Zinc supplementation and plasma lipid peroxides in an elderly population.

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

To determine the effect of vitamin A, zinc or both on plasma lipid peroxides in a healthy elderly population.

Who Took Part

The age groups tagged for this paper are older adults and people over 80, both men and women.

Double-blind randomized controlled trial supplementation of vitamin A and zinc.

A total of 178 residents of a Public home for elderly people were evaluated regarding health and nutritional status. 136 gave a written consensus to participate in the trial and were randomized in four groups of treatment. 118 elderly completed the trial.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

As a double-blind Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

A placebo (an inactive look-alike) gave the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc group a baseline to be compared against.

Public home for elderly people, in Rome, Italy.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Linear Models, Lipid Peroxides, Sex Characteristics, Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances, Vitamin A and Zinc.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

Its findings take up roughly 4 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 1997 (European journal of clinical nutrition), a journal based in England.

More context: the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc compound page, all human trials.