Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T16:28:22.568Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Nutritional State of Elderly Women on Admission to Mental Hospital

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

M. R. Hancock ,
R. P. Hullin ,
P. R. Aylard ,
J. R. King  and
D. B. Morgan
M. R. Hancock
Affiliation:
High Royds Hospital, Menston, Ilkley, West Yorkshire, LS29 6AQ
R. P. Hullin*
Affiliation:
University of Leeds; Regional Metabolic Research Unit, High Royds Hospital
P. R. Aylard
Affiliation:
St. James' University Hospital, Leeds, LS9 7TS
J. R. King
Affiliation:
Napsbury Hospital, Herts., AL2 1AA. Present post: Barnsley Hall Hospital, Bromsgrove, Worcs. B61 0EX
D. B. Morgan
Affiliation:
University of Leeds, LS2 9JT
*
∗Reprint Requests
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Since nutritional deficiencies might worsen the severity of symptoms and prolong the length of illness in non-nutritional disorders, particularly in the elderly, we examined the nutritional status of 216 elderly women newly admitted to a mental hospital. Compared to healthy elderly women, they had lower values for plasma prealbumin, vitamin C, and B vitamins. This was particularly common in senile dementia, and appeared to be the result of inadequate intake of protein or vitamins. Regular hospital diet for one month corrected the very low levels of prealbumin, but supplements were essential to remove deficiency of the water-soluble vitamins. Although vitamin supplements did not influence the length of stay in hospital, we did not exclude the possibility that nutritional deficiencies have a significant effect on the severity of mental illness.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 147 , Issue 4 , October 1985 , pp. 404 - 407
Copyright
Copyright © 1985 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Basu, T. K. & Schorah, C. J. (1982) Vitamin C in Health and Disease. London: Croom Helm.Google Scholar
Bayoumi, R. A. & Rosalki, S. B. (1976) Evaluation of methods of coenzyme activation of erythrocyte enzymes for detection of deficiency of vitamins B1, B2, and B6 . Clinical Chemistry, 22, 327–335.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carney, M. W. P., Williams, D. G. & Sheffield, B. F. (1979) Thiamine and pyridoxine lack in newly admitted psychiatric patients. British Journal of Psychiatry, 135, 249–254.Google ScholarPubMed
Carney, M. W. P., Ravindran, A., Rinsler, M. G. & Williams, D. G. (1982) Thiamine, Riboflavin and Pyridoxine deficiency in psychiatric inpatients. British Journal of Psychiatry, 141, 271–272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Denson, K. W. & Bowers, E. F. (1961) The determination of ascorbic acid in the white blood cells: A comparison of WBC ascorbic acid and phenolic acid excretion in elderly patients. Clinical Science, 21, 157–162.Google ScholarPubMed
Dhss 1979 Nutrition and Health in Old Age. London: HMSO Google Scholar
Durnin, J. V. G. A. & Wormesley, J. (1974) Body fat assessed from total body density and its estimation from skinfold thickness: Measurements on 481 men and women aged from 16–27 Years. British Journal of Nutrition, 32, 77–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Exton-Smith, A. N. (1978) Nutrition in the elderly. In Nutrition in the Clinical Management of Disease (ed. Dickerson, J. W. T.). London: Arnold.Google Scholar
Goldberg, A. (1963) The Anaemia of Scurvy. Quarterly Journal of Medicine, 32, 51–64.Google ScholarPubMed
Goodwin, J. S., Goodwin, J. M. & Garry, P. J. (1983) Association between nutritional status and cognitive functioning in a healthy population. Journal of the American Medical Association, 249, 2917–2921.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kemm, J. R. & Alcock, J. (1984) The distribution of supposed indicators of nutritional status in elderly patients. Age and Ageing, 13, 2128.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Milner, G. (1963) Ascorbic acid in chronic psychiatric patients: A controlled trial. British Journal of Psychiatry, 109, 294–299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morgan, D. B. & Hullin, R. P. (1982) The body composition of the chronic mentally ill. Human Nutrition Clinical Nutrition, 360, 439448.Google Scholar
Strachen, R. W. & Henderson, J. G. (1967) Dementia and folate deficiency. Quarterly Journal of Medicine, 36, 189–204.Google Scholar
Weiner, J. S. & Laurie, J. A. (1969) A Guide to Field Methods. IBP Handbook No. 9. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.