In an experiment conducted at the State University of New York, College of Medicine, Brooklyn, New York, under the supervision of Dr. R. W. Hillman, a "normal" volunteer took two to four grams of Vitamin E daily for over three months.[one gram is the equivalent of 1,000 I.U or 1,000 mg] This dosage is two to four times the usual dosage for 'treating' heart disease. The results showed no lowering of exercise tolerance, and all other tests were normal - these included the electrocardiogram, ballistocardiogram, serum cholesterol, liver function, blood coagulation, and muscle biopsy - in short, most of the major tests known which would indicate even minor side reactions or toxicity.
In addition, Dr. A. De. Giudice, of the National Institute of Public Health, Buenos Aires, has been giving two grams of Vitamin E daily for many years to retarded children - even Mongoloids. Not only has there been no evidence of toxic side effects, but Dr. Giudice has achieved some amazingly beneficent effects, both mental and physical.
All animal studies prove Vitamin E non-toxic per se, and all the official medical groups admit this fact. Finally, the authorative 'Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary (1963, Ninth edition) states that Vitamin E (Alpha - Tocopherol) is "non-toxic, even in large doses."
All this does 'not' mean that you should gulp down a bottle full of Vitamin E capsules expecting the miracle cure in a day. The chances are such an imprudent act won't hurt you or help you. Any substance, including water, will kill you if you take enough of it. The wisdom of the ancient Greeks applies here, as in so many instances, "Everything in moderation, nothing to excess." Now with this warning for those readers who are inclined toward excesses and who do not read beyond the first chapter, let us explore Vitamin E and what it does for animals as well as men. The probability is extremely high that Vitamin E will help you.
Alas, the orthodox thinkers have become so stereotyped, so rigid, so fanatic that some members of the group would rather die than consciously admit a wrong of their controlling hierarchy.
In spite of medical and health "scandals" emanating almost every day from Washington and elsewhere, the public cannot believe that a group of policy-making doctors could concertedly act against its interest. Most persons, of course, do not know the history of medicine.
Many are probably unaware that it took some ninety years before orthodox medicine fully accepted the fact that infinitesimal bacteria were responsible for childbed fever or for any other infectious disease. Of course, we know today that many diseases are caused or, at least, "triggered" by bacteria or viruses. But it is not too widely known, even among doctors, that back in the 1840's, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweiss demonstrated without a doubt that the death rate of new-born infants and their mothers decreased almost to zero when the obstetrician had sterilized his hands.
It is hard to believe today that doctors did not realize this need for some form of sterilization, especially when proceeding from the dissecting room to the delivery table. But they didn't, and even after a trial period in which the death rate dropped radically , Semmelweiss' colleagues returned to their old ways, and the infant death rate went back up. Eventually this pioneer of antisepsis in obstetrics died in an institution, insane, after many years of fighting the orthodox medical profession - completely disillusioned with its professed ideals.
In the later part of the same century, it took men of the calibre of Lord Lister, Louis Pasteur. Robert Koch, and many others to convince the orthodox that germs did indeed play a role in the diseases of mankind; you probably did not know,however, that all these medical pioneers were ridiculed , even lampooned , by their contemporaries.
Should you question a doctor today about medical history and the fact that he and the society he belongs to have frequently denigrated any truly new or original discovery, he will likely reply: "Ah, but that's a thing of the past. We're scientific now!"
Then you should recommend that he read some books which indicate that we in the twentieth century are , in many respects, just as unscientific as in the past, that the medical oligarchy has seized such control of his mind that he actually believes what he is saying. The propaganda issuing from the formidable headquarters of the American Medical Association in Chicago and the various governmental agencies under the AMA's scientific domination have brainwashed even 'his' thinking. But you really cannot blame the individual doctor too much. How is he to know, for instance, that reports on Vitamin E have been squelched or ignored? How is he to know that he is not receiving the truth from what he considers the citadel of medical honesty? Doctors,are just like other persons in desiring security. They, also, desire to be part of the "In-Group." and they, also, fear to transgress against the Group's laws or regulations. In-Group reaction: "He shouldn't have been a doctor in the first place, if he's not going to fit into the way we think and the way we do things."
So almost all great medical innovators are "bad boys",who are ridiculed or ignored, often their whole life-time. Quite a few see the "error" of their ways, some after being ejected from their medical societies, relieved of hospital privileges , or ostracized by their associates. Indeed, it takes a very strong man to withstand such treatment in the interest of truth. However, fortunately for the human race, there were, and are, individuals who have withstood such pressures. These are the ones we have to thank for progress.
Official groups depend heavily on the fact that people forget quickly what the AMA, et al, announced yesterday - even if it is proven completely wrong tomorrow, as it happens in innumerable cases. The 'error' will be completely forgotten and only the new and "truthful" findings will be remembered.
I am sure that if the AMA reverses its decision concerning Vitamin E, anent heart disease, as a result of intense pressure, its excuse for ignoring and suppressing the evidence as long as possible will be: "We, being scientific, waited until the scientific evidence was absolutely demonstrated. Of course we now believe in Vitamin E." It is, indeed, unfortunate that organized groups such as the American Medical Association have so much control over all governmental agencies, as well as those groups who solicit and collect millions of dollars to "fight" various disease. These powers have managed to gain almost complete control of the views of the government, the press, and the public - having set themselves up as the only "respectable" source of medical information and/or treatment. They will not hesitate to crush opposing views, even if the opposition should come from within their own ranks.
Whatever does not fall within the sphere of the cliques' opinions suffers violent attacks, which pose under the guise of destroying medical "quackery." Unfortunately, these attacks are often launched before the orthodox have even examined the evidence. however, heart and cancer specialists, and specialists of other diseases as well, cannot conceal their delight when a proposed remedy is "discredited" by the orthodox groups to which they belong. It is obvious to anyone who studies the problem of medical practice and research that almost no practicing specialist wants a cure to be found in his particular field. It is only the young, and naive researcher, or the old researcher or clinical practitioner who cannot be harmed by the orthodox poseurs, who will dare to advance unorthodox theories and practices. There is also the occasional researcher or clinical practitioner who will dare to defend what he considers scientific evidence. These latter are usually quicky disposed of by the powers that be, or they will apologize and give up entirely their "misconcepts," or else ostensibly they will abandon their absurd notions and fight "underground."
The Drs. Shute happen to be among those few researcher-clinicians who have refused to be pushed a micrometer measure from the truth of their findings. And they and their followers have suffered from the vengeance wreaked upon them for their brashness in defying the orthodox position. The following serves as a typical example of the Medical Orthodoxy in action: Several hundred patients and ex-patients of the Shute Clinic who had been treated successfully with Vitamin E therapy for cardiovascular conditions, formed what they termed "The Cardiac Society." They wanted to bring the substance which had saved them to the attention of other victims and potential victims of heart disorders.
Among other activities, the Cardiac Society established offices in Detroit. The Society sold the Shutes' popularized version of their book 'Alpha Tocopherol [Vitamin E] in Cardiovascular Disease', which had been directed to the medical profession. The popular versioon was entitled 'Your Heart and Vitamin E'. The Society seemed well on the way to getting people interested in Vitamin E.
To raise money for their activities and to save people from heart disease, the Society began distributing and selling Vitamin E capsules of the sort which were used in the Shute experiments. This action provided the various federal agencies with the necessary ammunition to destroy the Cardiac Society and the "dangerous propaganda" it was promoting that Vitamin E was of value in heart disease. The AMA , calmly ignoring the mass of evidence, pooh-poohed the idea that Vitamin E could possibly have any effect on heart disease. It enlisted the federal agencies on its behalf - which was not a difficult task - and disaster befell the Cardiac Society. Before its demolition (and Vitamin E's to a large degree) was complete, the Orthodoxy even commandeered the services of the U.S Post Office. Letters addressed to the Society were returned to the sender marked "Fraudulent." Thus did Authoritarian Medicine show its power to crush anything and anyone daring to present views opposing its own. There were no clever, subtle tactics - just the top executives exerting their influence with the federal agencies to silence the threat of "competitive" therapies - except that the federal agencies prefer to call their actions "cooperating" with recognized medical authorities to "stamp out quackery." For this great man , E. V. Shute, and his loyal brother , and the numerous reputable researchers throughout the world who have found immense value in Vitamin E, for them to be, in effect, treated practically as common criminals - "using the mails to defraud" - by the official groups is almost too horrendous for our minds to believe.
However, the fact is that due to various pressures both from within and without the country, eventually our medical research will bumble and stumble along until finally cancer, heart disease , and other major killers will be conquered - moving at the pace set by the orthodox. We should not let the doctors in control - the politically ambitious, the money-hungry, or the jealous researchers - dictate medical policy and thought. if we continue to follow this policy, the so-called healthiest nation in the world, with 74,000,000 of the 183,000,000 population having one or more chronic diseases , will have even fewer healthy individuals in the future.
Our civilization is so enlightened , we are told constantly, that we have no need to worry in any field of human endeavor. yet the medical student is indoctrinated quite early. He is taught that the doctor's profession is sacred ; therefore, it has a right to do anything it pleases. The incipient doctor is also taught that he himself is inviolable, as long as he memorizes the textbooks and absorbs his teachers' thinking. A "good" doctor learns quickly enough that, by virtue of treating the illnesses of human beings, he represents the power of life of death over the individual. However, in order to perpetuate that power, he must maintain and foster the edicts of the organized medical groups no matter what they may be. With this type of authoritarian education pounded into him day after day, year after year, who can blame the average physician for being brainwashed, so that in time he comes to really believe what he is told? For the few mavericks who still try to practice unorthodox medicine after their indoctrination , retaliation is usually swift. If often begins as a whispering campaign and ends - if the recreant does not 'swing into line' - with loss of hospital privileges or even open censure and/or ouster from the medical society. The latter usually proves disastrous to a physician attempting to earn a living. Usually, however, even the "worst" of the "original" thinkers come back to the fold before it is too late.
