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Serum Fatty Acid Profile of Elderly Tube‐Fed Men in a Nursing Home
Author(s) -
Rudman Daniel,
Mattson Dale E.,
Feller Axel G.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1989.tb06812.x
Subject(s) - docosahexaenoic acid , medicine , arachidonic acid , linoleic acid , polyunsaturated fatty acid , alpha linolenic acid , linolenic acid , fatty acid , endocrinology , food science , biochemistry , chemistry , enzyme
Severely dependent tube‐fed elderly men with dementia in this VA nursing home are nourished exclusively with Isocal, which provides only four fatty acids in amounts over 1% of the total (palmitic, oleic, linoleic, and alpha‐linolenic). It has not been proven that the frail elderly can efficiently convert linoleic to arachidonic acid, and alpha‐linolenic to eicosapentanoic and docosahexaenoic acids. Therefore, we compared the serum profile of fatty acids in six of the tube‐fed elderly men with the profile of six healthy young men eating mixed foods ad lib. Expressed as percent of total fatty acids, arachidonic, eicosapentanoic and docosahexaenoic acids did not differ significantly between the two groups. The data show that linoleic and alpha‐linolenic acids satisfy the requirements for ω6 and ω3 fatty acids, respectively, in severely impaired elderly men.