Low vitamin E levels associated with physical decline ... ( Researchers at Yale School of Medici...)

Low vitamin E levels associated with physical decline in elderly

Date:1/22/2008

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have found that a low concentration of vitamin E in the blood is linked with physical decline in older persons.

Published in the January 23 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association, the study included 698 people age 65 or older who were randomly selected from the population registry in two municipalities close to Florence, Italy. The researchers, led by first author Benedetta Bartali of Yale, collected blood samples to measure the levels of micronutrients including folate, iron and vitamins B6, B12, D and E. They assessed physical decline in the study participants over a three-year period using an objective test of three tasks: walking speed, rising repeatedly from a chair, and standing balance.

We evaluated the effects of several micronutrients and only vitamin E was significantly associated with decline in physical function, said Bartali, a nutritionist and a Brown-Coxe Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale School of Medicine. The odds of declining in physical function was 1.62 times greater in persons with low levels of vitamin E compared with persons with higher levels.

Bartali added, It is unlikely that vitamin E is simply a marker for poor nutrition because our results are independent of energy intake, and the effect of low levels of other micronutrients was not significant. Our results suggest that an appropriate dietary intake of vitamin E may help to reduce the decline in physical function among older persons. Since only one person in our study used vitamin E supplements, it is unknown whether the use of vitamin E supplements would have the same beneficial effect.

Bartali stresses that vitamin E was the only antioxidant measured in the study and further studies are needed to determine whether low levels of other antioxidants would yield the same results.

As an antioxidant, vitamin E may prevent or reduce the propagation of free radicals in the human body, which
'/>"/>

Contact: Karen N. Peart
karen.peart@yale.edu
203-432-1326
Yale University
Source:Eurekalert

0

GOOD

Page: 1 2
Related medicine news :

1. Lack of Vitamin E Linked to Physical Decline
2. Vitamin D May Curb Falls in High-Risk Older Women
3. TABS Group Releases Intriguing Voting Trends Based on Vitamin and Supplement Usage: Republicans More Likely to Use Supplements
4. Vitamin C May Play Role in Stroke Prevention
5. Join the Vitamin D Revolution: How to Get 30 Minutes of Daily Sunshine for Optimal Health
6. Low Vitamin D Linked to Heart Risk
7. Vitamin D2 is as effective as vitamin D3 in maintaining concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D
8. More Energy & Immunity With Vitamin Supplements This Winter
9. Extra Doses of Vitamins C, E Dont Guard Against Preeclampsia
10. Natural Nutrition to Launch New Vegetarian Vitamin D Line of Products
11. Mission Pharmacal Launches CitraNatal(TM) Prescription Prenatal Vitamin Line

Post Your Comments:

Low vitamin E levels associated with physical decline ...( Researchers at Yale School of Medici...),Health