Yale Bulletin and Calendar

February 1, 2008|Volume 36, Number 16


BULLETIN HOME

VISITING ON CAMPUS

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

IN THE NEWS

BULLETIN BOARD

CLASSIFIED ADS


SEARCH ARCHIVES

DEADLINES

DOWNLOAD FORMS

BULLETIN STAFF


PUBLIC AFFAIRS HOME

NEWS RELEASES

E-MAIL US


YALE HOME PAGE


Study shows elderly with low vitamin E levels are at increased risk of physical decline

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 Jan. 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,” says 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 adds, “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 are associated with physical decline. Appropriate levels of the vitamin may help reduce muscle or DNA damage and the development of pathological conditions like atherosclerosis. Bartali says further studies are needed to determine the mechanisms of how low levels of vitamin E contribute to a decline in physical function.

Other authors on the study included Edward A. Frongillo, Dr. Jack M. Guralnik, Martha H. Stipanuk, Heather G. Allore, Dr. Antonio Cherubini, Dr. Stefania Bandinelli, Dr. Luigi Ferrucci and Dr. Thomas M. Gill.

By Karen Peart


T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

University has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 17% . . .

New endowed chair honors Marie Borroff

Initiative to boost humanities-professional school interaction

Faculty survey to be starting point for ‘self-evaluation’

In Focus: Peking-Yale Joint Undergraduate Program

Forming bonds in China: Students hail their immersion experience


ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIPS

Yale Press to create digital edition of Soviet leader Stalin’s . . .

Switzerland tops experts’ index of global environmental leaders

Levin urges rededication to Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘dream’

Paula Vogel to head School of Drama’s playwriting department

Study shows elderly with low vitamin E levels are . . .

Researchers identify key factor in stress effects on the brain

Exhibits explore British artists’ images of the Middle East

Drama School stages Ibsen’s ‘Peer Gynt,’ an exploration of . . .

Poetry and visual arts are united in library exhibitions’ . . .

Teaching fellowship winners are urged to ‘create passion’

IN MEMORIAM

Yale Books in Brief

Campus Notes


Bulletin Home|Visiting on Campus|Calendar of Events|In the News

Bulletin Board|Classified Ads|Search Archives|Deadlines

Bulletin Staff|Public Affairs|News Releases| E-Mail Us|Yale Home