NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Supplementing the diet with nutrients, including selenium and vitamins A, B complex, C, and E, improves the outcomes of patients being treated for tuberculosis, according to a new report.

"The nutritional status is a very important predictor of clinical outcomes in patients with infections," Dr. Eduardo Villamor from Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, told Reuters Health. Villamor and colleagues hypothesised that nutrient supplements would reduce the risk of disease complications and death in patients treated for tuberculosis. They tested their hypothesis in a study of 887 patients in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The use of the nutrients was associated with a slight reduction in the risk of tuberculosis treatment failure and with a 45-percent reduction in the odds the disease would return after successful treatment. This latter effect was stronger in the subgroup of patients who were infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.