VIII. PHARMACOLOGY 507 



A practical application ot" the oh.serxatioii that a-tocopheryl phosphate 

 has antithromhic activity^^ has not i)een estahlisiicd. Kay,''-* in rcviewinfr 

 an extensi\e cxpei'ienco, states: "It is concei\al)le, 11iouj;h not yet proven 

 statistically, that the administration of alpha tocopherol and calcium will 

 reduce the incidence ot" postoperati\'e phlehothromhosis and pulmonary 

 eml)olism." This ([uestion has Ihhmi carefully reviewed elsewhere,-'""^'- with 

 essentially the same conclusions. The reported efTeetof tocopherol in coun- 

 teractino- stilbestrol-induced purpura in (lo<>;s" has not been confirmed;''^ 

 its reputed antipurpuric action in thrombocytopenic purpura in man"^'^^ 

 warrants further study. 



3. Menopausal Syndrome 



a-Tocopherol, at dosage levels considerably lower than those employed 

 in other clinical disorders, is reported to relieve .symptoms of the menopau.se 

 and to be especially useful where estrogens are contraindicated.""^' Perloff^^ 

 reports that results with tocopherol compare very favorably with those 

 obtained with hormone therapy, which seems contradictory to the postula- 

 tion** that vitamin E is antiestrogenic. On the other hand, the more recent 

 report of Blatt et al.,^^ based on a careful comparison of the effects of estro- 

 gens, phenobarbital, tocopherol, and placebos on 748 climacteric patients, 

 concludes that a-tocopherol is no more effective than placebo therapy in 

 controlling menopausal symptoms. 



^8 K. L. Zierler, D. Grob, and J. L. Lilienthal, /Im. /. Physiol. 153, 127 (1948). 



<9 J. H. Kay, Yale J. Biol. Med. 23, 51.5 (1951). 



^"Nutrition Revs. 10, 46 (1952). 



*' VV. H. Seegers, in Trans. J^th Conf. on Blood Clotting and Allied Problems, New York, 



p. 157 (1951). 

 " I. S. Wright, Circulation 5, 161 (1952). 



" F. R. Skelton, E. V. Shute, H. G. Skinner, and R. .\. Waud, SciencelOS, 762 (1946). 

 °' A. J. Richtsmeier, M. Spooner, and O. O. Mejer, Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med. 65, 



298 (1947). 

 " E. V. Shute, Urol, and Cutaneous Rev. 50, 7.32 (1946). 

 5«.\. B. Vogelsang, Med. World (London) 64, 448 (1946). 

 " .\. M. Hain and J. C. B. Sym, Brit. Med. J. II, 8 (194.3). 

 " E. V. Shute, Brit. Med. J. II, 526 (1943). 

 "C. J. Christy, Am. J. Obsiet. Gynecol. 50, 84 (1945). 

 «» H. E. Ferguson, Virginia Med. Monthly 75, 447 (1948). 

 «' B. B. Rubenstein, Federation Proc. 7, 106 (1948). 

 « H. C. McLaren, Brit. Med. J. II, 1378 (1949). 

 " R. S. Finkler, /. Clin. Endocrinol. 9, 89 (1949). 

 "MV. II. Perloff, Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 58, 684 (1949). 

 " N. R. Kavinoky, Ann. Western Med. Surg. 4, 27 (1950). 

 ''' S. H. Sikkema, /?ocA-.v .Mount. Med. J. 48, 550 (1951). 

 «• H. A. Gazan, X. Y. State J. Med. 52, 1289 (1952). 



58 E. V. Shute, Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 35, 970 (19.38); ./. Endocrinol. 2, 173 (1940). 

 s'-* M. G. H. Blatt, II. Wicsbader, and II. S. Kuppcrman, Arch. Inlcmnl Mai 91, 792 



(1953). 



