of fats, which raises the level of damaging oxidants in the liver. An estimated 3% to 4% of Americans are afflicted with the problem, although many do not realize they have it.Several small studies had previously suggested that insulin sensitizers and antioxidants might alter the progression of the disease. Research enrolled with 247 adults with the disease but without diabetes, dividing them into three groups. One group received 800 international units of vitamin E daily, the second received the diabetes drug pioglitazone and the third received a placebo. It was the largest clinical trial ever conducted for treating the disease.
Journal of Medicine reported 43% of the patients receiving vitamin E showed a major improvement in liver function, compared with 19% of those who received either placebo or pioglitazone. Pioglitazone reduced liver inflammation and improved retention of lipids in 34% of the individual receiving it, but the improvements were not statistically significant. But those taking the diabetes drug also had a 10-pound weight gain.
posted by emedinfo
@11:12 PM
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