Administering vitamin E supplements can significantly reduce pneumonia infection risk among elderly male smokers, according to a new study published in the journal Clinical Interventions in Aging.
To better understand the effect of vitamin E on pneumonia, Harri Hemilä, MD, PhD, of the University of Helsinki in Finland, conducted a secondary analysis on 7,469 smokers between the ages of 50 and 69 years enrolled in a previous study.
Dr. Hemilä found that of the 2,216 participants who smoked 5 to 19 cigarettes per day and exercised at leisure time, those given vitamin E supplements displayed a 69 percent reduction in the incidence of pneumonia. Among 5,253 participants who either smoked 20 cigarettes or more each day or did not exercise, the rate of pneumonia was 14 percent lower in participants administered vitamin E.
"Although the evidence of benefit from vitamin E against pneumonia in elderly males is strong in this analysis, the overall findings about vitamin E have been complex," concluded Dr. Hemilä. "Further research on vitamin E in nonsmoking elderly males is warranted."
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