We do not mean to imply that every doctor who is censured or ousted is an original thinker or a great scientist, far ahead of his time. There are 'quacks', unfortunately , in the medical profession. There are doctors who deliberately establish a medical racket in the form of unnecessary operations, for instance, and those who, preying on the gullibility of the uninformed, will charge exorbitant fees for "cures" and nostrums, which they, themselves, know to be worthless. And there are doctors who are capable of falsifying reports on a beneficial treatment - which they 'know' to be beneficial - in order to gain commercial rights to the substance, later planning to announce that the substance is indeed beneficial.
Very fortunately, these reprehensible activities in the medical profession are rare. The rank and file M.D., due to his authoritarian education, cannot conceive of the hiearchy doing any wrong in the crooked.. sense; therefore he shuts off his mind to any such nonsense. However, once you can force him, with facts to reopen his mind, as for example, to the action of Vitamin E on heart disease, his response is usually one of overwhelmed amazement. Then, depending on his real desire to search for the truth, he will either try the proposed agent (but please keep my name secret) or else reject it completely.
Even when a doctor finds that the agent is effective, he may still shy away from such treatment until it has been "accepted". After all, can 'you' blame him? How would 'you' react to ostracism by your friends and to the probable loss of all income?
No one, today, questions Vitamin E's chemical identity or the need for it in the body. The authorities do question, however, its usefulness in the prevention and treatment of many so-called degenerative diseases. it is obvious that these authorities have not read the world literature or else have chosen to ignore it. And how can you explain the fact that many doctors in Canada are using it privately for themselves and their families and yet are afraid to prescribe it for their patients?
The real breakthrough in the history of Vitamin E will come when both the authorities and practicing physicians have examined all the evidence, and feel free to prescribe Vitamin E. Researchers will then be granted adequate sums of money to investigate the substance thoroughly and to prove to the public once and for all the importance of Vitamin E for our general health and especially the heart.
However, I have found that the vast majority of doctors in this country have a distorted concept of Vitamin E's efficacy. Why? Largely because the leaders of the organized medical fraternity have not seen fit to publish the favorable evidence in leading medical journals in the United States.
Doctors who have been shown the evidence are amazed and cannot believe that such a dreadful suppression of the facts could happen here. They are even more amazed when they discover for themselves the hard, undeniable truth about Vitamin E's multi-faceted, heroic role in the body's metabolism, particularly in the heart muscle itself and in the circulatory system of every human being and every animal thus far studied.
Throughout the past twenty years there have been hundreds of such studies; yet you will find that the majority of "cardiac" specialists have never read the available world literature on the subject. If they have read anything on Vitamin E, they consider it "controversial", and, therefore, not worthy of investigation. Unfortunately, in this country, the label "controversial" immediately brands any medical evidence as undesirable and discourages any further inquiries by individuals because they feel they must have complete professional approval.
Why the cardiac specialists and, therefore, the heart associations should be so unscientific concerning the most promising medical treatment for our most dreaded "killer" is a matter which we shall examine later. Our primary aim at this point is to present the evidence to both doctors and laymen so that everyone can see the extent of the misconceptions which have been perpetrated. I think I can prove to any scientist's satisfaction that the role of Vitamin E is no longer truly controversial in the scientific sense; that is, there exists an enormous amount of evidence supporting its value and effectiveness. What minimal amount of opposing evidence there is has usually resulted from inadequate dosages, incomplete testing , or use of synthetic Vitamin E. (which has now been shown to possess only approximately one-fifth the potency of the vitamin derived from natural sources). I will be footnoting some of the important statements in this summary chapter, and the reader will find adequate documentation of the scientific findings presented in the subsequent specialized chapters. These plus the extended bibliography will help those of scientific inclination to investigate the subject further. Let us now report on the scientific evidence that is available to all.
In 1959, the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) begrudgingly admitted that Vitamin E is essential in human nutrition. Unfortunately, the FDA had been ignoring for twenty years the mass of evidence which had been accumulating from all over the world, including the United States. This government agency , however, rather than admit its mistake , covered it up by sending out a widely published press release stating that no one in this country need worry about a lack of Vitamin E - that anyone eating a "normal" diet obtains the minimum requirement. However, according to the researchers who were responsible for the FDA admitting the necessity of Vitamin E nutrition, this statement is extremely misleading. (Contrary to the FDA release, there are unassailable scientific studies which demonstrate that from 5 to 7 percent of adult Americans are deficient in Vitamin E.)
The FDA statement merely admits the value of the barest minimum one can exist on without showing obvious , unmistakable symptoms caused by an outright deficiency. What it failed to reveal was the pharmacodynamic action of Vitamin E on the body; by pharmacodynamic , I mean the action of the vitamin as used in the treatment and prevention of disease. The amounts involved are startingly different.
Before we delve deeper into the actual dosages used by the various researchers, we should examine the vitamin and its action in the body. Then we can understand Vitamin E's almost unlimited capacity for alleviating many of the ailments afflicting men.
Vitamin E is composed of seven forms of what chemists term 'tocopherols'. They are labled alpha, beta,gamma,delta, epsilon, eta and zeta - but alpha is the only form which has been shown to be very active in the animal or human body. Although the other tocopherols may someday be found to play a role in metabolism, as yet 'alpha tocopherol' alone is synonymous with Vitamin E in the minds of most present day researchers. By far the most significant results have been obtained in both animals and men, using only alpha tocopherol. In most substances from which tocopherols are derived, the alpha form comprises only 60 per cent of the total and sometimes much less; therefore, the dosage from a formula containing all the tocopherols must be nearly 'doubled' in order to be therapeutically effective. This fact has been overlooked by many researchers as well as by the governmental agencies which maintain that everyone obtains enough Vitamin E in a "good, normal, healthy" diet and that, therefore, Vitamin E as a supplement is unnecessary. We shall demonstrate that not only are the official agencies ignoring the fact that alpha tocopherol is the only proven factor in Vitamin E but that much more Vitamin E is necessary for even minimum daily requirements than is "officially" indicated. We shall show that an abundance of Vitamin E (alpha tocopherol) can and does prevent, as well as control, many ailments known to man, and to beast, both feral and domesticated.
Henceforth, when we use the term Vitamin E , we are referring to alpha tocopherol, not to the other inactive forms of the vitamin.
It has been established by many researchers (and accepted by all researchers) that Vitamin E is an "anti-oxidant" and an oxygen-conservator. These properties signify that Vitamin E possesses the ability to improve the cell's function and prolong its life. As an anti-oxidant, Vitamin E delays the oxidative process which turns cells "rancid,' and it prevents oxygen from combining with other substances to form the deadly hydrogen peroxide which hastens the death of a cell. This fact has been proven on human beings, on animals, and on tissues which have been removed from recently killed animals.
When the facts are established on living humans and animals , the study is called an experiment 'in vivo'. 'in vivo' is the term used when the experiment is performed 'outside' the living organism, as for instance when the heart of a frog is removed from the animal's body to determince how much longer the heart will beat when it is bathed in a solution containing Vitamin E as compared with the time it will continue to beat when bathed in a saline solution. Researchers have found that the frog's heart is so strengthened by Vitamin E that the heart beat is prolonged by nearly 50 per cent. Other muscle tissues of the frog and other animals as well are equally strengthened by addition of Vitamin E.
Human red blood cells offer another example of 'in vitro' work. Dr. M.K. Horwitt at Elgin State Hospital in Elgin, Illinois, found that human red blood cells when adequately supplied with Vitamin E do not lose their hemoglobin (an oxygen-carrying material) nearly as fast as cells deficient in Vitamin E. This means that red blood cells maintain their integrity (and , therefore, their lives) much longer than cells which are not amply supplied with Vitamin E. These facts are of utmost significance , as we shall see. (Parenthetically, it has been suggested that Vitamin E be used in the preservation of blood now stored in blood banks since the present "shelf-life" of such stored whole blood is relatively short. It has also been found that meats of animals fed Vitamin E supplements will "keep" much longer than ordinary meats.)
A natural anti-oxidant and oxygen conservator such as Vitamin E affords the body many advantages. First, when ricly supplied with Vitamin E, the cells of the body are able to perform more efficiently - not demanding as much oxygen for metabolic processes, thereby freeing more oxygen for those cells and organs needing it. An ailing heart , for instance, not demanding as much oxygen as before - that is, before the therapeutic dose of Vitamin E - does not have to pump as hard to convey blood to the cells. Its work is considerably lessened, consequently easing the strain - an extremely important factor in heart ailments. Also, the heart muscle itself is more richly nourished with oxygen through its main source of blood supply, the coronary arteries. These two factors - less work and more oxygen - partially explain why the vitamin has a direct, beneficial, seemingly miraculous, effect on flagging hearts, and on normal hearts as well. Researchers have stated that Vitamin E therapy is equivalent to being placed in an oxygen tent - without the inconvenience , of course.
But equally important as its oxygen-hoarding properties is the fact that Vitamin E "guides" oxygen in proper functions. When cells have a scarcity of Vitamin E, they tend to release their oxygen, which then combines with the cellular wastes to form poisons deadly to the cells - hydrogen peroxide among others - which rapidly destroy red blood cells as well as the enzyme 'catalase' which is vital to aeration of the cells.
Vitamin E is also a vasodilator: it opens arteries (particularly those all-important smallest ones, the arterioles) so that more blood can flow through the circulatory system. This is of particular significance to victims of circulatory disorders such as 'arteriosclerosis and atherosclerosis'. (Arteriosclerosis is the general term employed to encompass almost all disorders of the arterial and venous system which are considered to be due to "aging." More specifically, the term refers to "hardening" and "thickening" of the arteries, accompanied by loss of elasticity in the blood vessels, 'Atherosclerosis' is characterized by "clogging" of the arteries with fatty deposits on the walls. Often these deposits break away in "chunks" through the action of the hearrt, which has an increasingly difficult job of forcing blood through increasingly narrowing arteries. If such a piece of material [ a "clot" or "thrombus' ] makes its way to the heart and/or blocks the flow of blood to the heart, then we have one of the common forms of the dread "coronary thrombosis."
