Eddy T P, Taylor G F
Age Ageing. 1977 Feb;6(1):6-13. doi: 10.1093/ageing/6.1.6.
Twenty-two elderly people, who were vegetarians for many years, had high ascorbic-acid values in plasma (10.2 +/- 0.4 mg/l) and leucocytes (35.9 +/- 1.99 mug/10(8)WBC). Visual and photographic examination of their tongues showed a much lower incidence of sublingual petechiae and varicosities than is general in elderly people. It is proposed that previous, perhaps recurrent, vitamin deficiencies may lead to irreversible changes in the elderly that cannot subsequently be changed by vitamin-therapy. An epidemiological comparison between populations who have long maintained a high vitamin-status and those whose vitamin-status has been variable may be more informative than therapeutic trials of the effect of vitamins on these lesions.
22名多年来一直吃素的老年人，其血浆中的抗坏血酸值较高（10.2±0.4毫克/升），白细胞中的抗坏血酸值也较高（35.9±1.99微克/10⁸白细胞）。对他们舌头的视觉和照片检查显示，舌下瘀点和静脉曲张的发生率比一般老年人低得多。有人提出，以前可能反复出现的维生素缺乏症可能会导致老年人出现不可逆的变化，随后无法通过维生素治疗来改变。长期保持高维生素状态的人群与维生素状态多变的人群之间的流行病学比较，可能比维生素对这些病变影响的治疗试验更具参考价值。
