Blood vitamins, mineral elements and inflammation markers as risk factors of vascular and non-vascular disease mortality in an elderly population.
BACKGROUND
The need for protecting agents against degenerative processes of the body has been proposed to be especially high in elderly people. In order to evaluate the prognostic value of various biochemical factors in ageing the associations of blood concentrations of several vitamins, mineral elements and some other suggested risk factors with vascular and non-vascular mortality were studied in an elderly population.


METHODS
A large health survey with complete clinical evaluation was carried out in the City of Turku in 1982-1983. A random sample of 344 community-living elderly individuals aged 65 years or older, stratified into four age groups, was studied. During the 13 years follow-up 225 subjects had died. Calcium, magnesium, copper, ceruloplasmin, zinc, selenium, iron, ferritin, transferrin, alpha-tocopherol, retinol, folate, vitamin B12, malondialdehyde, orosomucoid and insulin levels were analysed from the blood specimens. The relations between the compounds measured and relative mortality risks during the 13-year follow-up were analysed by Cox proportional hazards model adjusting for other known risk factors.


CONCLUSIONS
High concentrations of serum copper, orosomucoid and insulin were associated with increased risk of vascular mortality. The relative risks within the subjects of the highest tertile of serum concentrations were 2.2 for copper, 1.8 for orosomucoid, and 1.8 for insulin when adjusted for many confounding risk factors. Low serum vitamin B12 concentrations appeared to be significantly (P = 0.01) associated with increased vascular mortality. The associations were essentially not more significant when adjusted only for age. Contrary to earlier observations concentrations of serum magnesium, selenium, alpha-tocopherol, iron and its binding proteins or plasma and erythrocyte folate were not associated with increased mortality risk when adjusted for confounding risk factors. The authors suggest that in elderly subjects these elements and compounds are at the most weak, and probably non-independent risk factors for vascular mortality.
Marniemi
J
J
Research and Development Centre, Social Insurance Institution, Turku, Finland.
Järvisalo
J
J
Toikka
T
T
Räihä
I
I
Ahotupa
M
M
Sourander
L
L
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000032:analysis; D015415:Biomarkers; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis; D003300:Copper / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008903:Minerals / Q000097:blood*; D009961:Orosomucoid / Q000032:analysis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012307:Risk Factors; D014652:Vascular Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality; D014815:Vitamins / Q000097:blood*
D000975:Antioxidants; D015415:Biomarkers; D007328:Insulin; D008903:Minerals; D009961:Orosomucoid; D014815:Vitamins; D003300:Copper