Vitamin E and selenium supplementation in geriatric patients : A double-blind preliminary clinical trial.

Sodium selenate (8 mg/d), organic selenium (50 μg/d) andd-alpha-tocopherol acetate (400 mg/d) were administered for 1 yr to 15 geriatric patients. Fifteen comparable controls received placebo. The mean age of both groups was 76 yr. The patients were assessed every 2 mo independently by two nurses using the Sandoz Clinical Assessment Geriatric-scale (SCAG). The propositae, showed significant improvement in the following SCAG parameters: depression, anxiety, self-care, mental alertness, emotional lability, motivation and initiative, hostility, interest in the environment, fatigue, anorexia, and general impression. A distinct improvement of the general condition was noticed after only 2 mo and the improvement continued up to the end of the 1-yr study period. The high selenium and vitamin E doses were well tolerated; there were no side effects whatsoever.