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Introduction: Background and aims: low muscle mass (LMM) conditions the nutritional status of an individual and has implications for quality of life and prognosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate body composition and determine normal values in the diagnosis of LMM in a control group of healthy individuals. Methods: a cross-sectional study of healthy volunteers aged 18 to 45 years with body mass index (BMI) < 30 kg/m2. A descriptive study was performed including demographic, clinical, anthropometric, and body composition variables (by bioimpedance, TANITA MC 780 MA; TANITA, Tokyo, Japan), stratified by age, sex and BMI. Values corresponding to -1/-2 standard deviations (SD) were determined to consider low muscle mass/function. Results: we included 67 patients, 71,60 % women, with a median age of 28.29 (IQR 4.05) years. Males presented higher weight, BMI, fat-free mass (FFM), muscle mass (MM), appendicular lean mass (ALM), appendicular lean mass index (ALMI), and dynamometry values when compared to females. The -1/-2 SD values of the various muscle parameters were determined according to sex. Conclusion: this study determined normal LMM values in healthy and young people, and the most commonly used indexes to express it, which will allow the diagnosis of LMM in disease-related situations using the corresponding -2 DS value.

Introduction: Introduction: oncohematological diseases are associated with a high prevalence of malnutrition during hospitalization. Our aim was to analyze the appearance and repercussions of malnutrition in well-nourished hematological inpatients at admission. Method: a prospective one-year study conducted in hematology inpatients. The Malnutrition Screening Tool (MST) was used at admission and repeated weekly. Patients with a negative screening at admission who developed malnutrition during hospitalization constituted our study sample. A nutritional evaluation and intervention was performed. We also analyzed the effect of newly diagnosed malnutrition on patients' outcomes in comparison with the outcomes of patients that remained well-nourished during hospitalization. Results: twenty-one percent of hematological inpatients who were well nourished at admission developed malnutrition during hospitalization. Of the patients, 62.4% needed a nutritional intervention (100% oral supplements, 21.4% diet changes, 5.2% parenteral nutrition). After intervention, an increase in real intake was achieved (623 kcal and 27.3 g of protein/day). Weight loss was slowed and visceral protein was stabilized. Length of stay was 8.5 days longer for our sample than for well-nourished patients. Conclusions: newly diagnosed malnutrition appeared in one in five hematological well-nourished inpatients, leading to a longer length of stay. Nutritional intervention improved intake and nutritional status. Nutritional surveillance should be mandatory.

Introduction: Nutritional support for malnourished patients undergoing gastrointestinal surgery reduces the complication rate and shortens the length of stay. The efficacy of nutritional support after hospital discharge was analyzed in this systematic review., Methods: The search strategy (nutrition OR "enteral nutrition" OR "nutritional supplements" OR "oral nutritional supplements" OR "sip feed" OR "sip feeding" OR "dietary counseling") AND ("patient discharge" OR discharge OR postdischarge) AND (surgery OR operation OR "surgical procedure") was followed in Medline, CENTRAL, and Trip databases. Inclusion criteria comprised: type of study (randomized controlled trial), language (English, Spanish), and subjects (patients undergoing gastrointestinal surgery). The risk of bias was assessed by using the Cochrane methodology., Results: Five studies which were published in six different articles and recruited 446 patients were included. A high risk of bias was detected for most of them. Nutritional support improved energy intake and protein intake when high-protein oral supplements were provided. The intervention was associated with better weight prognosis, but the data about body composition were inconsistent. In most of the trials, nutritional intervention did not enhance functional capacity or quality of life. None of the studies analyzed the effects on complications after discharge., Conclusion: Nutritional support provided at discharge may increase dietary intake and improve body weight, but the low quality of studies can weaken the validity of results.

