Nutrition "boosts immune function in the elderly"
20 Dec 2006
A team at the University of Florida says a nutritional supplement can boost immune function in older people living in nursing homes. Dr Bobbi Longkamp-Henken and colleagues report in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society that a formulation containing protein, beta carotene, vitamins C and E, zinc, selenium, fructo-oligosaccharides and structured triacylglycerol had a marked effect on flu antibody levels and white blood cell production in people who had been immunised against flu. The study was funded by Abbott Laboratories, which also developed the formula used.