Researchers have found a link between low vitamin E levels and physical decline in elderly people.
A study by experts at Yale School of Medicine looked at the levels of physical decline in 698 over-65s over a three-year period.
The researchers measured participants' walking speed, ability to rise repeatedly from a chair and standing balance, as well as the levels of various micronutrients in their bloodstream.
Analysis revealed that "only vitamin E was significantly associated with decline in physical function", said Benedetta Bartali, a nutritionist and postdoctoral fellow at Yale.
"The odds of declining in physical function were 1.62 times greater in persons with low levels of vitamin E compared with persons with higher levels," she noted.
The findings are published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and the researchers suggested that, since vitamin E was the only antioxidant investigated in the study, further research should be conducted to see whether low levels of other antioxidants might also contribute to physical decline.
Researchers have found a link between low vitamin E levels and physical decline in elderly people.