Introduction: Oncohematological diseases are associated with an important prevalence of malnutrition., Aim: Our aim is to determine if early recognition and treatment of malnourished hematological inpatients can improve their oral intake, nutritional status and reduce the length of hospital stay., Methods: Prospective 2-year study conducted in a cohort of hematology inpatients. Malnutrition Screening Tool (MST) was carried out on the first day of admission. Patients with a positive screening were recruited to have a complete nutritional evaluation and intervention, following usual clinical practice. Nutritional evaluation was repeated after one week., Results: Six hundred and seventeen hematological patients were screened (37.8% with positive screening). After one week, median diet intake increased from 80% to 90% (p < 0.001), and an increase of 407.36 Kcal (SD 679.37) and 17.58 g of protein (SD 31.97) was also achieved. More patients reached their energy and protein requirements (41.6 vs.% 63.3%, p = 0.009) and nutritional parameters remained stable. A trend to a lower stay (3.5 to 4.5 days less) was detected in the groups of patients who covered their needs., Conclusions: The implementation of early malnutrition screening and short nutritional interventions improved energy and protein intake, increasing the percentage of patients who meet their requirements and avoiding deterioration of nutritional status.

Los datos del estudio PREDYCES® nos revelaron que en España la desnutrición relacionada con la enfermedad (DRE) afecta a uno de cada cuatro pacientes hospitalizados. Esta cifra aumenta hasta el 36,8% en los pacientes hematológicos. Se calcula que un 20% de los pacientes oncológicos muere por complicaciones relacionadas con la DRE. Nuestro grupo se planteó en 2011 comenzar la implantación de un cribado nutricional en los servicios con mayor riesgo de DRE. La presente revisión trata de describir todo el proceso que hemos seguido para mejorar la situación nutricional en los pacientes ingresados en el Servicio de Hematología del Complejo Asistencial Universitario de León (CAULE), mayoritariamente con diagnóstico de neoplasias hematológicas. En un primer estudio piloto, detectamos una alta prevalencia de desnutrición, que tendió a aumentar durante la hospitalización. Además, solo el 8,3% los enfermos valorados recibieron algún tipo de soporte nutricional y no se estaban cubriendo sus necesidades ni calóricas ni proteicas, lo que se asociaba a un peor pronóstico. Por este motivo, nos decidimos a implantar de manera sistemática un cribado y una intervención nutricional adecuada, que comenzó en 2011 y que ha recibido el reconocimiento como Buena Práctica del Sistema Nacional de Salud.

Introduction: the radiation of tumours located in pelvic organs can cause mucositis in the bowel. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence, risk factors, and complications of chronic radiation enteritis in patients who had received pelvic radiotherapy., Patients and Methods: cross-sectional study recruiting 150 patients that had been treated with radiation therapy during the year 2008 because of a prostate, cervical, endometrial or rectal cancer. The patients were asked about symptoms related to enteritis, and about changes in body weight and in dietary patterns. Sex, age, treatment modalities, acute enteritis, and type of cancer were considered possible risk factors, and were analysed with univariate and multivariate methods., Results: the study included 100 patients, 84% males, median age 72.3 years. Chronic radiation enteritis was found in 20% of the patients, most of them grade 1 (45%). Furthermore, 10% had lost ≥ 5 kg of weight, 3% had been hospitalized due to diarrhoea or bowel obstruction, and 11% had changed their diet, mainly by removing vegetables, legumes and pastry. Male gender, age, previous acute radiation enteritis, and chemotherapy were associated with chronic enteritis, but only chemotherapy remained independently related to bowel toxicity after multivariate analysis (OR = 3.59 [95% CI 1.20-10.73])., Conclusion: chronic enteritis is common among patients treated with pelvic radiotherapy, especially if chemotherapy is associated. The complication rate is low, but a significant number of patients change their usual diet in order to prevent symptoms., (Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.)

