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Nutrition and Infection

  • Chapter
Infectious Disease in the Aging

Part of the book series: Infectious Disease ((ID))

Abstract

Nutritional factors have been suggested to mediate, at least in part, the immune dysfunction and increased risk of infection common in older adults (1,2). A variety of nutrients directly and indirectly influence immune function and presumably infection risk (see Fig. 1 from ref. [3]). However, few nutritional interventions have as yet shown clear clinical benefits. This chapter examines the prevalence, clinical manifestations, and diagnosis of malnutrition in elderly adults and summarizes the currently available data regarding the role of nutritional supplements in the prevention or treatment of infectious diseases in the elderly.

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Authors
  1. Kevin P. High
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science and Martin Luther King, Jr.-Charles R. Drew Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Thomas T. Yoshikawa MD

  2. Greater West Los Angeles Healthcare System and UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Dean C. Norman MD

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© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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High, K.P. (2001). Nutrition and Infection. In: Yoshikawa, T.T., Norman, D.C. (eds) Infectious Disease in the Aging. Infectious Disease. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-026-1_24

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-026-1_24

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-5459-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59259-026-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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