Reduce the Risk of Hospital Infections
It’s no secret that one of the most likely places to pick up an infection is in a hospital. After all, they’re loaded with sick people, all sorts of resistant germs and too often, people who are too overworked to be 100% vigilant about preventing hospital infection.
So it’s great news that two new studies show that nutritional supplements can cut your risk of developing complications or hospital-acquired infections. In one study, critically injured patients who were given 1,000 mg of vitamin C, 1,000 IU of vitamin E and 200 mcg of selenium had about half the risk of developing potentially life-threatening hospital infections and complications as people who did not get these nutrients. The reductions were in lung complications that kept people from getting off ventilators, infections associated with urinary catheters, and abdominal wounds that fail to heal properly.
Researchers say that the depletion of antioxidants that comes with physical stress makes people more vulnerable to hospital-acquired infection and slower healing, and that keeping antioxidant levels up helps people heal better.
In another study, mice with severe sepsis (an abnormal immune system response to a bacterial infection) that received a green tea extract high in EGCG were 25% less likely to die than mice that did not get the extract. Researchers say the extract helps to control an immune system response that makes sepsis worsen. Sepsis is extremely hard to treat and is a fairly common cause of hospital-related deaths.
It’s important to discuss supplement use with your doctor prior to surgery. Without his or her permission, you are not likely to be able to be able to take supplements in the hospital. If your doctor says he doesn’t want you taking them, we suggest you offer these references to get him up to speed to the latest research:
• Collier, BR et al. Impact of high-dose antioxidants on outcomes in acutely injured patients. JPEN J Parente Enteral Nutr 2008 Jul-Aug; 3294):384-8.
• Li, W., et al. A major ingredient of green tea rescues mice from lethal sepsis partly by inhibiting HMGB1. PLoS ONE. 2007 Nov 7;2(11):e1153.
The Anti-Aging Bottom Line: Hospital infections are a serious threat and older people are highly vulnerable. Your best insurance of getting what you need while you’re in the hospital is to have an established relationship with a primary care doctor who is comfortable using nutritional supplements as part of his or her practice, and who has attending privileges at your local hospitals.
Written exclusively for Stop Aging Now, the authority on anti-aging research, anti-aging nutrition, and anti-aging supplements.
