Zinc May Reduce Pneumonia Risk

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Zinc may reduce pneumonia risk in nursing home elderly

BOSTON — When elderly nursing home residents contract pneumonia, it

is a blow to their already fragile health. Simin Nikbin Meydani,

DVM, PhD of the Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on

Aging at Tufts University and colleagues report that maintaining

normal serum zinc concentration in the blood may help reduce the

risk of pneumonia development in that population.

" Based on our data, it appears that daily zinc intake can help

nursing home residents who are susceptible to pneumonia, especially

those with low serum zinc concentrations in their blood, " says

Meydani, corresponding author and director of the Nutritional

Immunology Laboratory at the USDA HNRCA . " The study participants

with normal serum zinc concentrations in their blood reduced their

risk of developing pneumonia by about 50 percent. Additionally,

deaths from all causes were 39 percent lower in this group. "

Meydani and colleagues analyzed blood samples from a previous study

that investigated the role of Vitamin E in preventing respiratory

infections in nursing home residents ages 65 and older. The study

enrolled 617 men and women from 33 nursing homes in the Boston area.

All of the participants received daily supplements containing 50

percent of the recommended dietary allowance of several vitamins and

minerals, including zinc, for one year. Foods that provide zinc

include oysters, red meat, poultry, whole grains, beans and dairy

products.

In the present study, published in the October issue of the American

Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the authors compared blood samples

collected at the beginning and the conclusion of the one-year study.

The participants whose serum zinc concentrations remained low

throughout that 12-month period had more difficulty battling

pneumonia. " Not only did those participants have a higher risk of

developing pneumonia when they did become sick, they did not recover

as quickly and required a longer course of antibiotics, " says

Meydani, who is also a professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition

Science and Policy and the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical

Sciences, both at Tufts University. " We also noted a higher rate of

death from all causes. "

Maintaining normal serum zinc concentration in the blood throughout

the 12-month study period benefited the participants even if they

did develop pneumonia. Meydani adds, " Those participants with normal

serum zinc concentrations in their blood were more likely to spend

fewer days on antibiotics and recover more quickly. "

Meydani and colleagues conclude that zinc may reduce the risk of

pneumonia, and its associated complications in nursing home

residents. " Zinc is already known to strengthen the immune system;

however, there needs to be further investigation of zinc and its

effect on pneumonia development and prevention in nursing homes, "

Meydani says. " The next step would likely be a clinical trial. "

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The study was supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture

Agricultural Research Service and by grants from the National

Institutes of Health and, for the preparation of the study capsules,

Hoffmann-La Roche Vitamins and Fine Chemicals Division (currently

DSM Nutritional Products).

Meydani SM, , Barnett JB, Dallal ,GE, Fine BC, Jacques PF, Leka LD,

and Hamer, DH .

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2007: 86: 1167-1173. " Serum

zinc and pneumonia in nursing home elderly " .