Nutritional status and diarrhoeal pathogen in hospitalized children in Bangladesh

Once, patients with kidney failure faced a bleak, brief future. But now, kidney failure can successfully be treated--sometimes for decades--with dialysis. Although the technology is simple and largely painless, dialysis treatments last hours and often involve additional hours of travel to and from dialysis centers three or more days each week. This demanding schedule--combined with the life-or-death importance of treatment--involves patients and their families in a unique long-term relationship with clinicians, nurses, and technicians.     

Nutritional status and serum lipids of a rural population in Northeast Thailand--an example of health transition

The authors retrospectively evaluated the etiology and clinical findings of patients with first manifestations of psychotic symptoms after the age of 65. Nearly 10% of over 1,700 consecutive geriatric patients admitted to an acute inpatient psychogeriatric unit had late-life onset psychotic symptoms. About three-fourths of these were women, usually in their seventies. Dementia of the Alzheimer's type was the most common cause of psychosis arising in late life, followed by major depression, medical/toxic causes, delirium, bipolar disorder, delusional disorder, schizophrenia, and schizoaffective disorder. Clinical manifestations consisted mostly of delusions and hallucinations.     

Nutritional status indicators in population studies

The access to information is crucial to plan, define and evaluate nutritional interventions. Analyzing the main nutritional indices proposed by international fora for food and nutrition surveillance, the usefulness of anthropometry is underscored due to its simplicity and low cost. The height/age index has advantages and limitations, considering that height may be influenced by genetic factors. The joint analysis of different indicators allows a correct individual or population nutritional assessment. It is concluded that height continues to be a good index of nutritional status and of standard of living in countries where nutritional problems are relevant.     

Nutritional problems of children

In the underdeveloped areas of the world malnutrition frequently starts "in utero" as indicated by a high proportion of low birth weight babies. These "small for date" babies have a high risk of death and contribute significantly to the high infant mortality rates observed in these populations. After birth inadequate physical growth is the most frequent manifestation of malnutrition. It is not yet clear if the observed mental retardation is directly related to malnutrition or more to psycho-social deprivation, but is is anyhow an important problem. The effects of transculturization resulting in early weaning is complicating the situation even more by producing severe malnutrition at earlier ages.     

Nutritional status and aminoglycoside dosing

Serum amyloid P component (SAP) is a glycoprotein in human plasma. We previously showed that SAP is specifically localized in human atherosclerotic lesions, suggesting that SAP may play a role in atherogenesis. In this study, the interactions between human SAP and high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL) and very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) were investigated by using a solid phase plate assay. Biotinylated SAP bound to immobilized HDL and VLDL in a calcium-dependent, saturable manner. The SAP-HDL and SAP-VLDL bindings reached saturation at 4 nM and 16 nM of SAP, respectively. The bindings were inhibited by native SAP in a dose-dependent manner. No binding between SAP and LDL was found in the presence of calcium or EDTA, which indicates the specificity of SAP-lipoproteins interactions. These results suggest that the function of SAP is related to its capability to interact with lipoproteins and this may have important implications in atherosclerosis and in amyloidosis.     

陕西省农村6岁以下儿童营养状况两次调查结果比较

儿童营养不良不仅会造成儿童当前身体的发育迟缓,同时还会增加成年时期患许多慢性代谢性疾病的危险.我国0-5岁儿童的营养状况在过去10年中有了很大的改善,但在农村,儿童营养不良率依然很高.     

Nutritional supplementation of disadvantaged elementary-school children

This paper describes a method of endolymphatic sac decompression and drainage. The method emphasizes widely exposing dura, avoiding skeletonization of the posterior semicircular canal and draining the sac via a T tube. The results of this procedure in 75 patients, including statistics in 46 ears are discussed. In patients with unilateral disease good results were obtained in control of vertigo in 94 percent of patients and significant improvement in cochlear function in over 30 percent.     

Female alcoholism problems in Lesotho

This paper gives an overview of alcohol and alcohol-related problems facing women in Lesotho. As in many other developing countries, the cultural position of women in Lesotho facilitates a vicious circle in which women are at one time brewers of alcohol, then sellers, then become excessive consumers due to the problems created by their drinking husbands. Married women encounter social censure if they drink, and termination of their marriages if they abuse alcohol. Culturally women are regarded as minors and depend on their husbands for economic survival, so that alcohol abuse can cause great hardship. Due to a lack of trained and specialized medical staff, women's particular and multi-faceted treatment needs are largely unmet and no research is done on problems of female alcoholism.     

Nutritional folate status influences the efficacy and toxicity of chemotherapy in rats

The effect of folate status on the efficacy and toxicity of chemotherapy was investigated in weanling Fischer 344 rats maintained on diets of varying folate content or supplemented with daily injections of folic acid, 50 mg/kg, for 6 to 7 weeks. MADB106 rat mammary tumor growth rate was the same in folate replete and supplemented rats, but retarded in the low folate groups. The tumor growth inhibitions in low folate, replete and high folate rats treated with cyclophosphamide were: 53%, 98%, and 97% (P = .048); with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU): 46%, 49%, and 66%; and with doxorubicin: 25%, 55%, and 61%. Significant differences in survival were observed for cyclophosphamide (P = .0084) and 5-FU (P = .025) related to dietary folate content. Thus, folate deficiency impedes tumor growth rate, but supplementation does not accelerate it in folate replete animals. Correction of folate deficiency approximately doubles the efficacy of cyclophosphamide in rats with much less host toxicity. Folate repletion improves survival in 5-FU-treated animals. These studies indicate that nutritional folate status has an important influence on the efficacy and toxicity of some commonly used cancer chemotherapeutic drugs.     

