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Malnutrition
Malnutrition in older people is common — not necessarily only in the poor; and
hypochromic anaemia is widespread: we have very frequently found haemoglobin
levels well below 70 per cent. The accompanying weariness, apathy, faintness, and
disinclination amongst probably one-third of our older population is a disgrace to our
prevention services. Admittedly much anaemia is due to diets deficient in protein and
vegetables not easily obtained with insufficient money. But anaemia is so easily treated
with iron preparations that to do this alone would be an immense contribution to our
national welfare.
Prevention Powder for Older People
In attempting to provide treatment and nutritional supplements for older people
with the multiple deficiency syndrome, we were faced quite early with the problem of
prescribing numerous medicaments. An old person gets confused in trying to deal with
say half a dozen kinds of tablets, and he soon ceases to be bothered. After trying
numerous recipes we have evolved a prevention powder for older people which has an
attractive appearance; mixes easily, has good keeping and emulsifying qualities; and a
pleasant taste. It has a dried milk base and contains minerals and vitamins. We can
add any of the hormones — thyroxine, androgen, anabolic steriods, oestrogen, or progestogen.
A measure of powder weighing 13 G. is beaten up with about 4 fluid ounces
(120 ml.) of warm water to make a pleasant milky drink. We recommend half a fluid
ounce (15 ml.) of a refined deodorized linseed oil to be taken each day for the prevent'
ion of artery disease, and this is easily emulsified in the drink and is almost tasteless.
In this way each person gets all the medicaments he needs in one acceptable preparation.
We devised a trial to test the efficacy of the powder. In it 12 men and 24 women
took part; they were divided into 6 groups each of 2 men and 4 women. We had
prepared for us 6 powders, 3 of which were alike but contained no medicaments, the
other 3 containing medicaments. Each person in the trial was tested on three occasions
with six weeks in between each occasion. The tests were for general appearance,
photograph, how they felt, weight, grip, thigh strength, muscle tone, skinfold thickness,
assessment of skin elasticity on hand and neck, speed of response, and haemoglobin.
The doctors did not know which person was having which powder, nor the composition.
The photographs were judged by independent judges. The results clearly separated
the two groups of people — those on the medicaments showed great improvement in
appearance, strength, haemoglobin level, speed of response, and in general well-being.
Artery disease
Eight years ago we wondered whether maize oil was any good for the prevention
of artery disease. We sold maize oil in the clinic at half price through the generous
co-operation of our League of Friends, and advised our people to take 1 fluid ounce
(30 ml.) emulsified in the prevention powder. We have records of 272 people who
began taking the maize oil and continued for various periods of years. We kept observations
on xanthoma, arcus senilis, cataract, retinal arteries and veins, serial electrocardiographs,
blood pressure, and the tibial and other arteries. After five years we had
26 people who had taken the oil continuously. We matched them for age, sex, and status
with 26 others who had never taken maize oil. When we compared the two groups we
were driven to say that we could hardly find any difference at all. In the meantime of
course some of those who had taken the oil for years developed angina, coronary disease,
stroke, gangrene of the foot, or had died of coronary thrombosis.
We are impressed with some work showing the importance of linolenic acid in
the prevention of artery disease. We have found a source of refined deodorized linseed
oil with a high content of linolenic acid, and we are advising our people to take half a
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