Dysphagia is a common problem among elderly and also in some pathological conditions such as neurodegenerative diseases or tumors. Making an adequate diet for this disease may present some difficulties. The aim of this document is to make a detailed technical report about the characteristics of the products that are available in Spain to hydrate and to feed patients with dysphagia. Food and pharmaceutical industries have developed a range of products designed to ensure homogeneous texture and a suitable viscosity to guaranty an adequate hydration. An adequate nutritional status is also achieved with these products for patients with dysphagia, without compromising their safety. The ingredients used to achieve a suitable viscosity are different types of starches, gums and other substances. It has been developed thickeners and gellified water for hydratation, and in case of food there are purees (dehydrated, lyophilized, pasteurized and sterilized), fruit purees, fruit pudding, and dehydrated cereal. Patients who do not meet their nutritional needs have also oral supplements with different viscosities. The industry offers extensive information about the technical characteristics of the products, except for viscosity. It would be recommended for the manufacturers to include in detail the technical specifications of the used methodology and the measurement and the results obtained in the analysis of viscosity that can be consulted by professionals of the Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics Units who treat these patients., (Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: the objective was to demonstrate if treatment modality, nutritional status and oropharyngeal flora contribute to the development of mucositis in radiotherapy- treated head and neck cancer., Methods: single-cohort study of patients with head and neck cancer (H&N) in which radiotherapy was indicated. Nutritional status was evaluated using SGA, BMI, and FFMI. A buccal smear was performed before radiotherapy for cultivation of bacteria and yeasts. Mucositis was evaluated using the WHO grades. Relative risk (RR) and its 95% CI were calculated., Results: the study included 35 patients, 74.3% males, 63.8 (9.9) years of age, and 34.3% malnourished. The diagnoses included larynx (40.0%), oral (25.7%), and pharynx cancer (11.4%). Treatment comprised 66.0 Gy of radiation, chemotherapy (60.0%), and surgery (57.1%). Bacteria were found in 28.6%, including Staphylococcus aureus (8.6%) and Escherichia coli (8.6%). Yeasts (Candida spp.) were found in 35.3%. Mucositis was more frequent in patients with definitive radiotherapy [100% vs. 65%, p = 0.01; RR = 1.54 (CI95% 1.12 to 2.12)]. Neither SGA nor BMI or FFMI were related to the development or severity of mucositis. Positive cultures for bacteria before radiotherapy were related to severe mucositis [44.4% vs. 12%, p = 0.039; RR = 4.17 (CI95% 1.22 to 14.24)], but there was no relationship with the presence of yeasts. Previous surgery was not associated with the appearance of the studied strains of bacteria., Conclusion: bacterial colonization of the oropharynx prior to radiotherapy may be a factor for severe mucositis in H&N patients., (Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: biliopancreatic diversion (BPD) has been shown to be one of the most effective techniques for losing weight, although nutritional education also might play an important role. Our aim was to determine the effect of the combination of a nutrition educational program (NEP) and BPD on changes in the intake of energy and macronutrients after the surgery., Methodology: this longitudinal study included all patients eligible for BPD who filled in a dietary record. Two assessments were performed: six weeks before and twelve months after surgery. The nutrition educational program was given two weeks after surgery by a registered dietitian and a 3-day food record was collected for further analysis at both of the assessments., Results: 68 patients were included. The percentage of excess weight loss was 60.76% (SD 14.50%). A year after the surgery there was a reduction of energy (-602.27 kcal [SD 930.19 kcal], p < 0.001), fat (-41.70 g [SD 77.87 g], p < 0.001), percentage of fat (-4.79% [SD 11.38%], p = 0.001), and an increase in the percentage of protein (+ 2.72% [SD 7.10%], p = 0.002). A lower consumption of fat, especially of polyunsaturated fatty acids, was observed in the patients that achieved the nutritional recommendations and in the super-obese patients., Conclusion: The combination of NEP and BPD resulted in an improvement in the nutritional profile, with a reduction of fat and maintenance of the protein intake., (Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.)

