Vitamin E supplementation in elderly: mixed effects

If vitamin E supplementation does not appear to protect the elderly living in institutions lower respiratory infections , it may exert a protective effect on upper respiratory tract infections such as colds, suggest the results of a study published in the " Journal of the American Medical Association " (JAMA) .
Respiratory infections, especially common in older people living in institutions , are a major cause of morbidity and mortality , recall Simin Nikbin Meydani , of Tufts University in Boston , and colleagues .

Having demonstrated in a study that vitamin E supplementation was able to stimulate the immune response, the U.S. researchers wanted to observe the impact of such supplementation over a period of one year, the incidence of respiratory infections in the most sensitive to this type of pathology population.

Nearly 500 older than 65 people living in institutions have been followed in this study . Every day , each of them received a capsule containing a dose of essential vitamins and minerals covering half the recommended daily intake , and for half of the participants , the capsule contained additional doses of vitamin E.

Vitamin supplementation did not alter the frequency or duration of respiratory infections , the authors have observed

In contrast, the proportion of participants who experienced at least one respiratory infection during the observation period is shown lower in the group that received supplementation (65% against 74% in the other group ) , and this effect was also observed for upper respiratory tract infections (50% against 62% in the group without supplementation ) .

In addition, people who received the vitamin E have shown significantly less prone to colds , with a 20% reduced risk.

Because colds common in the elderly, are generally associated with other diseases in this age group , further confirmation of these results could be of significant importance for the welfare of senior citizens, the authors conclude that suggest studies to clarify the potential value of such supplementation in the prevention of these diseases.