Vitamin E

Long before hundreds of bottles of herbs, minerals and multivitamin concoctions lined drugstore shelves, vitamin C supplements were there. Considered a staple by nutritional supplement users, vitamin C has been thought a possible immune-system booster and preventive against heart disease and cancer. Then came a study released last month at a La Jolla meeting of the American Heart Assn. Those findings indicated that high doses of vitamin C could worsen heart disease.

Medical researchers have defined a condition that may be a precursor to Alzheimer's disease, prompting the launch of a nationwide effort to study possible preventive treatments, including having patients take Vitamin E. Those who suffer from the condition, called mild cognitive impairment, experience greater than expected memory loss for their age but do not suffer the confusion and disorientation associated with Alzheimer's, researchers said in a study released Monday by the Mayo Clinic.

We hedge our bets with all kinds of insurance policies. We insure our homes, cars, children, husbands, wives, boats, skis and dogs. Heck, dancers even insure their legs. So how about a policy that insures good health? Insurance against cancer, heart disease, cataracts, diabetes, high cholesterol, Parkinson's disease, arthritis and all those ailments that have been accepted as a scourge of aging in today's world. A dream? As of now, yes. But some researchers are on the trail of what they say has the potential to protect us--at least partially--against those diseases.

Sweet potatoes are often regarded as a healthier alternative to the white potato, which has been recently maligned as “Public Enemy No. 1” in America’s battle of the bulge. Some would even say that sweet potatoes are to white potatoes what brown rice is to white. But in a head-to-head comparison, these two tubers are seemingly very similar. In a 100-gram portion, the white potato has 92 calories, 21 grams of carbs, 2.3 grams of dietary fiber, 2.3 g of protein and 17% of the recommended daily value of vitamin C. The same amount of sweet potato, on the other hand, has 90 calories, 21 grams of carbs, 3 grams of fiber, 2 grams of protein, 35% of the recommended daily value of vitamin C and 380% of the daily recommended value of vitamin A. Importantly, both have won Vegetable of the Month designations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Time may heal all wounds, but the scars that remain can be unsightly, itchy, stiff and painful. Pharmacy aisles beckon with "clinically proven, doctor-recommended" scar products, and the Internet teems with anecdotes of different creams and elixirs that supposedly erase old scars or prevent new ones from forming. But not all of those claims stick. "There are a thousand wives' tales and a whole bunch of things you can buy, but none have scientific validity to speak of," says Dr. Terence Davidson, a professor of surgery at UC San Diego School of Medicine.

There's no denying the allure of a beautiful complexion -- or of an illuminated department store beauty counter, filled with elegant frosted jars and sleek glass bottles that promise a dewy glow and taut skin. But there's also no denying the appeal of lower price tags, found on similar products at your local drugstore. At the department store, you'll encounter trained sales associates ready to help you choose; at the drugstore, you're on your own, facing lengthy rows of pump bottles and squeeze tubes that all claim to moisturize, balance, tighten skin or erase wrinkles.

Have you ever slathered on sunscreen but somehow managed to miss your nose? Or the back of your hand? Or the tops of your feet? You're not the only one. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, most people apply less than half of the optimal amount of sunscreen, a habit that adds up to a lot of burned patches and uncomfortable rides home from the beach.

A new study reports Vitamin E appears to bolster the immune systems of elderly men and women, a finding that suggests the vitamin may help people fend off infections and other diseases as they age. In the study, Dr.

Taking vitamin E and selenium supplements not only failed to prevent prostate cancer in men, a new study finds that daily vitamin E pills appear to raise the risk of the disease. The study, published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. , is yet another reminder that the effect of dietary supplements on health isn't always rewarding or even innocuous. The SELECT study (which stands for Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial) began in 2001 and recruited more than 35,000 men age 50 and older at 400 study sites nationwide.

A few weeks ago, we threw open the doors to questions from readers, and by the miracle of e-mail, fax machines and even the U.S. Postal Service, we got what we asked for (and then some). As we indicated, we cannot answer most of these questions personally, but we will try to address as many as possible in this column. In the mail we received were a lot of really good inquiries about our column on vitamin E, "Vitamin E: One Case in Which the Hype May Be True," Sept. 27).