By Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS, August 27, 2014, abstracted from “Assessment of antioxidant supplementation on the neuropathic pain score and quality of life in diabetic neuropathy patients – a randomized controlled study” in the February 2014 issue of Pharmacology Reports.

Diabetes may cause diabetic neuropathy, which manifests as nerve damage in the hands and feet. Half of all people with diabetes develop diabetic neuropathy (1). It can substantially reduce their quality of life, making ways to treat nerve damage a high priority.

A new study (2) suggests that vitamin E may benefit nervous-system health in patients with diabetes. Ninety-two patients diagnosed with diabetic neuropathy received either standard medical treatment for diabetes with neuropathy (blood-sugar-stabilizing medication, 46 patients) or standard treatment plus 400 IU vitamin E daily (46 patients), for 12 weeks.

Along with random blood samples measuring blood sugar, each participant completed questionnaires on physical health (3) and nerve pain. The nerve-pain questionnaires were combined with physical-examination data to produce a cumulative neuropathic pain score (4).

After 12 weeks, statistically significant improvement was noted only in the vitamin E group:

Treatment group Physical health score before vitamin E Physical health score after vitamin E Change p-value

Vitamin E

59.1

64.6

+ 9.3 %

p < 0.05
Placebo

53.3

55.8

+4.7%

p > 0.05

 

Treatment group

Random blood glucose before vitamin E (mg/dL) 

Random blood glucose after vitamin E (mg/dL)

 Change

p-value
Vitamin E 161 139

-13.7%

p < 0.05
Placebo 149 142

-4.7%

p > 0.05

Neuropathic pain measures showed significant improvement only in patients over age 50:

Treatment group

Neuropathic pain score before vitamin E (age >50)

Neuropathic pain score after vitamin E (age >50)

 Change

p-value

Vitamin E

24.5

16.0

-34.7%

p < 0.05

Placebo

26.54

24.5

-17%

p > 0.05

The researchers concluded that “Vitamin E is a natural antioxidant and was found effective in reducing pain in patients with diabetic neuropathy.”

 

Reference:

1.     “Nerve damage (Neuropathy)” posted on the American Diabetes Association website

2.     Rajanandh MG. Assessment of antioxidant supplementation on the neuropathic pain score and quality of life in diabetic neuropathy patients – a randomized controlled study. Pharmacol Rep 2014 Feb;66(1):44-8. doi: 10.1016/j.pharep.2013.08.003. Epub 2014 Jan 30

3.     “36-Item Short Form Survey from the RAND Medical Outcomes Study” posted on the RAND website

4.     Rog DJ. Validation and reliability of the Neuropathic Pain Scale (NPS) in multiple sclerosis. Clin J Pain. 2007 Jul-Aug;23(6):473-81

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