Background: Malnutrition in oncology and hematology-oncology patients is important due to its prevalence and associated mortality and morbidity. The aims of the study were to assess the prevalence of malnutrition in oncology and hematology patients and determine if intake or malnutrition influences hospitalization outcomes., Methodology: A cohort study was performed in all patients admitted to the oncology and hematology wards in a 30-day period. Nutritional assessment was performed within 24-hours of admission and repeated after 7 days of hospitalization, including Subjective Global Assessment, anthropometry, dietary assessment (24-hour recall) and estimation of caloric and protein needs. Medical records were reviewed 30 days after discharge., Results: Seventy-three patients were evaluated on admission and 29 on day 7 of hospitalization. The prevalence of malnutrition was 47.7%. On admission, patients consumed 71.6 (SD 22.0)% of the prescribed dietary calories and 68.2 (SD 23.5)% of prescribed proteins. The death rate was 2.8% among patients who ate ≥75% and 17.9% among those who ate <75% (p = 0.040). No significant differences were observed between the intake of calories (p = 0.124) and protein (p = 0.126) on admission and on day 7 of hospitalization. Nutritional status was related to readmission rate, being 35.1% for malnourished vs. 8% for well-nourished (p = 0.014). Nutritional status and food intake were not related to the rest of the studied outcomes (length of stay and mechanical, metabolic or infectious complications)., Conclusions: Intake did not decrease during hospitalization. There was an upward trend between reduced intake and mortality. Malnutrition was related to hospital readmission., (Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: The high prevalence of malnutrition in hospitals and its impact make the use of a nutritional screening tool necessary for its detection, diagnosis and early treatment., Objective: To evaluate the most appropriate tool for nutritional screening, globally and by hospital wards, in a tertiary hospital., Methodology: cross-sectional study in routine clinical practice. Four nutritional screening tools were evaluated: Subjective Global Assessment (SGA), Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST), and Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS-2002). Hospital wards were grouped into: medical wards, General Surgery, Orthopedics, other surgical wards, and Oncology-Hematology. A statistical analysis of sensitivity (S) and specificity (Sp) were performed, and were compared using ROC curve., Results: There were evaluated 201 patients with median age of 71.6 (RIC 21.4) years and 51.2% were women. The prevalence of nutritional risk (NR) and malnutrition (MN) was: SGS 62.1%, 68.6% MNA, MUST 53.7%, and NRS-2002 35.8%. All the evaluated nutritional screening tools, except MNA, detected a higher prevalence of RN and DN in the medical wards than surgical wards. In the overall analysis the MNA obtained S=93.3%, Sp=71.6% and an area under the ROC curve of 0.825; the MUST obtained S=82.4%, Sp=93.4% and an area under the ROC curve of 0.879; NRS-2002 obtained S=56.0%, Sp=97.4% and an area under the ROC curve of 0.766. These results were similar in the analysis by hospital wards., Conclusion: MUST could be the recommended nutritional screening tool to use in a tertiary hospital with elderly population, as the overall good results of sensitivity and specificity, as well as its simplicity., (Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.)

Background: The aim was to evaluate the effects of glutamine on tumor regression and histological damage in patients with rectal patients following chemoradiotherapy previous to surgery., Material and Methods: Ten patients with rectal cancer surgically removed after chemoradiotherapy were included, a subgroup of a randomized trial that compared glutamine and placebo in the prevention of acute radiation enteritis. Samples of neoplasm and healthy tissue were evaluated by an expert pathologist searching for signs of tumor regression, muciphages, and signs of radiation-induced damage., Results: There were no differences in the grade of tumor regression with either glutamine or placebo. All patients who received glutamine presented muciphages, compared with 28.6% of the placebo group (p = 0.038). Histological damage was similar in patients receiving glutamine or placebo, and between those with radiation enteritis or without toxicity., Conclusion: Glutamine did not exert a protective effect over chemoradiotherapy in rectal cancer or healthy rectal tissue., (Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.)

Background: The prevalence of malnutrition in hospitals ranges from 20 to 50% and the hospital diet could be a potential risk factor. The aim of the study was to determine the overall and per services prevalence of hospital malnutrition, and assess its impact on clinical outcomes in patients receiving nutritionally complete menus., Methodology: Cross-sectional study in a university hospital. Nutritional status was assessed using Subjective Global Assessment (SGA), anthropometry, and biochemical parameters. For the assessment of outcomes during hospitalization, length of stay, rate of deaths, and readmissions were collected., Results: 201 patients were evaluated. The median age was 71.59 (IQR 21.43) years old, and 51.20% were women. According to the results obtained by SGA, 37.8% of individuals were well nourished (WN), 50.2% were at nutritional risk (NR), and 11.9% were malnourished (MN). The prevalence of malnourished (NR+MN) was higher in oncology-hematology and medical wards (80.0% and 70.5%) than in surgical ones (52.4%) (p = 0.047). The worse nutritional status was, the longer the length of stay [WN: 8.0 (IQR 8.0) days; NR: 12.0 (IQR 13.5) days; MN: 18.5 (IQR 18.5) days, p < 0.001)., Conclusions: The prevalence of malnutrition in the evaluated hospital was very high, being particularly striking in medical services, and doubling length of stay., (Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.)

