Blood Folic Acid Levels and Folic Acid Clearance in Geriatric Cases

Folic Acid Excretion in the Urine of Elderly Women

“…The results obtained in this investigation agree with the obser vations made by Hansen and Nystrom (1961) that, in geriatric patients the blood folic acid content is decreased and in some the plasma folic acid clearance is simultaneously increased. In the cases in which the spontaneous urinary folic acid excretion only barely differs from the controls, the conclusion must not be drawn that hypovitaminosis or avitaminosis is present.…”

“…In many cases it is advisable to confirm the results by peroral or parenteral loading tests with the vitamins to be examined. By this means, Hansen and Nystrom (1961) investigated the fasting blood levels of folic acid and folic acid clearances in 26 healthy geriatric patients. They noted the difference between the values for geriatrics and normal adults and assumed that the subclinical deficiency of ptcroylglutamic acid or a deficiency of some of its metabolites occurred in a relatively large number of their geriatric patients.…”

Erythrocyte Folate Levels in Young and Old

“…With use of the erythrocyte folate assay, Varadi and Elwis (7) found that 12.3 percent of unselected new geriatric admissions showed erythrocyte folate levels below the normal range, and Sneath et al (8) recorded an incidence of 16 percent. Hansen and Nyström (9), using a similar technique of whole blood estimations, reported the incidence of subnormal values to be 19.2 percent among geriatric inpatients. The Panel on Nutrition of the Elderly (10) concluded that 16.1 percent of their subjects showed evidence of chronic folate deficiency, judged by erythrocyte folate levels.…”

Reversible Malabsorption of Folic Acid in the Elderly with Nutritional Folate Deficiency

“…It is concluded that folate deficiency per se can produce a malabsorption syndrome resulting in further deple tion of folate. Protein deficiency and weight loss alone do not impair the absorption of folic acid.Folate deficiency due to malnutrition is not at all rare in elderly people who because of low income cannot afford a well-balanced diet, or whose dietary choice is restricted because of reduced mobility caused by physical or mental deterioration [13,17,19,20]. Low total caloric intake in elder ly individuals with low physical activity also reduces the supply of the necessary vitamins [24], and inadequate composition of the diet may lead to depletion of the folate depots within a few months.…”