JACN
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Schmuck, A.
Right arrow Articles by Roussel, A.-M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Schmuck, A.
Right arrow Articles by Roussel, A.-M.
Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol. 17, No. 5, 448-453 (1998)
Published by the American College of Nutrition

Fatty Acid Nutriture in Hospitalized Elderly Women

Anne Schmuck, PhD,, Annick Villet, PhD, Nicole Payen, PhD, Josette Alary, PhD, Alain Franco, MD and Anne-Marie Roussel, PhD, FACN

GREPO (A.S., A.V., J.A., A-M.R.), Université Joseph Fourier, La Tronche; FRANCE
Laboratoire Interuniversitaire de Gérontologie de Grenoble (A.S., A.F.), CHU de Grenoble, FRANCE
Laboratoire de Biochimie A (N.P.), CHU de Grenoble, FRANCE

Address reprint requests to: Anne Marie Roussel, Pharm D, PhD, FACN, GREPO, UFR de Pharmacie, Domaine de la Merci, 38700 La Tronche, FRANCE

Objective: The aim of this study was to measure the fatty acid (FA) dietary intakes and the FA composition of plasma total lipids in a selected group of hospitalized elderly patients.

Methods: Twenty-three women aged 76 to 99 years were recruited. FA were analyzed in 5-day duplicate portions and in plasma by gas liquid chromatography.

Results: The hospitalized elderly women ingested an average of 5.22 megajoules (MJ) and 45.9 g of lipids per day. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) represented 11.0% and saturated fatty acids (SFA) 53.6% of the lipid intake. Minimal recommendations for linoleic acid intake were reached in average, but 32% of the patients ingested less than 3 g of linoleic acid/d. Eighty-six percent received less than 0.5% of energy from {alpha}-linolenic acid and 64% had low intakes in very long-chain n-3 FA. In parallel, these patients presented several biochemical signs of essential fatty acids (EFA) insufficiency (decrease in linoleic acid, increase in monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), in n-7 FA and in indexes of {delta}-6 and {delta}-9 desaturase activities).

Conclusions: Hospitalized elderly patients have low PUFA intakes and show biochemical indices of EFA insufficiency. These patients might benefit from a nutritional supplementation providing both EFA and antioxidant micronutrients to limit the risk of skin troubles, immune system impairment and vascular disease often observed in institutionalized elderly subjects.

Key words: hospitalized elderly, fatty acids, dietary intake, EFA deficiency

Abbreviations: EFA=essential fatty acids • FA=fatty acids • FAME=fatty acid methyl esters • HDL=high-density lipoproteins • LDL=low-density lipoproteins • MJ=megajoules • MUFA=monounsaturated fatty acids • PUFA=polyunsaturated fatty acids • P/S=ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fatty acids • RDA=recommended dietary allowances • RDI=recommended dietary intake • SFA=saturated fatty acids • TBARS=thiobarbituric acid reactive substances






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1998 by the American College of Nutrition.