The foregoing attributes of Vitamin E help to explain why rats, guinea pigs, race horses, and humans develope much more endurance than the "normal" when given large amounts of Vitamin E in the diet. For instance, Vitamin E-treated rats can swim nearly twice as long as non-treated animals and can withstand high altitudes which quickly kill their own litter mates. Humans tested on a "treadmill" and elsewhere show the same increased endurance when their diets are supplemented with Vitamin E.
Still another faculty of Vitamin E is its anti-coagulant (anti-blood-clotting) power. Moreover, this anti-coagulant quality of the vitamin does not produce harmful side-effects as do the drugs heparin and dicumarol, which are now in common use in an attempt to treat and prevent the formation of clots - the clots (thrombi) being the leading cause of "coronaries" and "strokes", whether they be due to the formation of blood clots or to "flaking" away of the fatty deposits. The latter drugs must be used with extreme caution, for they tend to produce hemorrhages. There is great debate raging in the medical world as to whether these drugs should be used at 'all', as their action of artificially creating 'hemophillia' (bleeding which is extremely difficult to control) seems to outweigh their merit as anti-coagulants.
With Vitamin E, however, such is not the case no matter how massive the dosage employed. Further, Vitamin E has shown some propensity to 'dissolve' clots. Although Vitamin E is also a dependable, efficient anti-coagulant, its action stops when its anti-blood-clotting ability is no longer needed; indeed , it even hastens wound healing and tends to prevent scars and occasionally even dissolves scar tissue.
Still another recognized property of the amazing Vitamin E is its ability to maintain normal permeability of cellular membranes, notably the capillaries. You will recall that capillaries are the tiny blood vessels which supply nourishment to individual cells. If the capillary walls become too impermeable, their function of feeding the cells is impaired; on the other hand, if the walls become too permeable, they leak out their precious cargo into the extra-cellular spaces where it does not belong, and, thus, the cells are deprived of nutrition.
So we see that a constant supply of the proper substances is needed to sustain the tricky equilibrium maintained between the capillaries and the cells. Along with other substances such as Vitamin C and the bioflavonoids, Vitamin E maintains the normal integrity of these walls, preventing them from becoming too permeable or impermeable, or from "breaking."
Thus we see Vitamin E's essential role - or multiple roles - at the most vital cellular level. We can begin to understand why the vitamin in therapeutic quantities should be effective in many ailments. Admittedly, there is very little going on in this wonderously wrought mind-body-brain we call a human being that would not be affected by oxygen-conserving, clot-dissolving, wound-healing, and blood-vessel normalizing.
In fact, Vitamin E is so effective against so many diseases that it seems almost incredible - were it not for the knowledge we have aquired about its basic, specific and non-specific actions.
It is, indeed, somewhat of a panacea, in the best sense of the word. yet it is not a "cure-all." It will not keep you from dying, but it will prevent or control many diseases now troubling man, and, based on the experience of thousands who have been taking Vitamin E for years, it will make life worth living for a longer period.
The list of diseases which Vitamin E has been reported to improve and/or control is seemingly endless. We shall merely mention several of them, without, at this point, delving into the theoretically considerations, or analyzing the experiments.
Many researchers have reported that diabetes is often controlled or semi-controlled by Vitamin E. many patients have been able to dispense with insulin entirely while others have had its use drasticlally reduced. If this fact were to become more widely known , it would very likely result in the alleviation of much of the suffering which millions of persons now have to endure because of this misunderstood, yet common, disease.
Vitamin E has been demonstrated to be of considerable value in treating the symptoms of menopause - the "change of life" which countless women find almost unbearable. It has been dubbed "natures own tranquilizer," by various gynecologists, who have found that heavy doses of Vitamin E somewhat approximate the effects of estrogen - the female hormone - in relieving "hot flashes," nervousness, depression, anxiety, and irritability without the adverse side effects of the hormone.
Vitamin E has also been used in preventing habitual abortions, as well as the tragedy of congenitally deformed babies. Several series of experiments have shown that childless couples when given massive treatments of Vitamin E (and this means both the man and the woman) can very often have children, when nothing else was effective.
Eye disorders in children (near-sightedness,crossed eyes), along with mental retardation, have been reported corrected or alleviated with extremely large doses of Vitamin E (up to 3000 international units a day for years).
It has been responsible for preventing and curing cirrhosis and other disorders of the liver in so many laboratory animals of all types that the implication for man cannot be ignored.
Vitamin E has been found to be of marked value in the treatment of such obscure and remote diseases as leprosy (Hansen's disease); lupus erythematosus (a tuberculosis skin disease which is characterized by an intractable rash); and in the prevention of sickness due to x-ray therapy.
Vitamin E has been shown to have a close relationship to muscular dystrophy, indications being that, in muscular dystrophy , the body cannot assimilate the vitamin properly. There is some reason to believe that , once a key to the proper assimilation of Vitamin E is found for the unfortunate victims of muscular dystrophy , they will be cured much as victims of the once-fatal pernicious anemia are now cured by injections of Vitamin B-12 and the mysterious "intrinsic factor" , which is derived from gut tissue.
At least one study (from Tehran, Iran, by H. Davidian) has shown that Vitamin E is valuable in the withdrawal from drug addiction.
There is evidence that Vitamin E tends to normalize blood pressure in some persons, bringing the pressure up if it is too low, and down if it is too high.
There is also some evidence that Vitamin E can prevent or at least slow down the formation of so-called "old-age" deposits in the cells and tissues - the "ceroid" pigmentation and "granular" formations. As an animal (or human) grows older, the cells , organs, and tissues become increasingly permeated with inactive substances which are no doubt due to the gradual diminution of the metabolic processes. In countless laboratory tests, Vitamin E has shown its ability to reverse or slow down this aging process. Some researchers hold that these inert, useless "cell fillers" slowly choke off the useful, efficient materials which are occupied in the process of keeping us alive and healthy. Therefore, if Vitamin E can manage to halt or , at least, delay this detrimental aging process, it follows that man may live to his true (mammalian) span of about 150 years in full vigor instead of slowly creeping to his grave - as Shakespeare puts so aptly : "sans teeth, sans eyes, sans everthing." A study of mammals on the earth from rats to elephants shows that animals - barring accidents - live about six times their maturation rate.
For instance, a dog , which is fully matured in two years, usually lives about twelve years; thus man, maturing at twenty-five , should live to be 150.
There are excellent scientific indications that Vitamin E can be the most potent single factor in warding off old age - provided one obtains enough and can utilize it efficiently. Individuals vary so much in their demand for any nutritive substance that an individual (or a doctor) has to proceed by trial or by subjective and/or objective results in order to determine how much of any substance is needed. We have not yet achieved the robot stage whereby a standard squirt of Vitamin E (or other necessary material) will suffice to keep all the machines in good working order. It has been ascertained that the human utilizes only about 20 to 30 per cent of the Vitamin E he ingests. Therefore, some persons have to take more than others for the vitamin to be effective.
These are some of the major functions scientists 'know' about Vitamin E. There are many other functions, some of which , at present, they do not know; yet because the vitamin does produce observable reactions in animals and humans, researchers can make educated guesses.
Now let us explore a short history of the vitamin and try to ascertain why there has been such a time lag between its actual discovery and its widespread clinical acceptance and use.
The original researchers chose the laboratory rat because its nutritional needs are somewhat close to man's. The rat is, like man, an omnivore, ie., it eats almost anything including meat, vegetables and grains. The rat is even closer to man, nutritionally speaking , than most other species, including our "closest relatives," the apes, which eat vegetables and fruits primarily. The apes will not eat meat; neither will the horse or elephant, which may partially explain why these animals in the natural state have to spend practically all their waking time eating or looking for food. They have to supply their need for protein by eating large quantities of vegetation, rather than obtaining it in its concentrated form, which is meat, or animal products.
Vitamin E is absolutely essential for the rat in order to achieve reproduction. Certain other adult animals, such as chickens, lambs and cows , if deprived of Vitamin E, may reproduce , but their 'offspring' never get a chance to reproduce. The reason? Vitamin E starved chicks die of "crazy chick disease" (encephalomalacia), a disorder of the brain; lambs deprived of Vitamin E die of "stiff lamb disease", within days or weeks; minks and mink kits die of "yellow fat" disease. Reproduction is thus eliminated in the second generation because these animals die before they can reproduce. If the rat is deprived of Vitamin E, it either cannot reproduce or else the foetus is "resorbed" by the mother and there is no birth at all. This was a seemingly significant discovery at the time. It still is significant in the light of later research. However, the implication for the human being concerning reproduction was not long in being deduced. Vitamin E became known as the "fertility" vitamin. Then rapidly , because of the peculiar way that our society is constituted, Vitamin E achieved the medical status of being ranked along with Voronoff's "monkey glands" as a sexual rejuvenator. It is difficult to believe , in view of the thousands of reports published since then concerning its diverse roles in metabolism, that there are still some medical "authorities" who think of Vitamin E 'only' as a "fertility" substance. It does happen that some humans, both man and woman, are affected benificially by Vitamin E in the reproductive process, but that is a relatively minor factor - almost a side effect - of the vitamin when compared with its other capacities.
At first Vitamin E was also thought to be synonymous with wheat germ oil, but although wheat germ oil does contain some Vitamin E, the amount is usually not enough for therapeutic or even preventive dosages for the major degenerative diseases. But this fact was to be learned much later after many experiments and many scientific arguments. (Wheat germ oil, however, has additional stamina-building qualities other than that contained in Vitamin E and should be taken in conjunction with Vitamin E.) Thus , there were double curses cast upon Vitamin E; namely , (1) it was a "sexual" vitamin and, therefore, could not be tolerated in an ostensibly Puritanical society where sex was a dirty word; and (2) the early researchers did not have Vitamin E in sufficient quantities (they were using wheat germ oil). These early experiments were also confined to rats and rabbits for the most part, which hampered progress even more. And no one knew then that the wheat germ oil being used was probably turning rancid and, therefore, almost useless since rancidity not only destroys Vitamin E but has a most significant adverse effect on cellular metabolism.
