The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (2004, vol. 292, no. 7), investigated the effect of vitamin E supplementation on respiratory tract infections in elderly adults. Researchers at Tufts–New England Medical Center administered 200 milligrams of vitamin E or a placebo daily to 452 participants, aged 65 years or older, at 33 long-term care facilities in Boston, Massachusetts, from April 1998 to August 2001. The participants also received a daily capsule providing half the recommended daily allowance of essential vitamins and minerals. The researchers documented the incidence of the participants’ upper and lower respiratory tract infections during the course of the study.
At the end of the study, researchers found that participants in the vitamin E group had a 20 percent lower risk of acquiring the common cold than those in the placebo group. In addition, fewer participants in the vitamin E group acquired 1 or more respiratory tract infections or upper respiratory tract infections. However, vitamin E was not protective against lower respiratory infections and did not effect the number of days with infection for all respiratory tract infections. "Common colds are frequent and associated with increased morbidity in this age group, and if confirmed, these findings suggest important implications for the well-being of the elderly," the study authors conclude.
Posted by Kristopher Foster on February 14, 2006 11:59 AM
