The nutritional risk in oncology: a study of 1,453 cancer outpatients.

Purpose: There is little information about the nutritional status of cancer outpatients because the practice of nutritional screening is rarely performed. This study aims to define the pattern of scores of nutritional risk in 1,453 outpatients and factors associated with a high nutrition risk score, to facilitate the identification of such patients by the oncologists.

Methods: We prospectively screened the nutritional status of cancer outpatients according to the NRS-2002 score which combines indicators of malnutrition and of severity of the disease (1-3 points, respectively).

Pilot dietary study with normoproteic protein-redistributed plant-food diet and motor performance in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Although a plant-based diet can provide some benefits in Parkinson's disease (PD), no study to date has evaluated the effectiveness of a plant-food diet in the management of the disease. In this pilot study, we compared the effect of a plant-food menu (PFD) and of a omnivorous menu on motor performance of 25 PD patients, 12 in the intervention group (PDi) and 13 in the control group (PDc). After 4 weeks, the PDi group showed a significant reduction (Mann-Whitney test) in the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, total score (47.

The effects of psyllium on lipoproteins in type II diabetic patients.

We examined the effects of 2 months of psyllium treatment in optimizing metabolic control and lipoprotein profile, and its postprandial effects on lipids in type II diabetes. We recruited 40 type II diabetic patients who were on sulfonylureas and a controlled diet, sequentially assigning them to psyllium treatment (G1) or to a control group (G2) treated with dietary measures alone. After 2 months of treatment, body mass index, waist circumference, HbA1c (hemoglobin A1c) and fasting plasma glucose levels had significantly decreased in both groups.

Prospective randomized study on perioperative enteral immunonutrition in laparoscopic colorectal surgery.

Background: Perioperative nutrition for patients undergoing colon surgery seems to be effective in reducing catabolism and improving immunologic parameters. A relatively low-fiber and highly absorbable diet may facilitate the intestinal cleansing and loop relaxation fundamental for laparoscopic surgery with a lower dose of iso-osmotic laxative.

Methods: From 1 February 2004 to 30 July 2005, 28 patients referred to our unit with colon disease (neoplasms and diverticular disease) amenable to laparoscopic surgery were prospectively randomized into two groups of 14 patients each.

Lipoprotein profile, diet and body composition in athletes practicing mixed an anaerobic activities.

Objective: To compare lipoprotein profile, body composition and diet in a sample of athletes practicing mixed and anaerobic sports activities, and in a group of sedentary controls.

Experimental Design: Cross selectional study.

Participants: Twenty professional soccer players (mixed trained), twenty body builders (anaerobic trained) and twenty sedentary subjects, all males and matched for age were studied.

[XYY syndrome. Report of a case].

A sixteen year old boy was admitted to our department for delayed puberty. The personal history was not significant and physical examination revealed only a genital hypogonadism. The endocrinology study of the patient showed a hypogonadotropic hypogonadism.

Lipid and apoprotein modifications in body builders during and after self-administration of anabolic steroids.

To determine the effects of anabolic steroids on serum lipid and apoprotein levels, 14 white male body builders who self-administered steroids for 2 to 3 months (steroid users) were studied; 10 agreed to screening while they were taking the drugs (ON treatment) and also at about 3 months following their suspension (OFF treatment). Controls consisted of 17 body builders who had never taken steroids (nonusers), and a group of 18 healthy sedentary subjects (controls). During the period of steroid administration, there was a slight reduction in total serum cholesterol, with a marked cholesterol decrease in the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) subfractions HDL2 and HDL3, and a significant reduction in the HDL2 cholesterol/HDL3 cholesterol ratio; the percentage of serum cholesterol transported by low-density lipoproteins (LDL) increased significantly.

Reduction in insulin antibodies 42 months after transfer from porcine to human monocomponent insulins.

The present study was planned to evaluate if a longterm follow-up would show any modification of insulin antibodies in IDDs transferred from porcine to human monocomponent insulins. Nineteen IDDs, treated for more than one year with porcine monocomponent insulins, were transferred to the equivalent formulations of human insulin (Actrapid HM, Monotard HM); insulin antibodies, metabolic control, insulin dose, adverse drug reactions were evaluated during a 42-month follow-up. A reduction of IgG insulin antibodies was observed after 22 months of the follow-up and became significant (2p less than 0.