However, to add an even more devastating road block in the path of the researchers, in 1937 Vitamin E was finally synthesized as a chemical laboratory product and more researchers began to use it, but no one was to know until 1962 that the synthetic product would be proved by the strictest tests to be only one-fifth as powerful as the product derived from natural sources. Meanwhile, many researchers were using synthetic products and claiming little results.
Most of the early workers were trying to establish Vitamin E's efficacy, or lack of it, in various types of animals and in the human - purely on its relationship to fertility - without having enough (as we know now) of the vitamin to make a valid test even on the reproductive basis. Yet these tests of twenty to thirty years ago are the ones now accepted and quoted by the medical authorities to prove that Vitamin E is worthless for the human body as a therapeutic agent 'of any kind.'
There were a few pioneers during this period who used Vitamin E for various ailments and who obtained good results, but, regrettably, these findings were never followed up. Therefore, Vitamin E encountered a long dry spell between 1922 and 1945, when Dr. Evan V. Shute of London, Ontario, Canada, began seriously to investigate Vitamin E. In the book, 'Alpha Tocopherol [Vitamin E] in Cardiovascular Disease' (1954), he describes how he arrived on the scene by a "series of lucky accidents". He had been intrigued by Vitamin E some years before (1936) but had "ignored the clues."
Now , Dr. Shute, a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (Canada) is one of Canada's ,most respected physicians. He is an obstetrician and gynecologist, but his interests in medicine are far-ranging. His brother, Wilfred, also a physician, leans more toward cardiovascular diseases.
Evan, as a child in Canada, qualified at a very early age for the rank of genius. He entered high school at the age of nine, a feat never surpassed in Canada. He sailed through high school, obtaining the highest standing in Essex County, Ontario, and then won a scholarship to the University of Toronto at the age of 14 - another record never before achieved in Canada. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1924 and three years later, his medical degree.
In 1933, Dr. Shute was made a Diplomate of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, which is quite an honor for a young physician. However, an even greater accolade was to follow two years later; he was selected as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (Canadian). Other honors followed in rapid succession, which we will not enumerate here due to lack of space, but we must mention that he has authored over 120 medical papers and has lectured at international medical meetings in London, New York, Naples, Venice, and Amsterdam. He is also listed in Canada's 'Who's Who', the 'directory of Medical Specialists', the 'American Men of Science', and American Men of Medicine.
We felt it necessary to aquaint the reader with Dr. Shute's accomplishments and recognitions in the field of orthodox medicine so that no one could possibly question his medical background. Now we will return to the history of his discovery
. Together, the brothers Shute had begun treatment of cardiovascular disease with Vitamin E as early as 1936-37 but, as they term these studies now, they were "abortive." Preparations of the substance were poor and lack of facilities curtailed their research. Nevertheless the results obtained were so suggestive that they never forgot them.
In 1945, due to a brilliant type of research which Dr. Evan Shute proposed to a doctoral candidate, Floyd Skelton, the intriguing question of Vitamin E's efficacy in the matter of blood coagulation arose. Purpura (a bad blockage of the smaller blood vessels) was induced in dogs - the animals chosen for the experiment - and then relieved by large doses of vitamin E. Skelton's (now Dr.) research proved so fascinating that Dr. Shute resolved to try Vitamin E on a human patient. The patient they selected was in the last stages of purpura. His doctors were considering removing his spleen in the hope that somehow the condition could be helped.
Now, removal of the spleen is a most serious operation - for the patient, that is - since the spleen is foremost among those organs and tissues which comprise the body's natural line of defense against infections and diseases of all types. This natural defense mechanism is termed the 'reticul-endothelial system' (RES). Among the RES's many activities is the manufacture of antibodies and white corpuscles.
An operation, however, was not actually possible since the patient had severe heart failure. You cannot remove a man's spleen when he is suffering desperately from heart disease. Therefore, researcher Skelton and Dr. Shute, calculating on the basis of the dosage used to cure the dogs of purpura, administered 200 IU of Vitamin E a day to their despairing patient. This dosage was much higher than had ever been used before in treating human beings. Today we know this dosage is extremely low; it helps to explain why some researchers could not obtain uniform or even satisfactory results.
Even so, the patient's heart trouble quickly disappeared - 'before' his purpura, though that, too, yielded under the onslaught of the then mysterious substance called Vitamin E.
You can imagine Dr. Shute's thoughts at the miracle accomplished by the administration of a 'mere' vitamin, the dosage of which would appear as an infinitesimal speck in the palm of a man's hand. Reacting as a true scientist, he immediately looked about for more patients - only those with heart disease this time - on whom he could again test Vitamin E.
He did not have far to look. His erstwhile barber was now dying from recurrent coronary thrombosis (the disease which kills more than half the men over 45). The barber was in the last stages of heart failure, complicated by a type of angina which was extremely painful and which no anodyne could relieve. Now anyone who has suffered angina knows it is one of the most "painful pains" known to man and also one of the most terrifying. When you know it is your heart which is sending out this most urgent call for relief , it is a slightly different matter from suffering from any other pain. You know, for instance, that the almost unendurable pain experienced in the aftermath of a torn-off leg or even that of a migraine headache will eventually disappear and that your life will be saved if you are in competent medical hands. But, in this case, you know that if your heart stops functioning , 'you' stop functioning also.
There are millions of persons who are now enduring exactly the same type of pain from the same type of disease which Dr. Shute's barber was suffering in 1945. Very likely they could have helped if Dr. Shute's findings had become common knowledge in that year and in the succeeding years. Fortunately for Dr. Shute's dying barber, after being treated with Vitamin E for three weeks, 'he was playing the drums in one of the local theater.' We may assume that he had returned to his regular profession of cutting hair as well, although this information is not vouchsafed to us by Dr. Shute in his book.
Next, the Shute brothers treated their mother with Vitamin E. She was suffering from severe 'angina pectoris'. Again the vitamin worked; their mother's gripping pains ceased , and she was able to resume her normal activities.
Encouraged by these results (and who wouldn't be?), the Shute brothers, with the assistance of Dr. Arthur Vogelsang, a general practitioner and former student of Dr. Evan Shute, began a series of treatments on persons suffering from cardiovascular diseases.
Their results were as phenomenal as those previously described.
At the time of compiling their monumental work in 1954, Drs. Shute, et al., had treated more than 10,000 heart patients - with fantastic , scarcely - credible results (now over 20,000) .
Overnight the picture of gloom which had pervaded the whole area of heart disease was changed into the bright, glowing colors of optimism. At least that is what the Shutes thought. And that is, of course, what should have occurred.
But the Shutes had to learn the hard way. One would have expected that the medical profession and the medical journals would have seized upon this radical discovery when it was backed up by the most careful type of scientific evidence. This evidence included , naturally, the living, now normal patients who had been doomed to die. The patients possessed undeniable records of their illness as well as physical proof of their return to healthy living. Almost none of the diagnoses of heart disease were made initially by the Shutes - these were patients given up as "hopeless" by cardiac specialists.
The Shutes expected that the medical journal to which they sent their report would be proud to be the 'first' medical journal to break the news to doctors - and therefore the world - that finally a 'real key to heart disease' had been found with indisputable proof. To their amazement the Shutes' report was rejected. The doctors thought there must be some mistake. However, the second medical journal refused to publish also, as did the third. As Dr. Evan Shute puts it in his book in a classic masterpiece of understatement: "To give some slight indication of our problem, we once had resigned ourselves to being unable to publish our work in any medical journal. We sought unsuccessfully to register our manuscripts with the National Research Council of Canada, planning then to retire from this field of endeavor."
However, "The Council felt unable to assist us in this way, so we 'perforce' continued our studies." (The italics are mine.)
The Shutes were forced to continue their research with Vitamin E because they could not abandon their search for the truth in spite of official scepticism and opposition. They eventually founded the non-profit Shute Foundation for Medical Research and have since 1954 treated successfully many thousands of heart disease sufferers. They have collected reports from all over the world , attesting to the value of Vitamin E not only in heart disease but in many other ailments afflicting human beings.
As Dr. Shute relates it in his book, heart specialists (cardiologists) condemned his findings at first sight without ever reading the evidence. Similar experiences have occurred to other scientists. Witness Dr. Emil Grubbe's long fight to gain acceptance for X-ray therapy which he discovered in 1896, only a few weeks after Roentgen made his monumental discovery of the mysterious, invisible rays. Although Grubbe had demonstrated clearly on the first patient that X-rays were capable of shrinking cancer and relieving pain, the findings were bitterly attacked by the orthodox groups, particularly the surgeons.
Almost everyone who issues medical information emanating from orthodox sources or writes directly from their press handouts conveniently ignores the scandalous fact that X-ray was not recognized as an agent for treating cancer by the American College of Surgeons until 1937! And that Dr. Grubbe, the discoverer of X-ray therapy (for cancer and other diseases) still was not recognized as late as 1951! A former medical pupil of Dr. Grubbe (Dr. George Park, a researcher and also a practicing physician in Chicago) informed me in the early part of 1951 of this shameful neglect on the part of the medical profession.
I investigated this and found the startling tale to be , indeed, true; Dr. Grubbe, then living in obscurity and suffering from X-ray burns incurred before anyone knew that the mysterious, invisible rays could damage human flesh, produced all the scientific evidence, all the documentation necessary to prove that he was the first man on our planet to apply Roentgen's discovery to medical healing. (Actually , Grubbe had been experimenting with X-rays 'before' Roentgen announced his finding; Grubbe had been badly burned by X-rays previously in his experiments with Crookes' tubes, which generated radiation though no one knew what radiation was at that time.)
Another classic example of such authoritative thinking occurred in 1934. This was Dr. Gibbs who today is recognized as being the pioneer of the electroencephalograph (EEG). He exhibited his machine to the annual American Medical Association meeting in 1934.
Again, the medical profession failed to recognize the value of a new discovery.
These few, yet meaningful examples of how the process of modern medicine has been impeded will prepare the reader for what follows in the case of Vitamin E.
