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Vitamin E for Alzheimer's dementia and mild cognitive impairment

Overview of attention for article published in Cochrane database of systematic reviews, April 2017
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  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (95th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (82nd percentile)

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3 news outlets
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2 blogs
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30 X users
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4 Facebook pages
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5 Wikipedia pages
reddit
1 Redditor

Citations

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122 Dimensions

Readers on

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430 Mendeley
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Title
Vitamin E for Alzheimer's dementia and mild cognitive impairment
Published in
Cochrane database of systematic reviews, April 2017
DOI 10.1002/14651858.cd002854.pub5
Pubmed ID
Authors

Nicolas Farina, David Llewellyn, Mokhtar Gad El Kareem Nasr Isaac, Naji Tabet

Abstract

Vitamin E occurs naturally in the diet. It has several biological activities, including functioning as an antioxidant to scavenge toxic free radicals. Evidence that free radicals may contribute to the pathological processes behind cognitive impairment has led to interest in the use of vitamin E supplements to treat mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). This is an update of a Cochrane Review first published in 2000, and previously updated in 2006 and 2012. To assess the efficacy of vitamin E in the treatment of MCI and dementia due to AD. We searched the Specialized Register of the Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Group (ALOIS), the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, LILACS as well as many trials databases and grey literature sources on 22 April 2016 using the terms: "Vitamin E", vitamin-E, alpha-tocopherol. We included all double-blind, randomised trials in which treatment with any dose of vitamin E was compared with placebo in people with AD or MCI. We used standard methodological procedures according to the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. We rated the quality of the evidence using the GRADE approach. Where appropriate we attempted to contact authors to obtain missing information. Four trials met the inclusion criteria, but we could only extract outcome data in accordance with our protocol from two trials, one in an AD population (n = 304) and one in an MCI population (n = 516). Both trials had an overall low to unclear risk of bias. It was not possible to pool data across studies owing to a lack of comparable outcome measures.In people with AD, we found no evidence of any clinically important effect of vitamin E on cognition, measured with change from baseline in the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale - Cognitive subscale (ADAS-Cog) over six to 48 months (mean difference (MD) -1.81, 95% confidence interval (CI) -3.75 to 0.13, P = 0.07, 1 study, n = 272; moderate quality evidence). There was no evidence of a difference between vitamin E and placebo groups in the risk of experiencing at least one serious adverse event over six to 48 months (risk ratio (RR) 0.86, 95% CI 0.71 to 1.05, P = 0.13, 1 study, n = 304; moderate quality evidence), or in the risk of death (RR 0.84, 95% CI 0.52 to 1.34, P = 0.46, 1 study, n = 304; moderate quality evidence). People with AD receiving vitamin E showed less functional decline on the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study/Activities of Daily Living Inventory than people receiving placebo at six to 48 months (mean difference (MD) 3.15, 95% CI 0.07 to 6.23, P = 0.04, 1 study, n = 280; moderate quality evidence). There was no evidence of any clinically important effect on neuropsychiatric symptoms measured with the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (MD -1.47, 95% CI -4.26 to 1.32, P = 0.30, 1 study, n = 280; moderate quality evidence).We found no evidence that vitamin E affected the probability of progression from MCI to probable dementia due to AD over 36 months (RR 1.03, 95% CI 0.79 to 1.35, P = 0.81, 1 study, n = 516; moderate quality evidence). Five deaths occurred in each of the vitamin E and placebo groups over the 36 months (RR 1.01, 95% CI 0.30 to 3.44, P = 0.99, 1 study, n = 516; moderate quality evidence). We were unable to extract data in accordance with the review protocol for other outcomes. However, the study authors found no evidence that vitamin E differed from placebo in its effect on cognitive function, global severity or activities of daily living . There was also no evidence of a difference between groups in the more commonly reported adverse events. We found no evidence that the alpha-tocopherol form of vitamin E given to people with MCI prevents progression to dementia, or that it improves cognitive function in people with MCI or dementia due to AD. However, there is moderate quality evidence from a single study that it may slow functional decline in AD. Vitamin E was not associated with an increased risk of serious adverse events or mortality in the trials in this review. These conclusions have changed since the previous update, however they are still based on small numbers of trials and participants and further research is quite likely to affect the results.

X Demographics

X Demographics

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 430 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
United Kingdom 1 <1%
Unknown 429 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Bachelor 36 8%
Student > Master 33 8%
Student > Ph. D. Student 18 4%
Researcher 15 3%
Other 12 3%
Other 30 7%
Unknown 286 67%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 57 13%
Nursing and Health Professions 25 6%
Psychology 12 3%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 7 2%
Neuroscience 5 1%
Other 25 6%
Unknown 299 70%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 58. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 09 February 2024.
All research outputs
#737,977
of 25,461,852 outputs
Outputs from Cochrane database of systematic reviews
#1,373
of 12,090 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#15,171
of 324,166 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Cochrane database of systematic reviews
#34
of 196 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,461,852 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 97th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 12,090 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 38.2. This one has done well, scoring higher than 88% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 324,166 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 95% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 196 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 82% of its contemporaries.