As a potent antioxidant, vitamin E protects cell membranes from oxidative damage, and its deficiency primarily affects tissues with high fatty acid content, especially the nervous system.

Clinically, patients may present with spinocerebellar ataxia, polyneuropathy, muscle weakness, and retinopathy.

Vitamin E deficiency is typically seen only in the setting of severe and prolonged illnesses causing steatorrhea or other forms of malabsorption.

There are no records of it from a simple lack of vitamin E in a person's diet, but it can arise from physiological abnormalities.

[3] It occurs in the people in the following situations:[2][6] The U.S. Institute of Medicine defines deficiency as a serum concentration of less than 12 μmol/L.