Vitamins may not protect elderly from infections

The value of multivitamins and mineral supplements in preventing infections in the elderly is still not clear, according to a new review of study data. Not enough evidence currently exists to recommend the routine use of vitamin supplements in the elderly, the report's authors say.

Therefore, more studies are needed "before routine use can be recommended," say Dr. Alia El-Kadiki, from Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield and Dr. Alexander J. Sutton from the University of Leicester in the UK.

As reported in the online issue of the British Medical Journal, the researchers evaluated eight studies that looked at the effects of multivitamin use on infection outcomes in approximately 1,250 elderly subjects.

Due to inconsistencies among the trials in the outcomes reported, only a proportion of the studies were included in each particular analysis.

In three studies, routine multivitamin use cut the annual number of days spent with infection by 18, the investigators note. However, in an analysis of three other studies, multivitamin use had virtually no effect on the risk of infection and, if anything, increased it. Similarly, data from four studies showed that multivitamin use did not significantly influence the infection rate.

Despite the limitations of the analysis, the authors believe that the findings are "sufficiently encouraging" to justify further studies investigating the anti-infection effects of multivitamin use.

SOURCE: British Medical Journal, March 31, 2005.