With the increase in lifespan, and consequent increase in the elderly population, the prevalence of dementia is also increasing. The prevalence of dementia in the elderly over 65 in Korea was 10.3% in 2020 and is expected to increase to 16.1% by 2050. Dementia is a cognitive decline that affects eating behavior, leading to weight loss and malnutrition. In fact, the prevalence of malnutrition has been rising, and has been reported to be 58.9% among dementia patients in community facilities. Dementia requires the intake of sufficient calories and protein to prevent weight loss. On the other hand, intake of certain nutrients, such as omega-3 fatty acids, thiamine, vitamin E, selenium, and copper, helps prevent dementia in healthy people but has no effect on patients with advanced dementia. As dementia worsens, if food intake is reduced, oral nutritional supplements and enteral nutrition should be initiated to prevent weight loss and malnutrition. Dementia patients are very vulnerable to malnutrition, and hence require more active nutritional support.
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Development of 3D Printed Snack-dish for the Elderly with Dementia Ji-Yeon Lee, Cheol-Ho Kim, Kug-Weon Kim, Kyong-Ae Lee, Kwangoh Koh, Hee-Seon Kim Korean Journal of Community Nutrition.2021; 26(5): 327. CrossRef
Malnutrition in surgical patients is a prevalent problem. As the geriatric population gradually increases, surgeons need to be more careful in preventing the risk of iatrogenic malnutrition. Delayed wound healing, exposure to infection, pressure sores, gastrointestinal bacterial overgrowth, and immunosuppression in malnourished patients can be prevented or diminished with active nutritional support. Preoperative nutritional assessment and support, as well as adequate postoperative nutrition, will improve surgical outcomes, which in turn will lead to fewer postoperative complications, shorter hospital stays, and lower medical costs. The success of surgery depends not only on technical surgical skills but also on metabolic interventions that take into account the patient’s ability to deliver the metabolic load and provide adequate nutritional support.
Purpose: Short bowel syndrome (SBS) is the most common etiology for intestinal failure (IF) and these patients are at high risk of developing micronutrient deficiencies. This study aimed at assessing the level of vitamins in adult SBS patients at different stages of their disease before the initiation of multidisciplinary intestinal rehabilitation. Methods: Patient data from November 2015 to March 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. Adult patients who underwent extensive bowel resection and were classified as SBS-IF were selected. Clinical data including age, sex, etiology of IF, biochemical data, nutritional status, nutrition support, and outcome of intestinal rehabilitation were analyzed. Results: Nine patients with SBS-IF were included in the analysis. There were 6 male patients and 3 female patients, with a median age of 55.0 years. Vitamin levels were analyzed at 306 days (median) after the development of SBS. At the time of vitamin levels screening, 4 patients were receiving daily intravenous vitamin supplementation. Five patients were not receiving vitamin supplementations, either intravenously or orally. Vitamin B12 was within the normal range in 6 patients and higher than normal in 3 patients. Vitamin D was within the normal range in 3 patients and lower than normal in 6 patients. Vitamin E was within the normal range in 7 patients and higher than normal in 2 patients. Folate was within the normal range in 8 patients (not checked in 1 patient). Ambulatory patients had significantly higher vitamin D levels compared to hospitalized patients (P=0.015). Conclusion: Vitamin D levels had decreased in 67% of patients with SBS in Korea, while vitamin B12, folate, and vitamin E deficiencies were rarely seen.
Purpose: This study investigated the relationship between the visceral fat area (VFA) and clinico-pathological outcomes in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods: This retrospective study included 204 patients who underwent anthropometric measurement by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) before surgical treatment for CRC between January 2016 and June 2020. Results: According to the average value of the visceral fat area, 119 (58.3%) patients had a low visceral fat area, and 85 (59.1%) patients had a high visceral fat area. Patients with visceral obesity showed a higher BMI compared to patients without visceral obesity, (21.8±1.9 vs. 25.7±2.5, P<0.001). There was no significant difference in the overall perioperative outcomes including total operation time, time to gas out, sips of water, soft diet, hospital stay, and morbidity between patients in the low and high VFA groups. We divided patients into two subgroups according to the degree of cancer progression and more advanced cases with low VFA showed significantly more total and positive retrieved lymph nodes (LNs) (20.9±10.3 vs. 16.1±7.1, P=0.021 and 3.3±2.9 vs. 2.2±2.3, P=0.019, respectively) and a higher proportion of more than 12 retrieved LNs compared to patients with a high VFA (95.1% vs. 90.0%, P=0.047). Body composition analysis showed that phase angle, muscle composition, and body fluid composition were not statistically different between the two groups. However, body fat mass was statistically higher in the high VFA group (22.0±4.6 vs. 12.8±3.1, P<0.001). Conclusion: Visceral obesity measured by BIA showed lower total and positive retrieved LNs and was not associated with adverse peri-operative outcomes, inflammatory and nutritional, and pathologic outcomes for CRC.