E boosts immunity.Vitamin E vitamin E or tocopherol Fat-soluble organic compound found principally in certain plant oils and leaves of green vegetables. Vitamin E acts as an antioxidant in body tissues and may prolong life by slowing oxidative destruction of membranes. may keep parts of the immune system immune system Cells, cell products, organs, and structures of the body involved in the detection and destruction of foreign invaders, such as bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells. Immunity is based on the system's ability to launch a defense against such invaders. from declining with age, says a new study from the Jean Mayer U.S. Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston. Simin Meydani and co-workers assigned 78 healthy people aged 65 and older to take a daily supplement of one of the following: 60, 200, or 800 mg of synthetic vitamin E (dl-alpha tocopherol tocopherol: see vitamin. ) or a (lookalike but inactive) placebo. (The U.S. Recommended Daily Allowance for vitamin E is 30 mg.) After four months, the people who took 200 mg of E a day had stronger responses to vaccines for hepatitis B Hepatitis B Definition Hepatitis B is a potentially serious form of liver inflammation due to infection by the hepatitis B virus (HBV). It occurs in both rapidly developing (acute) and long-lasting (chronic) forms, and is one of the most common chronic and tetanus than those who took the placebo--that is, they created more antibodies to fight off future attacks of the illnesses. Responses for other doses were not as strong. "These results are a very significant step forward," says Meydani. But the real answer will come when her team measures how often older people taking vitamin E get sick. In the meantime Adv. 1. in the meantime - during the intervening time; "meanwhile I will not think about the problem"; "meantime he was attentive to his other interests"; "in the meantime the police were notified" meantime, meanwhile , she notes that "more is not necessarily better." While people taking 200 mg a day fared better than those taking 800 ma, Hwe can't say that 200 mg is optimal. It could be 100 or 400 mg." J. Amer. Med. Assoc. 277: 330, 1398, 1997. |
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