Nutritional Risk Screening in Hospitalized and Haemodialysis Patients

Malnutrition is an independent risk factor impacting on higher complications and increased length of hospital stay and costs. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of nutritional risk among patients on regular haemodialysis (HD) (Group I, N=105) and among the patients at Gastroenterology, Endocrinology, Hematology and Clinical Immunology (Group II, N=652). Cross-sectional nutritional evaluation was done using Nottingham Hospital Screening Tool (NS). The prevalence of nutritional risk was 9% in Group I and 21% in Group II (p=0.0002). We found statistically significant larger quantity of malnourished patients among acute internistic patients than among chronic from the same Group II. Malnutrition among patients on HD didn’t differ statistically to chronic internistic patients. We didn’t found a significantly higher percentage of nutritional risk among elderly patients (65 years and more). Correlation between body mass index (BMI) and NS was significant, but weak (r=–0.32). We can conclude that the prevalence of nutritional risk among HD patients was lower than we had expected. It seems that the screening tool we used is not sensitive enough for HD patients and needs further investigations

A Combination of Low Doses of Fluvastatin and Valsartan Decreases Arterial Stiffness in Patients After Myocardial Infarction: A Pilot Study

Background: Despite optimum treatment, patients who experience myocardial infarction are still at high risk for future events. Objective: We evaluated the effect of 30 days of treatment with combination of low, subtherapeutic doses of fluvastatin and valsartan on arterial stiffness in patients after myocardial infarction, a therapy that has not been used yet. Methods: Fourteen male patients with a history of myocardial infarction were enrolled into a pilot double-blind randomized controlled study. They were allocated to receive 10 mg fluvastatin and 20 mg valsartan or placebo for 30 days in addition to their regular pharmacotherapy. Carotid–femoral pulse wave velocity was measured on inclusion, after 30 days, and after 3 months. Results: Mean (SD) carotid–femoral pulse wave velocity decreased significantly in the treatment group after 30 days and persisted at lower values after 3 months (from 8.4 [1.5] m/sec to 7.3 [1.1] m/sec to 7.2 [0.8] m/sec; P < 0.05). The 95% CI for decrease after 30 days in the treatment group was 0.5–1.6. Only nonsignificant changes were observed in the control group. Serum lipid levels and arterial blood pressure did not change significantly in any group. Conclusions: The treatment resulted in a significant and sustained improvement of arterial stiffness in male patients with a history of myocardial infarction, which highlights the need for further study of this new approach

Estimation of sodium availability in food in Slovenia: results from household food purchase data from 2000 to 2009

Uvod: Glavni namen raziskave je bil ugotoviti razpoložljivost natrija v kupljenih živilih v Sloveniji. Osnovo so predstavljali podatki nacionalne raziskave o porabi v gospodinjstvih za obdobje 2000-2009. Sekundarni cilj raziskave je bil ugotoviti, katere skupine živil prispevajo k največji razpoložljivosti natrija v prehrani slovenskih porabnikov