Long term effects of oral vitamin E supplement in type II diabetic patients.

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Vitamin E, published as a randomized controlled trial.

This triple-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted to determine the effect of the vitamin E on fasting blood sugar (FBS), serum insulin, and glycated hemoglobin (GHb) in type 11 diabetic patients (NIDDM).

Why It Was Studied

A total of 100 patients, with no complications, aged 20-60 years old were chosen from those consulting the Isfahan Social Security Service Diabetes Clinic and divided randomly into two treated and placebo groups, and matched for age, sex, level of education, and occupation.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 11 patients were involved.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were adults and middle-aged adults.

Blood lipids and FBS were measured using the ELAN 2000 autoanalyzer at the Isfahan Cardiovascular Research Center, while for measuring insulin the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method was used; GHb was determined calorimetrically (thiobarbituric acid), and for vitamin E measurements the Hansen and Warwick method was used, by which the vitamin E was determined fluorometrically.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized and placebo-controlled study.

Because people in this Vitamin E study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

A placebo (an inactive look-alike) gave the Vitamin E group a baseline to be compared against.

What Was Measured

A total of 100 patients, with no complications, aged 20-60 years old were chosen from those consulting the Isfahan Social Security Service Diabetes Clinic and divided randomly into two treated and placebo groups, and matched for age, sex, level of education, and occupation.

PubMed files the paper under topics including Blood Glucose, Cholesterol, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Dietary Supplements, Fasting, Glycated Hemoglobin and Insulin.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized and placebo-controlled study of Vitamin E in 11 patients.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The publication is from 2005 (International journal for vitamin and nutrition research. Internationale Zeitschrift fur Vitamin- und Ernahrungsforschung. Journal international de vitaminologie et de nutrition), a journal based in Singapore.

More context: all human trials.