Chan, A.S., Cheung, M.C., Law, S.C., & Chan, J.H. (2004). Phase II study of alpha-tocopherol in improving the cognitive function of patients with temporal lobe radionecrosis. Cancer, 100(2), 398–401.
The study was conducted to determine if vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) could improve cognitive function in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma and temporal lobe radionecrosis.
Participants were administered 1,000 IU of vitamin E twice daily for one year. Assessments were conducted prior to the initiation of vitamin E dispensal and after the completion of one year of treatment.
The study was a single-site project at the neurology clinic of Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Hong Kong.
The study employed a pre- and post-test design with a treatment and control group.
There was no significant difference in cognitive performance at baseline between the two groups. In the treatment group, there was significant improvement from baseline on
Improved executive function was also measured in the treatment group, as seen in average reaction times (p = 0.001) and scores on the Cognitive Flexibility Test (p = 0.04); these improvements were not found in the treatment group. No significant differences were found in sustained attention for either group. There was a slight, but not statistically significant, increase in participant ratings after one year of treatment for the treatment group. The control group reported a slight worsening of function on their subjective ratings (p = ns).
Vitamin E may be a promising complementary intervention for improvement in verbal and visual memory, global cognitive function, and cognitive flexibility.