Jamie Scott is a PhD candidate in the ‘EDESIA: Plants, Food and Health’ PhD programme at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. She is interested in the role of dietary components and dietary patterns in maintaining skeletal muscle health during ageing, and more broadly in how nutrition impacts overall health and disease risk. Jamie completed a BSc in Nutrition in 2019 and an MSc in Human Nutrition in 2020, both with distinction. She received the Drummond Prize for Human Nutrition from the University of Aberdeen School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition in 2020, and was awarded the student prize for best poster presentation at the Nutrition Society Summer Conference in 2022.

RECRUITING FOR STUDY

A study on the effect of vitamin C on muscle health in older women (VICS)

What is the study about?

As people get older their muscles get smaller and become weaker. Over time, this can make it more difficult to remain mobile and independent, which can affect the ability to carry out basic activities of daily living. One of the reasons that our muscles get weaker as we get older is that the mitochondria within muscles also age and work less efficiently. Mitochondria are like engines inside our muscles: they provide energy to fuel the movement of our bodies, and also other processes that occur within our muscles. As mitochondria age, they produce less energy and can also produce compounds called oxidants. Oxidants can cause inflammation and can damage our muscles and the mitochondria themselves.

Vitamin C is an antioxidant that we get from food. It may help to protect our muscles against the damage caused by oxidants, and may also help our mitochondria to work more efficiently. Researchers at the University of East Anglia want to investigate what effect vitamin C might have on muscle health, and on our mitochondria. This will help us to understand whether vitamin C may be useful for helping older people to remain mobile and independent for longer.

Who can take part?

We are looking for women aged 65 years or over, who have no major health conditions, to take part in this study. We are looking for women who eat less than 4 portions of fruit and vegetables per day; who do not take part in regular exercise; who do not smoke; and who are not currently taking vitamin C supplements.

Where can I find more information?

If you think you might be interested in taking part, please contact the VICS study team using the contact details below for more information.

Miss Jamie Scott or Prof Ailsa Welch

VICS Study, University of East Anglia, Norwich Medical School, NR4 7TJ

Telephone: 01603 591 074 | Email: [email protected]  

FURTHER INFORMATION: JAMIE SCOTT BIOGRAPHY

Jamie’s PhD research focuses on relationships between blood- and imaging-based biomarkers and measures of skeletal muscle health: muscle mass, muscle strength and physical function. Her project is supervised by Professor Ailsa Welch, Dr Max Yates, Dr Donnie Cameron (Norwich Medical School, UEA) and Dr Cathrina Edwards (Quadram Institute Bioscience).

As part of her PhD, she is working on four projects with the overall aim of identifying biomarkers that are related to sarcopenia: the age-related decline in skeletal muscle health. This work may help identify biomarkers that are useful for assessing sarcopenia risk or diagnosis, for monitoring disease progression, or for assessing the effectiveness of preventive or treatment strategies. This work may also suggest nutritional or metabolic targets for intervention. Her GESTALT (Genetic and Epigenetic Signatures of Translational Aging Laboratory Testing) project explores the effect of age on different CT and MRI measures of skeletal muscle composition, and how these measures relate to muscle strength. Her BLSA (Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging) project explores associations between a wide range of clinical and nutritional biomarkers skeletal muscle health. Following prior work by members of her supervisory team, her work in the EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer) Norfolk cohort focuses specifically on vitamin C: how dietary intakes and blood concentrations relate to muscle strength and physical function. This work formed the basis of her final project, the VICS study, which aims to investigate the effect of vitamin C supplementation on skeletal muscle health and mitochondrial function in older women.

Jamie’s research is funded by the Wellcome Trust EDESIA PhD Programme.