Barriers and facilitators to screening and treating malnutrition in older adults living in the community: a mixed-methods synthesis.

Background: Malnutrition (specifically undernutrition) in older, community-dwelling adults reduces well-being and predisposes to disease. Implementation of screen-and-treat policies could help to systematically detect and treat at-risk and malnourished patients. We aimed to identify barriers and facilitators to implementing malnutrition screen and treat policies in primary/community care, which barriers have been addressed and which facilitators have been successfully incorporated in existing interventions.

Does hypoxia play a role in the development of sarcopenia in humans? Mechanistic insights from the Caudwell Xtreme Everest Expedition.

Objectives: Sarcopenia refers to the involuntary loss of skeletal muscle and is a predictor of physical disability/mortality. Its pathogenesis is poorly understood, although roles for altered hypoxic signaling, oxidative stress, adipokines and inflammatory mediators have been suggested. Sarcopenia also occurs upon exposure to the hypoxia of high altitude.

Reduced parenteral nutrition requirements following anastomosis of a short residual colonic segment to a short jejunum.

A 22-year-old man suffered an acute small bowel infarct leading to extensive bowel resection, resulting in only 20 cm of jejunum to a jejunostomy, although he also had 50 cm of residual colon with a mucous fistula. The patient was out on long-term home parenteral nutrition (PN) but endured high stomal losses of 5-6 L per day and, despite all conventional measures, required 6.1 L of fluid (including PN) and 555 mmol sodium per day.

The value of multidisciplinary nutritional gastroenterology clinics for intestinal failure and other gastrointestinal patients.

An increasing number of patients have chronic intestinal failure (IF) or other problems needing nutritional support. These patients need regular input from gastroenterologists, nutrition nurse specialists and dietitians, but traditionally these healthcare professionals see them separately. Here the authors describe their experience of a combined regional nutritional gastroenterology clinic and outline strategies that can avoid the need for home parenteral nutrition (HPN) or intravenous fluids in most cases.