These data indicate that zinc supplementation improved cell-mediated immune response, whereas vitamin A had a deleterious effect in this older population. Further research is needed to clarify the clinical significance of these findings.

Objective: To determine the effect of vitamin A, zinc or both on plasma lipid peroxides in a healthy elderly population. Design: Double-blind randomized controlled trial supplementation of vitamin A and zinc. Setting: Public home for elderly people, in Rome, Italy. Subjects: 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. Interventions: Three months supplementation of the following treatments: (1) vitamin A (800 mg retinol palmitate); (2) zinc (25 mg zinc as sulphate); (3) vitamin A and zinc (800 mg retinol palmitate and 25 mg zinc as sulphate); (4) placebo (starch containing capsules). Main outcome measures: Plasma lipid peroxides (TBA-RS) were measured before and after supplementation. Results: Zinc supplementation was associated with a decrease in plasma lipid peroxides (b 7 0.19; 95% con®dence levels: 70.37, 70.002; p-value 0.05) after adjusting for sex, smoking habits, baseline plasma lipid peroxides and vitamin A plasma levels. Conclusions: Zinc supplementation decreased plasma lipid peroxides while vitamin A had no effect in this elderly population. Adequate zinc intake or supplementation could play an important role in the prevention and/ or modulation of diseases in the elderly people.

The strength of association between urinary cotinine and questionnaire data on passive smoking among 542 adolescents was evaluated. There were 103 individuals with urinary cotinine higher than 30 ng/ml; they were compared with all other subjects. The single variable that best predicted the urinary cotinine level was maternal smoking. A strong effect was made by house size and, consequently, house crowding. Maternal smoking and house crowding had a synergic effect. The subject's perception of passive smoking at home also was an independent indication of a high cotinine level. The final model had a fairly good sensitivity, whereas the specificity was somewhat lower. The results suggest that maternal smoking, house crowding, and subject's perception of a smoky environment could be surrogate indices of high passive smoking exposure in this age group and could be useful for epidemiologic studies.

No abstract

Our findings indicate that the occurrence of dementia among immigrants and ethnic minorities constitutes a novel but already relevant issue for our healthcare systems. A non-negligible number of immigrant individuals is probably already seeking or might seek help for cognitive disturbances, thus potentially referring to general practitioners and/or to the Italian dementia services. The forecasted increasing magnitude of this phenomenon reinforces the need for tailored and locally oriented initiatives and policies.