Vitamin E: where do we stand?.

I propose that clinicians should have a general understanding of what little 
physiology is known about tocopherol, be able to recognize the circumstances 
that cause low tocopherol levels, understand when to provide physiologic replacement 
therapy, and accept the responsibility for protecting their patients from uncontrolled 
experimental use of tocopherols. Tocopherol physiology, tocopherol pharmacology, tocopherol deficiency, therapy 
in deficiency states, and pharmacological doses of tocopherol are discussed. Patients 
with prolonged fat malabsorption and some premature infants receiving iron must 
be given vitamin E. Use of tocopherol therapy in bronchopulmonary dysplasia 
and retrolental fibroplasia, while promising, is unproven and should be used 
only in a controlled study. Research on the role of vitamin 
E in human physiology is entering a rapid-growth phase. 