to the
letters
Dear
of malnutrition
and
plasma
Dear
acid levels
Sir:
In the issue of February 1974 (1), Burr et a!. state: “It has been suggested that much ill health among the elderly is caused or aggravated by undiagnosed vitamin C deficiency” and they assume that “if this were so, we could expect that old people receiving medical treatment (other than vitamins) would have lower mean ascorbic acid levels than those not receiving treatment”; the authors show further that they did not find any such correlation. As everyone knows, the reasons, whether justified or purely subjective, why old people take medications are various and therefore make the aforementioned parallel precarious. I would like to summarize the results of two trials based on the direct appraisal of both clinical symptoms of malnutrition and plasma ascorbic acid levels (PAA). The first of these trials (2) involved 415 males and 241 females between 13 and 94 years of age. A significant negative correlation (2a < 0.001) was found between the frequency of malnutrition symptoms and the level of PAA. Moreover, the incidence of the biochemical deficiency of ascorbic acid was directly correlated with the age of the whole population (2a < 0.001). The second trial, carried out in Switzerland, concerns 93 males and 140 females (3). The methods and the period were identical
Reply
ascorbic
to
Dr.
with those of the first trial as well as with those of a third trial in France (unpublished data); all the samples have been assayed in the same laboratory (J. P. Vuilleumier, Basle, Switzerland). Pooling the information gathered from the three centers raised the significance of the negative correlation “number of symptoms! PAA” to a high statistical level (2a < 0.0001). The results of these trials, where symptoms were recorded among a list of more than 30 nonspecific symptoms of clinical malnutrition, support the evidence that low PAA is associated with a higher morbidity and with age. P. Bermond 3, Rue Reims,
des Chapelains, France
References 1. BURR, HURLEY
M.
L., AND
ascorbic acid 27: 144, 1974. 2.
LEMO1NE,
vitaminique
P. C. ELWOOD, D. J. HOLE, R. J. R. E. HUGHES. Plasma and leukocyte levels in the elderly. Am. J. Clin. Nutr.
A.
a
Contribution
B1,
B,,
B,,
C:
l’#{233}tudede Ia carence propos d’une triple
a
enqu#{232}te portant sur 656 malades hospitalis#{233}s. Thesis, Facult#{233} de M#{233}decine, Marseilles, France, Dec. 1973. 3. BERMOND, P., AND B. RILLIET. Swiss Societies for Nutrition, Basle, March 13, 1975. in press.
Reiser
Sir:
We would like to thank Dr. Reiser (Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 29: 237, 1976) for his evaluation of our paper, “Plasma Lipid Changes in Young Adult Couples Consuming Polyunsaturated Meat and Dairy Products,” which The American
Journal
of Clinical
Nutrition
29: MAY
appeared in the October issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Although we recognize that coronary heart disease is a multifactorial process, we feel that a high level of serum cholesterol represents one of
1976, pp. 493-495.
Printed
in U.S.A.
493
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article-abstract/29/5/493/4649283 by East Carolina University user on 11 January 2019
Clinical symptoms
editor
letters
Dear
of malnutrition
and
plasma
Dear
acid levels
Sir:
In the issue of February 1974 (1), Burr et a!. state: “It has been suggested that much ill health among the elderly is caused or aggravated by undiagnosed vitamin C deficiency” and they assume that “if this were so, we could expect that old people receiving medical treatment (other than vitamins) would have lower mean ascorbic acid levels than those not receiving treatment”; the authors show further that they did not find any such correlation. As everyone knows, the reasons, whether justified or purely subjective, why old people take medications are various and therefore make the aforementioned parallel precarious. I would like to summarize the results of two trials based on the direct appraisal of both clinical symptoms of malnutrition and plasma ascorbic acid levels (PAA). The first of these trials (2) involved 415 males and 241 females between 13 and 94 years of age. A significant negative correlation (2a < 0.001) was found between the frequency of malnutrition symptoms and the level of PAA. Moreover, the incidence of the biochemical deficiency of ascorbic acid was directly correlated with the age of the whole population (2a < 0.001). The second trial, carried out in Switzerland, concerns 93 males and 140 females (3). The methods and the period were identical
Reply
ascorbic
to
Dr.
with those of the first trial as well as with those of a third trial in France (unpublished data); all the samples have been assayed in the same laboratory (J. P. Vuilleumier, Basle, Switzerland). Pooling the information gathered from the three centers raised the significance of the negative correlation “number of symptoms! PAA” to a high statistical level (2a < 0.0001). The results of these trials, where symptoms were recorded among a list of more than 30 nonspecific symptoms of clinical malnutrition, support the evidence that low PAA is associated with a higher morbidity and with age. P. Bermond 3, Rue Reims,
des Chapelains, France
References 1. BURR, HURLEY
M.
L., AND
ascorbic acid 27: 144, 1974. 2.
LEMO1NE,
vitaminique
P. C. ELWOOD, D. J. HOLE, R. J. R. E. HUGHES. Plasma and leukocyte levels in the elderly. Am. J. Clin. Nutr.
A.
a
Contribution
B1,
B,,
B,,
C:
l’#{233}tudede Ia carence propos d’une triple
a
enqu#{232}te portant sur 656 malades hospitalis#{233}s. Thesis, Facult#{233} de M#{233}decine, Marseilles, France, Dec. 1973. 3. BERMOND, P., AND B. RILLIET. Swiss Societies for Nutrition, Basle, March 13, 1975. in press.
Reiser
Sir:
We would like to thank Dr. Reiser (Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 29: 237, 1976) for his evaluation of our paper, “Plasma Lipid Changes in Young Adult Couples Consuming Polyunsaturated Meat and Dairy Products,” which The American
Journal
of Clinical
Nutrition
29: MAY
appeared in the October issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Although we recognize that coronary heart disease is a multifactorial process, we feel that a high level of serum cholesterol represents one of
1976, pp. 493-495.
Printed
in U.S.A.
493
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article-abstract/29/5/493/4649283 by East Carolina University user on 11 January 2019
Clinical symptoms
editor
