Vitamin Trader - Healthy Discounts on Quality Vitamins

Immune enhancement for the elderly can now be added to vitamin E's long list of attributes. Results of a new study show that vitamin E supplementation of 200 mg/day, well above the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of 30 mg/day, improves elderly people's immune system.

The randomized, double-blind study measured the long-term effects of vitamin E supplementation among 88 healthy men and women 65 years or older. The subjects were randomly assigned to a placebo group or to groups given 60 mg, 200 mg or 800 mg of vitamin E per day for 235 days. The researchers measured immune system response along with the following variables: delayed hypersensitivity skin test (DTH), antibody response to vaccines and self-reports about infections. Previous research shows that low DTH response is related to higher death rates from sepsis or blood infections.

The 200-mg group showed the most favorable results. When compared to the placebo group, the 200-mg group had a 65 percent higher DTH skin response, a six-fold increase in the amount of antibody made in response to a hepatitis B vaccine, a 1.7-fold increase in the amount of tetanus antibody, and a 30 percent lower infection rate. The 800-mg group showed a 49 percent increase in DTH and a 2.5-fold increase in hepatitis B antibodies.

The research was led by Simon Nikibin, D.V.M., Ph.D., from the Nutritional Immunology Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston.

In a corresponding editorial, Ranjit Kumar Chandra, M.D., says that this study and others similar to it prove that "the era of nutrient supplements to promote health and reduce illness is here to stay."
--JAMA, 277(17): 1380-86, May 7, 1997.