Micronutrients boost life quality for elderly with heart failure

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Micronutrients boost life quality for elderly with heart failure

http://www.nutraingredients.com/news/ng.asp?n=64493 & m=2nied15 & c=xeiqgoegavfxtla

12/12/2005- 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.

--

ne Holden, MS, RD < fivestar@... >

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