Abstract

Many population subgroups that are at high risk of ill health have multiple micronutrient deficits. These subgroups include the elderly, the socially and economically deprived, hospital patients and the mentally ill, among others. Placebo-controlled trials of simple micronutrient supplements have shown that they can improve immune function and reduce time suffering from infections in older people, reduce length of stay in hospital and improve clinical outcomes, improve pregnancy outcomes and reduce violent behaviour. If these findings could be transferred to the general population, the improvement in health and the reductions in cost of the service would be immense. Three main factors, however, are blocking both further research and the implementation of what we already know. These are: (1) reductionist attitudes among scientists who want to study only one micronutrient at a time; (2) holistic attitudes among dietitians and nutritionists who, with a lack of realism, want the relevant groups to change diet rather than take supplements; (3) governments who have created a regulatory framework that is commercially inimical to the development of multinutrients to treat disease. All of these attitudes need to change if we are going to apply what we already know about nutrition to the improvement of human health. But if attitudes do change we could see the fastest ever, and also the cheapest, improvement in human health.