[Vitamin E in active arthroses and chronic polyarthritis. What is the value of alpha-tocopherol in therapy?]

Known and recognized mechanisms of action of alpha-tocopherols are the grounds for the use of vitamin E in activated arthrosis or rheumatoid arthritis. This is also supported by the positive clinical results obtained in double-blind studies. On this basis, a change in the evaluation of these substances has taken place in recent years. Initially characterised as "unorthodox", "unconventional" or "additive" therapy, the term now applied tends to be "adjuvant-accepted" therapy. The results of double-blind studies and clinical empiricism support the following hyperthesis: The pathogenetic substrate "free oxygen radicals" increases quantitatively from activated arthrosis to (bland, mild) chronic polyarthritis. This could explain the graded differentiated antioxidative (or hypothetically the "central-analgesic") effects of alpha-tocopherols. While there still is no causal treatment with the alpha-tocopherols-pain alleviation and anti-inflammatory effect-are similar to those achieved with non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs, the potency of which, however, is superior.