Summary
The Vitamin intake of elderly subjects in Cork County and City has been estimated and compared with that of healthy young controls in the same area. The Vitamin saturation test was carried out on all subjects. Sixty-five per cent of the lower income elderly subjects examined had an intake below the minimum daily requirement. Twenty-five per cent of the upper income group elderly subjects had diets similarly deficient. No case of clinical scurvy was seen among the subjects examined and the reasons for this are discussed.
While the Vitamin intake fell somewhat with increasing age there was no difference between male and female subjects or between rural and urban dwellers. Income appears to be the main determining factor in the Vitamin intake of the elderly subjects studied.
The Vitamin saturation test proved a totally unsatisfactory index of Vitamin deficiency and it is suggested that, as at present constituted, it should be abandoned in clinical practice.
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O’Sullivan, D.J., Callaghan, N., Ferriss, J.B. et al. Ascorbic acid deficiency in the elderly. I. J. Med. Sc. 1, 151–156 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02946509
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02946509