When I asked Dr. Grubbe what he thought was the reason for the authorities fighting the x-ray for so long, he replied bluntly: "The surgeons. They controlled medicine, and they regarded the X-ray as a threat to surgery. At that time surgery was the only approved method of treating cancer. They meant to keep it the 'only' appoved method by ignoring or rejecting any new methods or ideas. This is why I was called a 'quack' and nearly ejected from hospitals where I had practiced for years."
By the time the American College of Surgeons was finally forced to admit that radiation therapy did not constitute a threat to surgery - indeed was most often a necessary part of the orthodox treatment of cancer - it was much too embarrassing for their leaders to recognize a man who had been persecuted by them for forty-one years. It was much more convenient to ignore him altogether in the hope that no one would ever drag 'that' skeleton out of their medical closet.
It is ironic that the radiologists who are now under the protective aegis of the AMA,et al., have no concept of their indebtedness to a courageous pioneer who made their good living possible and that these same doctors are now in the forefront of those who are fighting any other unorthodox approach to the treatment of cancer.
What happened to Dr. Shute after the publication of his book in 1954? Remember the heart disease cases treated by the Shutes 'alone' by that time totalled 10,000. Other eminent researchers had treated thousands more. Almost all had attested to the marvelous effect of Vitamin E. Dr. Shute thought the final victory of Vitamin E would be secured by publication of such overwhelming evidence.
He wrote: "It's [Vitamin E's] place as an essential item in normal cardiovascular physiology seems to have been finally established ... however we can testify that this has been firmly exhilarating if exhausting chase. And we know how a fox feels."
As time proved , Dr. Shute was underestimating the hunters. They would not withdraw from the chase in spite of the publication of an enormous amount of favorable scientific evidence. He was to learn that no matter how much evidence he and his fellow researchers would amass during the next decade, the organized groups would ignore and deprecate all such evidence. Further, he would learn to his sorrow that mere deprecation and adverse aspersions would not be all he ( and other workers ) would suffer.
It must have come as a great shock to the Drs. Shute to learn that doctors in their own city of London, Ontario, who had witnessed first hand the amazing results of Vitamin E and who were indeed using it 'themselves', were not prescribing if for their patients! And most of those 'courageous' few who did prescribe it for their patients made their prescriptions valid only in another city because they did not wish to be known as a doctor who prescribes vitamin E! To the uninitiated , this may seem incredible ; yet the record stands and is there for all to see. This amazing fact - though somewhat disillusioning to followers of TV's hero doctors - was printed in 'Macleans Magazine', one of Canada's foremost popular publications. It was later recounted in 'Prevention' magazine in order that American readers might obtain some of the sordid, yet factual and realistic , circumstances surrounding today's practice of medicine.
The article must have shocked the American public , which is used to hearing the authorities proclaiming that the conquest of heart disease is just around the corner but that there are as yet no knowm remedies for heart disease or circulatory disease except those now in common use. Readers of popular magazines and viewers of television programs have been told the same story over and over again. All these media ignored the mountains of facts about Vitamin E which have been accumulated during the past twenty years.
A slight break in this wall of resistance occurred in the fall of 1959 when the United States Food and Drug Administration was forced to recognize that Vitamin E was just as essential to the welfare of the human body as vitamins A, D, the B-complex, and several other vitamins are acknowledged to be. For twenty years, this agency had been ignoring the evidence, following the practice of the orthodox medical groups. Far from having any favorable effects on heart disease , such as those reported by the Drs. Shute and hundreds of other researchers, the vitamin was not even deemed necessary for normal metabolism in the human being. In fact, prior to the 1959 ruling , the FDA would seize any Vitamin E product which carried a claim that it 'was' essential in human nutrition.
However, as we have stated previously , when researchers, such as Dr. M.K Horwitt at the Elgin State Hospital in Elgin, Illinois, proved conclusively that a deficiency of Vitamin E in the blood of the human being produces the destruction of red blood cells, the FDA statement was released. (There 'are' courageous researchers in this country who pursue their experiments in spite of official opinion, and these are the ones we have to thank for our knowledge of many new medical developements.)
The release was, in effect, a counter-attack on those researchers who had demonstrated that Vitamin E was essential in human nutrition, for it stated that while Vitamin E had been officially declared as necessary in human nutrition, there was absolutely no need for anyone to be concerned about it since everyone in America received an ample supply of Vitamin E in his daily diet. In fact, judging from the stories in the press, one received the impression that Vitamin E was of no real importance at all. The FDA press release went even further, disparaging those researchers who maintained that massive doses of Vitamin E would benefit the body at all. The solid records of Shute and many other researchers in every civilized country in the world were dismissed as "wild claims."
HOME Of course, Dr. Shute was dismayed by the sheer effrontery of any official agency which could blithely dismiss all the positive evidence for Vitamin E and, indeed , use the occasion of its admission to the official list of "necessary" vitamins as a springboard for a vicious attack against it. The top FDA officials are also quick to attach a label as "quack" or "food faddist" to anyone who maintains that extra supplements of vitamins should be included in the diet. Yet the fallacy in this line of attack is adequately revealed by the numerous clinical studies reported in the medical journals. These reports and ads, of course are rarely seen by the public.
It seems that vitamin supplements are excellent, indeed, if prescribed by a physician, but highly unnecessary if the individual takes them on his own.
In the case of Vitamin E, here is a letter from Dr. Shute sent to the Better Business Bureau concerning the FDA release and the subsequent BBB Service Bulletin based upon the release:
January 5, 1960 National Better Business Bureau, Inc. Chrysler Building New York 17, NY Dear Sirs: I have just seen the little Service Bulletin of November 4th last, which deals with the "Wild Claims for Vitamin E." As so many of these so-called 'wild claims" have emanated from me in the last 15 years, it is probably right that I should make some comment on your last item. The first thing that I should point out to you, perhaps, is that these "wild claims" have received so much credence now, that the writer has discussed them by invitation at international meetngs in many countries in the last few years, including the Third World Congress on Vitamin E at Venice in 1955, the Third International Congress on Fertility and Sterility in Naples in 1956, as well as the Second of these Congresses held in New York in 1953, the World Congress on Angiology at San Remo in 1958, and the World Congress on Fertility and Sterility in Amsterdam in 1959. On January 12th next I am to give a lecture by invitation on "The Uses of Vitamin E in Obstetrics and Vascular Disease" at the Pan-American Fertility Congress in Miami Beach. There also have been many publications on this topic in English-speaking medical journals throughout the world. You can see, therefore, that perhaps these [claims] are not quite so "wild" as the FDA would suggest.
Now let me give some information on the background of some other remarks in your Service Bulletin. You begin by quoting the hoary old chestnut that "the daily diet provides more than adequate amounts of Vitamin E for the average individual."
There is no scientific evidence for this whatsoeverr. As a matter of fact every worker who has investigated this particular point has come up with a conclusion which is widely different. Vitamin E, of course, is medical slang and refers to a complex of seven tocopherols, the significant being 'alpha'. It has definitely been established by every worker in the field that the average requirement of alpha tocopherol is 30 international units per day. All sorts of studies made on Dutch and American diets indicate that the average of these diets provides no more than 12 IU a day and perhaps much closer to 6 IU. I don't know how this can be represented as "adequate." In fact, every scientist in the field would say that the average American exists in a chronic state of alpha tocopherol starvation.
The latest of these workers is Horwitt, and it is his work which has recently forced the FDA to revise the statement it has long forced pharmaceutical houses to include in the label of every bottle of Vitamin E [that Vitamin E has not been shown to be necessary to human nutrition] . He showed that since the requirement of alpha tocopherol was 30 IU a day, anything less than this tended to haemolyse [destroy] the red blood cells in human circulation. In other words, intakes averaging less than this jeopardized the red blood cells and human health. This ejected the FDA from the stand they had taken for so many years, but which it should never have taken since Engel and Harris and Quaife had shown at least ten years ago that 30 IU was the actual requirement of the human, and had also shown that the average American diet did not have this content. The FDA has been making a serious mistake for the last ten years. It is not its only mistake, and no doubt not its last mistake, but at least a mistake of such dimensions should give you pause before you issue such silly pronouncements as this Service Bulletin contains.
I presume the FDA derives much of its information upon the uselessness of Vitamin E for such diseases as sterility, and so on, heart disease and muscular dystrophy from the American Medical Association. And the American Medical Association has had no problem in this field too.It began by pointing out that about ten years ago there was no evidence that Vitamin E was of value to cardiovascular disease. This was a tremendous mistake, of course. Everyone [except in the United States] now knows that it is very valuable for vascular conditions. Indeed, at the Venice Conference of Vitamin E in 1955 Professor Comel of Italy suggested that the vitamin should henceforth be called the 'angiophilic' vitamin because the most outstanding thing about this vitamin was not that it was useful for sterility , but it was useful for vascular conditions of all kinds. There was much evidence for this, of course, when the American Medical Association first began making its derogatory remarks. It is only lately that it has pulled in its horns on vascular disease. Curiously enough, the world medical literature contains some hundreds of useful articles supporting our "wild claims" of 1946 that Vitamin E was useful for heart disease. We continue to wonder how the medical chorus can be overlooked. Surely all of us cannot be wrong. But the American Medical Association can, and it no longer speaks in a derogatory way of the use of vitamin E in vascular disease. I suppose it scarcely could continue to do so ever since articles in American medical journals, such as Kawahara (Surgery 46:768, 1959).
I hope that you will have a better understanding of the Vitamin E problem in therapeutics after this note, and I hope that you will be a little slower after this to issue Service Bulletins with factual bases so imperfect. Sincerely yours Evan. V. Shute.,FRCS(C)
There are literally thousands of scientific studies , some proving that Vitamin E deficiency will cause heart failure, muscular dystrophy, brain and neurological disorders, reproductive failures, and several other grave ailments which usually prove fatal.
Other studies demonstrate the value of adding Vitamin E to the diet of "normal" animals fed a "normal" diet. Still other experiments prove that Vitamin E will "regenerate" old and aging animals to the point where they are "youthful" again. Indeed, notably in domesticated animals such as dogs, cats and horses (among others), Vitamin E therapy will "reverse" the aging process for a time. And still other experiments on racing greyhounds and racing horses demonstrate beyond any scientific doubt that the vitamin, when given in adequate amounts, will definitely aid an animal which was already considered to be in superb health or "top form". Human studies bear out the results achieved on animals, as we shall see later.
