Does vitamin E help with memory and dementia?

Not for thinking and memory. A 2017 Cochrane review found that vitamin E did not improve thinking in people with Alzheimer's disease. In 516 people with mild cognitive impairment, it did not lower the chance of dementia over 36 months.^[1] One trial found that it may slow the loss of daily skills in Alzheimer's disease.^[1]

An earlier trial included 341 people with moderate Alzheimer's disease. For 2 years, one group took 2,000 IU of vitamin E a day, and the others took the medicine selegiline, both, or a placebo. Without adjustment, the groups did not differ. After the authors adjusted for differences at the start, people on vitamin E reached the main outcome later: a median of 670 days against 440 days with placebo. The main outcome was death, a move to a care home, loss of basic daily skills or severe dementia.^[2] People who took vitamin E in that trial fell more often.^[3] A trial in mostly healthy older women found no benefit for thinking.^[3]