© 1978 Oxford University Press
research-article |
A SURVEY OF THE HAEMATOLOGICAL, NUTRITIONAL AND BIOCHEMICAL STATE OF THE RURAL ELDERLY WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO VITAMIN C
County Hospital Hereford
A survey of the rural elderly has been carried out to determine basic haematological and biochemical data, and to establish a pattern of living for this well population. The blood parameters related to diet, such as haemoglobin, folate, cholesterol, vitamin C etc., show considerable changes with increasing age in the male but little significant change in the female. The vitamin C status for, both sexes compares favourably with that reported by other workers studying the urban elderly. The biochemical and haematological data derived provide a normal range with which the sick elderly can be compared. The subjects were generally active and independent in spite of (or because of) a somewhat Spartan existence.