An important point to remember about animal experimentation is that most of the experiments were "controlled": one group was fed a "normal" diet; another group deprived of Vitamin E; still another received extra supplements of the vitamin. And a most important factor: the animals , of course , did not know they were the subjects of experimentation; they merely ate what was offered them. No doctor put on his best bedside manner and said to the animals : "Now what I'm giving you may help you - it's a new type of therapy." Neither did he look his animal "patients" in the eye and intone hypnotically, "I'm sure you are going to get well. This remedy will work wonders for you."
Anyone who is familiar with medicine knows the "placebo" effect: patients are given harmless, though inactive, pills and in a controlled study, are compared with patients who are given what purports to be an active remedy. Such is the power of the human mind that the mere thought of receiving benefit enables many of those receiving placebos to get better. Thus, placebos are able to accomplish up to 40 per cent improvement in many illnesses. This strikingly high percentage often approximates the record for the proposed remedy. Sometimes it even surpasses it, if the remedy is toxic and produces harmful side effects. you can see why any medical researcher should be extremely careful in evaluating any new agent on human beings.
However, the placebo effect usually lasts for only a few days, weeks, or possibly months, depending upon the conditions under which the experiment is being conducted. For instance, the placebo improvement almost never continues more than a few days or weeks in the serious illnesses of man such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, or muscular dystrophy, to mention a few. Yet there is no question that pain - even severe pain such as that experienced in the last stages of cancers, in tooth extraction, in childbirth, even major operations - can frequently be eliminated by an expert in hypnosis. In some respects, the process governing the placebo effect is similar to that of hypnosis. In both cases it is the mind of the patient which accomplishes the often astounding results.
With animals, the placebo effect is non-existent of course. Man has never been able to communicate sufficiently well with the lower species so as to induce the placebo effect as he can in his own more creative and, therefore, imaginative genre. In other words, doctors cannot induce rats, monkeys, dogs, cats, guinea pigs, minks, foxes, cattle, horses, sheep, chickens, and turkeys into thinking they are being helped by supplements of Vitamin E. The objective results are the only elements to reckon with in animal treatments. Some doctors have advanced the hypothesis that Vitamin E produces only a placebo effect in the treatment of human heart disease. (They do not explain the animal results.) yet there are scores of controlled studies in man, too, which adequately demonstrate that vitamin E 'physiologically'. not psychologically , performs all the essential functions we have reported thus far. But that is for another chapter. For the moment we are concerned with the evidence from our animal friends, which no amount of glib or tortuous reasoning can refute.
We will not go into detail here, but it has been found that healthy rats supplemented with Vitamin E , when compared with healthy rats that were not supplemented , as well as those made deficient in Vitamin E, could swim much longer, could withstand high altitudes 100 per cent better ( this experiment was done in a "decompression chamber" such as our astronauts use in training) , and could run the "treadmill" longer (a wheellike device which goes around endlessly as long as the animal or human is able to run).
Further, as even more objective proof, when autopsied after being sacrificed, the Vitamin E - supplemented rats did not show the same damaging effects on their lungs, kidneys, livers, and other vital organs as did their litter mates who received the same grueling, stressful experiences without Vitamin E supplementation.
Dr. F. Vaccari of Italy has demonstrated that the heart of a frog, when excised from its body and bathed in a solution containing Vitamin E, will beat nearly half again as long as the heart of a frog bathed in normal saline or other nutrient solutions. The foregoing and other studies show objectively, both in the laboratory and outside it, by testing of performance, that Vitamin E can and does enhance the function of the heart and circulatory system.
We have mentioned Vitamin E deficiencies produced in animals and how they invariably lead to death , preceded, or course , by symptoms which are characteristic of the particular species. The mink , for instance , when fed a diet deficient in Vitamin E, develops what is known as "yellow fat" disease. Before it was descovered that a shortage of Vitamin E was the cause of yellow fat disease , the mortality among mink was enormous. Now , of course, no mink farmer dares 'not' to feed his mink extra Vitamin E supplements. Approximately the same rules of Vitamin E supplementation apply to fox farmers as well.
Raising these animals means quite a bit of money in initial costs and upkeep. And, let us not forget another necessary factor, profit. These animals must have the best in nutrition , and now, thanks to Vitamin E researchers, they get it. Ironically , the farmer himself probably doesn't take the Vitamin E supplement upon which he knows his animals depend for their well being and, in fact, must have in order to produce healthy offspring and to become "marketable" themselves. But the human being is rather slow to learn, particularly if he has been told by an authority that Vitamin E supplements for 'him' are absolutely unnecessary. So he dies of a heart attack while feeding his animals the very substance which would have saved his own life!
But minks and foxes are not the only commercially raised animals which need Vitamin E supplementation. You now find the E supplements in chicken and turkey feed. When not fed enough Vitamin E , both these fowls develope peculiarities which lead to their early demise. However, supplements of Vitamin E in their food prevent these diseases, and they are able to bear healthy offspring, which , if Vitamin E-supplemented , will grace your table.
As previously noted, deprivation of E in sheep causes the "stiff-lamb" disease, which means that the lamb dies shortly after birth unless it receives E supplements immediately. Some of the pioneer work on Vitamin-E-deficient lambs and sheep was conducted by F. A. Bacigalupo, R. Culik, et al., and reported in the "Journal of Animal Science" in 1952. Thus, there will be no new generation. Calves born from cows deprived of Vitamin E manifest somewhat the same symptoms. In cattle, the symptoms resemble muscular dystrophy. However, there is little danger now of animals being deprived of an adequate supply of Vitamin E because farmers and the pharmaceutical houses have been alerted to the danger.
Now, let us consider old dogs and cats. For our evidence here, among others, we have N.H. Lambert, a famous veterinarian of Dublin, who is a Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, a title not perfunctorily granted. Dr. Lambert's other credits are many and varied , for his special talent seems to be the capacity for original thinking and the willingness to experiment no matter what the opposition.
He had read of Dr. Shute's work in Canada on humans; forthwith, he resolved to test Vitamin E on some of his old dog "heart patients". His very first case treated with Vitamin E astounded both Dr. Lambert (who was prepared for a favourable effect) and the owner of the dog. Shortened, Dr. Lambert's report reads: "An eleven - year - old Griffon bitch in very poor physical condition [after the usual conventional treatments] .. the heart was rapidly deteriorating. The owner implored me to do anything to save the bitch's life. At this stage she was having frequent heart attacks, was very wasted, was almost too weak to stand , and had to be hand-fed with liquids." Vitamin E was administered , 3 IU three times a day . "After the first day, a slight improvement was noticed; this improvement was maintained and in fourteen days the dog was moving around , barking and actually looking for food. The result was spectacular, and her owner stated two months later that she was younger in her ways than [she had been] for the past three years. Nearly twelve months after treatment started, she played like a pup, had a fine glossy coat, and her first normal heat in four years, followed by a phantom pregnancy!" Phantom pregnancy approximates a 'false" or pseudo-pregnancy in the human; that is, some of the signs and symptoms of pregnancy are present, except for the actual existence of the foetus in the womb. This dog enjoyed "excellent health" for several more years , until finally old age overtook her as it customarily does with every living creature. Her owner reluctantly requested euthanasia.
Dr. Lamberts second case was a twelve year old fox terrier. The symptoms were coughing and a disclination to go for walks. The terrier was very weak and refused all food. Dr. Lambert's examination revealed endocarditis (inflammation of the lining membrane of the heart) and heart dilation. The dog was given 3 IU of Vitamin E three times a day to start. It improved slowly , according to Dr. Lambert's reports; the owner noticed it was "rejuvenated and played again like a pup."
The third case offered here - an eight-year-old Red Setter - is a fitting tribute to most men's ignorance fostered by the orthodox who think that if a remedy works, it should be stopped when the patient gets better.
This dog had a large 'adenoma' (tumor) of the anus which was being partially regressed by the administration of a synthetic female hormone. (Often in the human, treatments with hormones of the opposite sex will temporarily regress a cancer in the sexual regions. For instance, males with cancer of the prostrate gland will frequently obtain relief through administration of the female hormone , estrogen.)
But the owner of this dog was taking him out regularly for hunting, which some animal lovers may consider reprehensible, since the owner was aware of the dog's serious condition. However, six weeks later, the dog was brought in again. He had collapsed several times while hunting, and when seen the second time by Dr. Lambert, he was "very wasted, with laboured breathing, and coughing a great deal." Dr.Lambert's examination demonstrated "advanced endocarditis and cardiac dilation," which proves what a dog will do for his master.
He was treated with Vitamin E . "An immediate improvement was noticed by the owner, and as little as a week later, the dog... was in good form and breathing normally." Dr. Lambert advised gradual increase of diet and exercise. Hunting, naturally, was forbidden. However, three weeks later, when the irrepressible hunter returned with his dog, he related he had just returned from giving the dog "a three-days shooting" and that he was "nearly as good as ever."
As Dr. Lambert states rather scientifically , although we can note his disapproval between the lines, "the owner put the dog through a regular hunting season , giving him Vitamin E, when he appeared tired." The next season , the hunter did not give the dog any Vitamin E. It is not surprising that halfway through the hunting season , the old, faithful dog dropped dead in "the middle of the second day's shoot."
Although Dr. Lambert has scores of cases similar to the aforementioned , we must content ourselves with two more examples.
A sixteen-year-old neutered cat had collapsed with a heart attack and , when seen by Dr. Lambert, had a very rapid and weak pulse. It could not walk straight. After Vitamin E therapy , however, this old cat made what most would call a "miraculous" recovery. It developed "kittenish" habits and looked younger than it had five years before.
The following case is also most significant, especially if one is interested in racing. The owner of a twenty-months-old racing greyhound came to Dr. Lambert. The dog had won its first 525-yard race in 30.9 seconds. However, following this race it dwindled away, condition and energy gone. It was rested for a month, but this usual procedure had little beneficent effect. It just stopped before the finish line in its next race. It was then rested for two months. In another race in which it was finally tried it stopped at 300 yards and pitifully 'crawled' to the finish line. This act of courage revealed its fighting spirtit , as well as its ill health.
