Food supplement puts the brakes on mental and physical fatigue in the elderly

Experiments in the Vélez Rubio Residence for the Elderly carried out as part of a Campus Mare Nostrum PhD thesis show that L-Carnitine slows down pathological cognitive and physiological deterioraton caused by ageing.

Studies undertaken as part of a PhD thesis at the Mare Nostrum Campus of Excellence have succeeded in slowing down physical and mental fatigue in elderly women by using an L-Carnitine based food supplement. This I is an amino-acid that helps to provide cells energy and is beneficial in combating cognitive deterioration pathologies.

These conclusions are part of the PhD thesis written by Cristina Aguirre González and supervised by Ignacio Martínez González-Moro, of the University of Murcia, and Encarna Aguayo Giménez, form the Cartagena Polytechnic University (UPCT).

The experiments were carried out at the RECOPEMA Home for the Elderly in Vélez Rubio (Almeria). 35 men and women were administered two grams a day of L-Carnitine and compared with another group that received a placebo. The study lasted four months.

The administration of the amino-acid slowed down cognitive deterioration in men and women but only reduced fatigue intensity in women, perhaps, according to Aguirre, because the dose was insufficient.

After the experiments, Cristina Aguirre, a doctor of internal medicine, stated that L-Carnitine administration slowed down pathological, slight and moderate cognitive decline in men and women alike, as well as decelerating physiological deterioration associated with ageing.

L-Carnitine is found mainly in red meats, although it is also sold as a food supplement.

The thesis entitled “Efecto de la suplementación de la L-Carnitina en la naturaleza y severidad de la fatiga y en las funciones cognitivas en una población de ancianos”, was read at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Murcia and was awarded the highest pass with distinction.

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