| December
12, 2005
Micronutrients Boost Life Quality for Elderly
with Heart Failure
Supplements containing vitamins and other micronutrients
can improve heart function and quality of life in elderly patients
with chronic heart failure, claims a joint British-German study.
“Our study is unique because it is the first to look at
patients with heart failure with a combination of micronutrients.
Previous studies have enrolled elderly individuals who were otherwise
fairly well, or have used one, or rarely, two micronutrients (usually
vitamins) combined,” said lead researcher Dr Klaus Witte,
of the Castle Hill Hospital in Hull, UK.
Heart failure arises when the heart muscle becomes so weak that
it can no longer pump blood around the body, and currently afflicts
about 14 million people in Europe. This is forecast to increase
to 30 million by 2020.
The researchers enrolled 30 elderly patients with stable heart
failure who were randomised to receive micronutrient capsules
or a placebo. The capsules contained a high-dose combination of
multivitamins along with zinc, copper, selenium, calcium, magnesium
and coenzyme-Q10.
All minerals were given in doses less than the recommended daily
intake (RDI). The doses of vitamins were in excess of the RDI,
but never greater than the upper safe limit for total daily intake.
After an average 295 days the patients given the micronutrients
displayed a 5 per cent improvement in heart function and a 10
per cent improvement in quality of life (QoL) scores, report the
scientists in the European Heart Journal (vol 26, no 21, pp 2238-2244).
Heart health was defined by left ventricle pumping ability, while
the QoL score depended on many factors including quality of sleep,
daytime concentration levels, and exercise capacity.
Patients with CHF can have poorer diets for numerous reasons
not least because they are less able to go out and buy food regularly,
suggested the researchers.
“They may also use their antioxidant and other vitamins
stores more rapidly than healthy individuals as the body copes
with the heart failure,” said Witte.
While the exact role of each micronutrient is not known, the
researchers suggested that single nutrient tests might be counter-productive.
Dr Witte told NutraIngredients.com: “One of the problems
with single agent supplements is that they might just expose deficiencies
elsewhere in what is likely a complex series of interactions between
micronutrients.”
The Study on Heart failure Awareness and Perception in Europe
(SHAPE) reported that 40 per cent of people with CHF would die
within one year of their first hospitalisation, and 67 per cent
of patients would prefer to improve their QoL than live longer.
The authors acknowledged the limitations of the study, both in
the size of the sample population and the length of time of the
follow-up period, and admitted significant further research is
required.
Dr Witte also stressed that micronutrient supplements were unlikely
to benefit healthy people with a healthy diet.
Despite his opinion, often concurred by other scientists, sales
of supplements continue to rise. Multivitamin sales in the UK
have grown about 4 per cent between 2002 and 2004.
Source: http://www.nutraingredients.com/
Comment:
Heart failure is one of the most common causes of death in
developed countries. The benefits of nutrient supplementation
have been well known for years and been proven by Dr. Rath
and others. However this study is not “unique”
as claimed by Dr. Witte. This study confirms what Dr. Rath
already discovered over a decade ago: that a combination of
nutrients is more effective than any single nutrient. Dr.
Rath has applied this innovative principle in his laboratory
and clinical research for a long time. |
|