When it was brought to Dr. Lambert's clinic , the greyhound was immediately diagnosed as a heart disease case and put on Vitamin E therapy. To quote the exact words of Dr. Lambert; "He improved beyond belief and has since won seven races, is very fit and the heart appears normal."
And have you read about the "brave bulls" which are supposed to charge the men opposing them until they are dispatched in the so-called, much-publicized "moment of truth"? There are, of course, many bulls that are sacrificed in this fashion in the Spanish bull rings every year. Yet who is aware that many bulls, in spite of their deliberately inbred and carefully fostered hatred of man, really cannot perform properly in the arena due to a lack of Vitamin E?
Many bulls who apparently would like to gore their tormentors cannot do so because they fall down in the fight before being killed by the gracefully performing matador or his cohorts. They are victims of what we call either "strokes" or "heart failures" in humans. Yet even after their seizures, some try nobly to perform their set roles in the drama of the bullfight, but usually they are unable to carry on; in the end , all are knifed and wheeled away, classified as cowards by the watching humans, who would think themselves extraordinarily courageous if 'they' could, after suffering a heart attack, stagger to the nearest telephone or doctor's office. Now, however, we have the benefit of some Spanish investigators who have determined the cause for the failure of some bulls to continue performing in the ring. Dr. D. Jordano and Dr. C. Gaspar Gomez studied 513 bulls who fell in the ring before they could be killed. They concluded that the circulatory and central nervous systems were drastically affected and that there was a "direct relationship between this condition and Vitamin-E deficiency."
Let us now examine horse racing. When we say horse racing we also include horse breeding. These are the two factors with which we are concerned. The original experiments with Vitamin E in horse racing and horse breeding were undertaken at the Windfields Farm, Toronto, Canada, and the National Stud Farm in Oshawa, Canada. The owner of both farms, E. P. Taylor, offered his entire stock of thoroughbred racers for the experiment with Vitamin E. The plan for the experiment was devised by Dr. Evan Shute and William Jay Gutterson, President of Webber Pharmaceuticals, Limited, Toronto, Canada, which organization supplied the Vitamin E. The report on the results of the two-year study was issued by F. G. Darlington, manager of the farms and the experiment, and J. B. Chassels, a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, both of whom supervised the experiments. The farm began its study of Vitamin E supplementation midway in the racing season of 1955. All concerned were so impressed with the results that the study was continued into the following year (and, of course, continues to the present day, but we are now dealing with the original experiments). The authors of the study put the problem very practically. In fact the subtitle of one of their papers is termed quite appropriately: "Practical Aspects of a Racing Study." The authors state:
"The successful operation of a racing stable depends on consistency of performance. An owner is vitally interested in the number of races per start that is won. If horses are not winning, it is of paramount importance that they be in the money a good percentage of the time, since second and third monies sometimes contribute 50 per cent of a stable's earnings. In Canada, a racing stable must win an average of two and a half races per horse per year in order to break even, and its horses should be in the money at least one-third of the times they run."
As you know, horse racing is a business as well as a sport. This means no nonsense or crackpot schemes are tolerated. Nothing matters which does not ring the cash register enough to warrant a continuance of the methods employed in the business-sport.
I quote from the summary of the Darlington-Chassels Report :
"The percentage of wins per horse was 2.7 (cf. 2.3 last year [when the Vitamin E experiment began] and 1.8 in 1954, the year before the tocopherol experiment began)." Thus we see that the percentage of wins increase approximately two-thirds under Vitamin E supplementation.
Further, the farm found that, although the percentage of wins per horse jumped from 1.8 to 2.3 in the first year of Vitamin E supplementation, the horses hit their peak of efficiency the following year when their dosages were doubled or tripled. The horse's earnings, where the same horses were compared in the two years, also increased approximately two-thirds on the larger dose - $46,405 vs. $76,410, to be exact. Remember this is a comparison between 'small' and 'large' doses of Vitamin E, 'not' among animals not receiving it at all.
In 1956, having increased the number of animals taking Vitamin E, the farm's actual take was $196,685 vs. $88,260 the previous year. The number of winners was 95 compared with 80. The number of seconds ("place") increased from 25 to 40, and the number of third running horses ("show") increased from 17 to 30.
These are the cold, hard,cash facts. Not only did the farm ascertain that Vitamin E improved its earnings very considerably, but there were many other favorable aspects. Race horses are notoriously "high-strung"; and some refuse to eat properly. The trainers found that under Vitamin E therapy almost all of these "too-nervous" horses were gradually quieted and began normal feeding, concomitant with their greatly improved performances on the track. (This calming effect was first discovered on human beings by German researchers, who called Vitamin E, "nature's own tranquilizer.")
Let us now take a couple of typical examples of how Vitamin E worked in the equine racing experiment. Listed in the report is horse #12, a stallion six years old. As the report points out, most race horses have passed their peak at that age. Two years previously, as a four-year-old and before receiving Vitamin E, #12 made twelve starts, winning one race, coming in second in another, and third in still another. His earnings that year were $2,595, his average per race being $216. On April 10, 1955, #12 began receiving 800 units of Vitamin E daily. On August 15, this dose was increased to 2,000 units. That season, the horse made fourteen starts, winning five times, "placing" three times, and "showing" once. His earnings jumped to $10,090, his average per race being $721.
By that time the experimenters had decided that Vitamin E should be maintained all during the year, not just during the racing season: accordingly #12 was placed on a 1,000 unit dosage daily during the winter. At the start of the racing season of 1956, this dosage was increased to 2,000 units daily. In that year, when the horse should have been giving signs of "slipping" and his owners should have been thinking about putting him out to stud, he 'made his best record'. In thirteen starts, he won five, "placed" in three, and "showed" once. His earnings were $13,355, and his average per race was $1,027. On the record, this appears approximately similar to the preceding year. But #12 showed more stamina and ran better and faster than the preceding year. According to the report, on one occasion he established a new track record! Most significantly , in five of six races 'throughout the year' there was not three fifths of a second's difference in his time. The "old hoss" showed what he was made of and what could be done, abetted of course with Vitamin E. He, like every horse in the stable , was given a double dose of Vitamin E prior to each race. And often, on the morning of the race, the racers were again given a double dose to increase muscualar stamina and utilization of oxygen.
As for the "nervous" and "poor feeding" horses, the Darlington-Chassels Report states: "... the first week we gave 5,000 units daily, the second week 3,000 units, afterward 2,000. We had three horses where this regime was not entirely successful; in each of these cases we went back to the higher dosage and started over again. 'We did not have a failure finally.'" (Emphasis mine.)
There are many such examples of a Vitamin E-supplemented horse "coming back" or exceeding what he or she ever did. In fact, as if we needed more proof , during the racing season, Vitamin E was cut down or out and then reinstated. 'The performance of the horse directly followed the pattern of the Vitamin E intake.'
For scientists and anyone else, I recommend a complete perusal of the Darlington-Chassels Report which is available in the December, 1955, Summary.
A word of caution,however. Vitamin E will never make a winner out of a "plug". It can never take the place of heredity, a good diet, and excellent training. When an athlete competes ( and the horse certainly is an athlete ), he must be at the top of his form. Vitamin E increases his capacity even when he is considered in "top form." (This , of course, does not mean that Vitamin E will not benefit those organisms - human or horses - which are not in top shape. It means merely that in any competitive endeavor, athletes must be at their best. Vitamin E makes them "better than best.")
Of course, there are many questions which were asked about Vitamin E's effectiveness in horse racing. Most, as may be expected, came from owners and trainers of racehorses. Chief among these questions: What is the exact way in which alpha tocopherol (Vitamin E) brings about these helpful changes in the body of a racehorse? Answer, Darlington-Chassels Report:
It enables the tissues of the body to do the same job on less oxygen, it is as if one strapped an aqua-lung [with oxygen] on the horse's back. It opens up huge reserves of capillary circulation, sets vessels not ordinarily used but waiting there for emergency demands. It helps to control the passage of fluids through the walls of blood vessels. It may even be a direct stimulant of muscle power. It improves the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. These are just a few of its unique and helpful properties.
HOME Q. how much do horses improve? [With Vitamin E therapy]
A. The degree of improvement that does take place depends entirely upon the class of animal being worked with. In a general way , it will bring horses close to their best effort, provided their physical condition and soundness are in good order.
Q.Have you had corroborative reports from other owners and trainers?
A. yes, we have had many but not as many and of the type we would like to have. [Here are scientists speaking who want experiments performed in the completely objective, scientific manner in which the Darlington-Chassels study was done.] The reason for this seems to be that if an alpha-tocopherol-treated horse does improve, its owner or trainer wants to take the credit.
Q. Are you continuing the experiments?
A. Of course...some very interesting avenues have been opened up through some of our inquiries and a great deal of work is now under way in some of the leading universities in America...
Unfortunately, the time lag between medical findings and their reaching the general public is so long that it may be quite some time before these results are made available. Vitamin E, of course, is not classified by any government as a drug or narcotic. But it also is not recognized by official medical agencies that the vitamin will produce any extra benefits on either animals or men, even if they take more than the minimum daily requirement as suggested by the National Research Council.
As we have mentioned, it is the pharmacological effect of massive dosages which produces the beneficial results noted here; its action is then as a drug or a medicine , not a vitamin 'per se'. In the human, in the U.S., the minimum daily requirement happens to be set at six units a day, a ridiculously low figure, as we have seen in Dr. Shute's letter.
