MALNUTRITION;

Diagnosing malnutrition.

The measurement of selected anthropometric, biochemical and immunological variables, and clinical judgment can be used to assess nutritional state. Nutritional assessment has three main aims: to define the type and severity of malnutrition; to identify high risk patients; to monitor the efficacy of nutritional support. The problems associated with the various methods to assess the nutritional s...

Oedematous malnutrition.

Oedematous malnutrition, represented by its most severe form kwashiorkor, is rampant in many parts of the world and is associated with a high case fatality rate. Despite being first described more than a century ago, the pathogenesis of kwashiorkor is still not clear. The traditional thinking is that it results from a deficiency of dietary protein and is usually associated with an infection. Th...

Enzyme changes in malnutrition.

Since this symposium is concerned with enzymes in medicine, I shall consider only the work that has been done in human malnutrition. It would be impossible to deal with the very large literature on enzyme changes in animals under different dietary conditions. I shall also confine myself to work which is related to protein and calorie deficiency because this is the field with which I am familiar...

diarrhoea and malnutrition

To determine the prevalence of giardiasis in Gambian children with chronic diarrhoea and to assess their response to treatment, 31 children with chronic diarrhoea and malnutrition were investigated for giardiasis using a combination of serology (specific antigiardia IgM antibody) and microscopy of faeces and jejunal biopsy specimens. Fourteen of 31 children with chronic diarrhoea had giardiasis...

Neuropathy and malnutrition.