Background: Morbidly obese patients usually present vitamin D deficiency or secondary hyperparathyroidism. Low vitamin D levels have been recently related to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The aim of this study was to analyse the relationship between vitamin D, bone turnover markers and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and metabolic syndrome in severely obese patients., Methods: One hundred and ten patients who underwent bariatric surgery were included. Liver biopsy was taken during surgery. Two univariate analyses were carried out in order to i) analyse the relationship between liver histology and vitamin D-bone turnover markers (intact parathyroid hormone (PTH), osteocalcin and Carboxy-terminal collagen crosslinks) and ii) establish the association between metabolic syndrome components-insulin resistance (HOMA) and vitamin D-bone turnover markers., Results: 70% of the patients had lower levels of vitamin D or secondary hyperparathyroidism. None of the components of liver histology were associated with levels of vitamin D or with bone turnover parameters. Patients with metabolic syndrome showed lower levels of PTH and osteocalcin (72,42 (29,47) vs 61.25(19.59) p-Value: 0.022; 19.79 (10.43) vs 16.87(10.25) p-Value: 0,028, respectively). HOMA was not related to Vitamin D or bone turnover markers., Conclusion: Low levels of vitamin D or hyperparathyroidism are common in severely obese patients. Vitamin D and bone metabolism markers were associated neither to NAFLD nor with metabolic syndrome in our series of obese morbid patients., (Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.)

Background and Objective: An inadequate fluid therapy can worsen the outcomes of surgical patients, but there are no data in medical patients. The aim of this study was to determine the adequacy of fluid therapy in hospitalised patients of medical wards, and its influence on outcomes., Methods: Cross-sectional study including nil-per-os patients admitted in medical wards of the Complejo Asistencial Universitario de León. The administered fluid therapy was compared with the standardised requirements. Nutritional status was evaluated with Subjective Global Assessment. Fasting was considered inappropriate if it lasted > 7 days in well-nourished, and >5 days in malnourished patients if nutritional support had not been provided., Results: Fluid therapy lasted 4 (IQR = 2) days, and fasting was inadequately maintained in 27% of patients. Fluid requirements were correctly fulfilled, but patients received an excess of sodium (+58.4%) and chloride (+62.2%), and potassium administration was insufficient (-35.1%). Glucose supply was 68.8 (29.2) g/d, and 99% received < 130 g/d. Patients with an inadequate duration of fasting had a longer hospital stay after adjusting for sex, age, nutritional status, infused volume, electrolytes, glucose and diseases. Only malnutrition predicted mortality during hospitalisation (OR 10.5; 95%CI 1.3 to 83.2), when multivariate analysis was performed., Conclusions: Fasting medical patients receive an inadequate supply of glucose and electrolytes. Prolonged fluid therapy and malnutrition may worsen the outcomes of these patients, independently of other conditions like age or diseases., (Copyright © AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2013. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.)

Background: Weight loss before bariatric surgery, achieved by means of a very low calorie diet (VLCD) has been recently reported to be related to a lower rate of postoperative complications. However, it is controversial if preoperative weight loss after VLCD could improve postoperative weight loss., Aims: To assess the effectiveness of a preoperative VLCD for 6 weeks in weight loss one year after bariatric surgery. To evaluate the changes obtained in anthropometric measures and biochemical parameters after VLCD., Methods: Prospective uncontrolled study including severely obese patients undergoing biliopancreatic diversion in our Obesity Unit in 2008-2010. Patients included followed a VLCD providing 840 kcal and 60 g of protein (Optisource®). Descriptive data are presented as mean (standard deviation) and after checking a normal distribution is followed, they were analyzed by Student s T test, ANOVA or Pearson correlation., Results: We evaluated 107 obese patients, 43.5 (10.2) years-old, 72% women, with initial weight 122.4 (18.6) Kg and BMI 46.8 (5.5) kg/m(2). 24.5% of them lost more than 10 % of initial weight and 73.5% more than 5% after following VLCD. Mean percentage of excess weight loss (% PSP) one year after surgery was 59.6 (13.4)%, and although it was higher for those patients losing more weight after VLCD, a significant correlation was not found: those who lost more than 5% showed %PSP 59.5 (13.8) % after twelve months and 68.4 (16.2) % of percentage of excess BMI loss (%PEIMC), vs 57,9 (13,1) % and 68.5 (16.6) % if they didn t lose that amount of weight. Those patients losing more than 10% achieved %PSP 63.3 (13.7) and %PEIMC 70.9 (14.7) vs 58.2 (14.0) y 67.7 (16.7) vs those not losing that amount. Significant correlations between preoperative loss with VLCD and %PSP or %PEIMC at 3,6,9 and 12 months were not found, and only %PSP 1 month after surgery correlated with %PSP after VLCD (r = 0.454, p = 0.003)., Conclusions: Preoperative weight loss with VLCD in severely obese patients did not show to improve either %PSP or %PEIMC one year after bariatric surgery., (Copyright © AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2013. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.)