Another report , issued by Darlington-Chassels covering five years instead of two, appears in 'The Summary', Dec., 1960. The report confirms the original findings, but most of this later study was devoted to the breeding of thoroughbreds rather than to racing. We shall examine this report shortly. However, in a summary of their findings, Darlington-Chassels state rather tersely: "The performance of the racehorses of this stable reached a new high in Canada during the progress of this study." Indeed, they did. For instance, according to the Report, the "best horse ever sired in Canada, Victoria Park, was by Chop Chop , the oldest stud , when he was 16." Chop Chop as well as Victoria Park's mother, received ample supplies of Vitamin E before he [Victoria Park] was conceived, and he was trained and raced under Vitamin E therapy. He was declared "Horse of the Year" in Canada in 1960 after winning $250,076. He had placed third in the Kentucky Derby. However, an accident prevented his continuing his most promising racing career and he was retired to stud at the age of three, just when most colts are beginning their careers.
Probably the most dramatic Vitamin E-bred and trained horse is Northern Dancer, the little three-year-old colt who was offered for sale for t$25,000 with no takers. To date, Northern Dancer has earned close to $2,000,000, winning the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness and placing third in the Belmont. The little Vitamin E-sired and trained horse has won 14 of 17 starts and has never finished out of the money.
In the past five years , tocopherol-bred horses have won the "Queen's Plate," a racing event in Canada comparable to the Kentucky Derby in the U.S. The proud owner, E. P. Taylor, was recently quoted in Fortune magazine as saying "I only like winners." Mr. Taylor is probably one of the wealthiest men in the world, and this fortune was largely accumulated through his own ingenuity and skill; competition being what it is, can one blame Mr. Taylor for not announcing at the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness that his horses had increased their winnings by two-thirds just by the ingestion of Vitamin E?
However, there is more information available about the vitamin's uses other than improving the performance of race horses, their eating habits, and their generally nervous dispositions. The National Stud Farm also provides us with thorough documentation concerning the effects of the vitamin in breeding mares, stallions, and even geldings, which are not supposed to have an interest in females, having been relieved of the organs necessary for sexual activity and procreation.
There have been hundreds of studies done on other animals in various laboratories throughout the world, all of which have proven that Vitamin E is indeed a "rejuvenator" in the sexual aspect. However , many researchers think its role in the sexual realm is purely the result of having built up the body to such a state of health that it is naturally reflected in sexual activity. Be that as it may, the fact is Vitamin E works, not only on horses but other animals as well. (We shall examine the role of Vitamin E's efficiency on man's fertility later.) To mention a few who have been responsible for the fertility findings in animals; Dr. A. Bonfert and Dr. J. Arp (Germany); Dr. A. M. Brown, Dr. M.J. Cook, Dr. W. Lane-Petter, Dr. G. Porter, and Dr. A. A. Tuffery (England); Dr. Barbaro D'Agostino (Milan, Italy); as well as hundreds of others listed in the 'Annotated Bibliography of Vitamin E', 1958-1960.
Since our primary interest in this chapter is animal evidence, we shall return to the horse experiment. (Because of lack of space, we cannot cite all the animal references.) The Darlington-Chassels Report was motivated not only by the scientific desire for learning but also by financial considerations; it was concerned with how much gain there was in Vitamin E for the National Stud Farm. We are sure that every word of the report is true not only in the scientific sense, but also in the economic sphere. The report was entitled 'Breeding Experiments in 1956.' The subtitle, as we might suppose, is termed 'General Economic Considerations.'
In a preliminary statement, which takes us to the crux of the problem, the report states:
The owners of thoroughbred brood mares and stallions are vitally interested in the number of registered foals that can be produced. For the market breeder this can mean the difference between his farm's profit and loss... Obviously both time and money can be saved if the fertility of his animals is increased. It would be impossible to estimate accurately in dollars what could be saved if only a 5 per cent increase in fertility was achieved. There are literally millions of dollars involved. Neither would it be possible to estimate what it could mean in perpetuating some great line or in the production of the occasional great horse, which otherwise might never be born.
Veterinarians and farm managers focus their primary interest on conception. If the percentage of pregnancies can be raised ,it will automatically mean a higher number of living and registered foals...Tables giving data from conception to foaling to registration have been worked out, and [from them we see] that there is nearly a fixed percentage of loss to be expected during pregnancy and at delivery. The prime key to success, therefore , is attention paid to sire and mare before and at breeding time.
At the National Stud Farm all our research is directed at that source of success, which is conception... In our initial Report, we were able to report only definite pregnancies and anticipated foals , but now, 'after' two breeding seasons, we are able to demonstrate the result of our studies in actual foal registration...
We cannot present the whole report here. But we can, at least, reprint the Introduction which we might consider a classic in practicality.
In the operation of a breeding farm it is a well known fact that there is very little if any profit from boarding revenue. it depends upon stud fees to make a showing on the right side of the ledger. While a 5 per cent increase in conceptions may seem insignificant to uninformed persons, it must be remembered that valuable stallions demand stud fees up to $10,000 and their progeny as yearlings will bring up to 450,000. Thus, a 5 per cent improved fertility in a stud standing for $4,000 and bred to one hundred mares over a three-year period would mean another $25,000 to the owner.
To accomplish even slight increases in impregnation, a stallion must be working at optimum. His success or failure as a sire depends upon the number of progeny he gets to the races. his value in dollars and cents to his owner is dependent upon the number of mares he is capable of handling in a season, how great a percentage of these he is able to get in foal, and how readily conception occurs.
It has been the practice on large breeding farms owning valuable sires strictly to limit the number of covers a stallion makes per season in order to preserve his usefullness. Many times a valuable stud fee and one year of a mare's fertile life are wasted through this procedure. Our experience with stallions given Vitamin E has been that now we can get those essential extra covers. In the past we had tried to keep down to an average of two services per mare. In the 1956 season we had an average of slightly more than three - yet our stallions came through the season in fine condition.
The summary of the experiment , very much oversimplified, is somewhat the following: the experimenters used every type of mare from the old barren ones to the two-year-old fillies. They also utilized old stallions long past their day as "controls"' they used medium-aged stallions as well as young ones filled with what we may term intensely driving sexual impulses. And as the experimenters state: exactly the same methods of breeding were maintained with Vitamin E as before, the same amount of what is called "teasing" and being placed in close proximity.
Now, the Jockey Club , the apparent authority in the racing field, says that pregnant mares can be expected to produce registered foals 52 per cent of the time. Yet under Vitamin E therapy for both stallions and mares, the National Stud Farm was able to achieve 71 per cent registered foals, truly a significant increase when all of the old mares, the erstwhile barren mares, and the old stallions are taken into consideration. The percentage would have been undoubtedly higher had only the younger horses been included in the experiment. But as it is, I think any dispassionate scientist would agree the old horses did very well indeed.
As stated in the Darlington-Chassels Report:
Alpha tocopherol... illustrates clearly that this agent improves the fertility of both mares and stallions... In this year's experiment 88 per cent of 18 barren mares, 100 per cent of 6 maiden mares, and 84 per cent of 31 foaling mares conceived... Stallions taking alpha tocopherol continued to behave and perform better in general... From five stallions on Vitamin E, at least 71 per cent of registered foals are anticipated this year- 8 per cent above 'their' [own] average for the preceding five years.
In the five-year report, we will only quote the summary concerning fertility since it merely corroborates the earlier findings: "Alpha tocopherol (Vitamin E) in proper dosage improved the fertility of mares and stallions, this being most evident in the older animals." need we say any more about animals and their benefit from Vitamin E? There is much more material available on animals besides the evidence presented here. One cannot ignore the overwhelming evidence on animals, especially when it is correlated with all the evidence we know about humans.
When I was still in the sceptical stage about the value of Vitamin E, I made a personal determination for myself. A fourteen-year-old cat, named Old Tom, which lived next door to me, used to be the terror of the neighbourhood. Wherever he went, the other cats moved aside. Females that were in heat, of course, were excepted. In fact, Tom forced many a powerful male cat to move from the neighbourhood because he established precedence over the females (and males) and would not tolerate any other males which might seek to share 'affaires d'amour' with his many lady loves.
In battle with other males, Tom had no match. In fact,even dogs were afraid of him. Some did test his fighting prowess at first, but as he was not only powerful but ingenious, he gained a most respectable reputation, even among dogs. Thus he ruled the neighbourhood for twelve years, which brings us to the point of this passage. Old Tom suddenly began to fail. It was almost unbelievable at the beginning. First, the sexual impulse diminished to the point where he could look at the female cat in heat without displaying the slightest reaction. Then all the male cats in the neighbourhood which he had intimidated and/or beaten (including twp of our own) began to take certain liberties. They would jump in his yard and some would even steal his food, to which atrocious actions he offered not the slightest objection. He would just sit in the sun and ignore everything.
However, since his owner had to be away from home frequently, Old Tom did not receive his food as regularly as he would have wished. He began frequenting our house, and my wife could not resist feeding him. But she found that his whole attitude had changed. Before, he had been a bristling , belligerent animal, hostile to almost anyone and everything. Now he was a whining, crawling beggar. He did not show any hostility when our cats would hiss and growl at him. he was completely subdued by life, or if we wish to put it bluntly, he was subdued and cowed by old age. There was nothing left for him to do but die or beg.
To put Vitamin E to another test, I added 50 IU daily to Old Tom's diet. The results would amaze someone who knew nothing about Vitamin E's action. Within a week, Old Tom began to take an extremely renewed interest in life. He savagely mauled the various cats who thought he was done for (including one of ours); he pursued the female cats who were in heat (there were several), but most significant of all to me, his pride came back. He stopped begging for food from us. Prior to Vitamin E in massive doses, he would look at us and immediately his mouth would fly open in an enormous wail - the cat had no pride. now, under Vitamin E, his pride had returned. However, since he had mauled one of our cats and was attempting to drive them away as is the custom of the species, we decided not to give Old Tom any more Vitamin E.
The effect, after about two weeks , was almost as miraculous as the previous experiment. Old Tom returned to his old senile patterns and now is on good terms with our cats and all cats, without sex , without any drive except for food aand perhaps some petting. But he wails at us day and night, helpless, and without pride, waiting for death without knowing it.
Let us hope we never have to encounter death in that fashion; I do not believe we well if Vitamin E and other nutrients are utilized in the proper fashion. There is no question but that every animal and every man has to die; yet life might be preserved , more abundantly, in full vigor, for much longer had we the wisdom to apply the findings already known about Vitamin E. HOME