Nutritional status of Haitian children, 1978-1995: deleterious consequences of political instability and international sanctions

Results from three national surveys in Haiti suggest that the prevalence of stunting, underweight, and wasting in children fell considerably between 1978 and 1990. In the following four years, rates of stunting and underweight levelled off, while that of wasting nearly doubled. Child nutrition deteriorated dramatically during a period of intense political crisis and international sanctions that included a strictly enforced trade embargo. Human welfare should be monitored whenever international sanctions are imposed to regulate a country's behavior.     

Nutritional survey in Greek children: nutrient intake

The aim of the survey was to record the food habits and nutrient intake of Greek children. Data was obtained by a 3 d household measured diet record from a random stratified sample (1936 children aged 2-14 y). Mean daily protein intake was much higher than PRI and none of the children had lower intake than AR. Mean energy intake from protein was 15%, carbohydrate 44% and fat 41%. Eighty-four percent of children had energy intake from fat higher than the AR. Saturated fatty acids (SFA) provided approximately 15%, monounsaturated (MUFA) 17% and polyunsaturated (PUFA) 6% of energy. Eighty-seven percent of children had higher intake of SFA than the AR. Six percent of children had SFA intake lower than the AR and 50% higher than the AR. None of the children had PUFA intake lower than PRI and 0.3% higher than the maximum limit. 4.2% of children had calcium intake lower than LTI and 88% higher or equal to PRI. All children had phosphorus intake higher than PRI and less than the lower safe ratio of Ca/P; 50% of them had P intake higher than 1.5 g/d. The majority of children had sufficient iron intake with the exception of menstruated girls. Mean vitamin A intake was higher than PRI and lower than the toxic levels. All children had vitamin C intake higher than LTI. Median vitamin D intake varied from 1.7-2.1 micrograms. Median energy intake was higher than the AR in preschool children, but lower in the older children. We conclude that Greek children do not underintake energy and protein, overintake SFA, have safe intake of PUFA, vitamin A and C and high intake of MUFA, underintake carbohydrates, have adequate Ca, but a considerably high P intake. Vitamin D is low in small children, but the biological available vitamin D is obviously higher due to sunlight.     

Nutritional considerations in children undergoing bone marrow transplantation

Bone marrow transplantation is often associated with multiple organ failure which is usually reversible. Oral mucositis and dysphagia, vomiting, diarrhoea, protein losing enteropathy, transient exocrine pancreatic impairment, hypoalbuminaemia, biochemical trace element and mineral deficiencies are all common following transplantation and have profound nutritional consequences. Malnutrition affects negatively the clinical outcome. Nutritional support is provided to malnourished patients and those who suffer deterioration in nutritional status despite the provision of dietetic counselling. Only a few randomised studies comparing enteral with parenteral nutrition after transplant exist. Both enteral tube feeding (in the absence of mucositis) and parenteral nutrition are effective in maintaining nutritional status. However, enteral nutrition is associated with a better nutritional response and fewer complications than parenteral. With existing enteral and parenteral nutrition regimens close monitoring of trace element and mineral status is required.     

Nutritional status of gastric cancer patients after total gastrectomy

A number of causes of malnutrition after total gastrectomy have been proposed. The purpose of this study was to assess nutritional status and to determine the cause of malnutrition after total gastrectomy. We studied 20 gastric cancer patients who had undergone total gastrectomy and immunochemotherapy and 6 normal controls. Nutritional status was assessed by dietary history, anthropometric methods, and serologic measurements. Malabsorption tests included the fecal fat excretion test, D-xylose absorption test, glucose tolerance test, vitamin B12 absorption test using dual isotopes, bacterial culture of jejunal aspirates, and jejunal biopsy. Weight loss was compared to the preoperative status in all patients (average 15%: 59.0 +/- 9.9 vs. 50.2 +/- 7.8 kg, preoperatively vs. postoperatively). Average daily calorie intake was 1586.2 kcal, which is lower than the normal intake of Korean adults (1838 kcal). Malnutrition of skeletal and visceral protein was not found. There was, however, severe fat malnutrition and a deficit of body fat. Postoperatively the body mass index was considerably lower than that preoperatively (22.2 +/- 0.4 vs. 18.9 +/- 0.4 kg/m2; preoperatively vs. postoperatively). With malabsorption tests, the daily excreted amount of fecal fat was 28.6 +/- 3.4 g (mean +/- SD) in patients and 6.9 +/- 0.2 g in controls. There was no significant malabsorption of carbohydrates. In 64.3% (9/14) of patients, vitamin B12 absorption was abnormal; and the serum concentration of vitamin B12, which was significantly related to malabsorption of this vitamin, was lower than normal in 73.7% (14/19). Bacterial overgrowth was not found, and there were no abnormal histologic findings in the jejunal mucosa. These results suggest that poor oral intake and fat malabsorption following total gastrectomy cause malnutrition and that fat malabsorption may be related to relative pancreatic insufficiency.