Background: The maintenance of weight loss may be influenced by the distribution of macronutrients in the diet and insulin sensitivity., Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate the longterm effect of two hypocaloric diets with different protein/carbohydrate ratios in overweight and obese individuals either with insulin resistance (IR) or without insulin resistance (IS)., Design: Prospective, randomized, clinical intervention study. Forty patients were classified as IR/IS after a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test and then randomized to a diet with either 40% carbohydrate/30% protein/30% fat (diet A) or 55% carbohydrate/15% protein/30% fat (diet B)., Results: After one year of follow-up there was no difference in weight loss between diets A and B in each group, but the IS group maintained weight loss better than the IR group [-5.7 (3.9) vs. -0.6 (4.1); P = 0.04]. No differences were found in either Homeostasis Model Assessment (HOMA) or other metabolic glucose parameters except lower insulin at 120 minutes with diet A [21.40 (8.30) vs. 71.40 (17.11); P = 0.02]., Conclusions: The hypocaloric diets with different protein/carbohydrate ratios produced similar changes in weight. Insulin resistance may play a negative role in maintaining weight loss.

Background Aims: Body composition measurements seem to be not reliable enough in obese patients. Our aim was to compare single frequency-bioelectrical impedance (SF-BIA) analysis; foot-to-foot impedance meters (FFI) or upper body fat analysers (UBFA) and DXA (Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) in severely obese patients., Patients and Methods: Cross-sectional study including 40 severely obese patients. Bioelectrical impedance was performed for SF-BIA (Holtain (H) and OMRON BF 500 (O500)), FFI (Tanita TBF-300 (T)) and UBFA (Omron BF 300 (O300)). DXA scans were performed using a Lunar iDXA. The data were analysed using Pearson's correlation and Bland Altman plots were also drawn to evaluate any agreements., Results: The percentage and total body fat values were 49.2% and 55.2 kg measured with DXA, 44.3%/53.4 kg with O300, 50.6%/58.3 kg with O500, 45.4%/55.4 kg with H and 49.1%/60.3 kg with T. The Holtain BIA showed the worst correlation with DXA for both %BF and FFM. Although the measurements of % body fat, fat mass and fat-free mass were significantly correlated with DXA, each method showed wide limits of agreement, although T was most closely correlated with DXA., Conclusion: Compared to DXA, FFI and UBFA could be useful for assessing body composition in severely obese people, although they appeared to underestimate %BF and FM and their limits of agreement were too wide.

Introduction: Malnutrition affects morbidity and mortality of patients with ALS. The nutrition unit should evaluate these patients early and regularly providing the necessary steps in the evolution of the disease., Methods: A retrospective cohort study in which we analyzed 46 patients diagnosed with ALS, 21 of them received nutritional therapy. We studied age, mode of onset, date of entry into a nutritional protocol, placement of PEG and survival. We performed a test of Breslow comparing patients who were at nutritional protocol with those not receiving nutritional support, and those who received early nutritional therapy with those with delayed nutrition., Results: There was an increase in median survival for patients in nutritional therapy in bulbar ALS (452 vs 55 days) and in spinal ALS (1,798 vs 357 days) (p = 0.002). The median delay in the initiation of nutritional therapy in spinal ALS was 557 days while in bulbar ALS was 230 days. The survival in the spinal ALS of those who entered into nutritional protocol before the median survival was 325 days to 181 days (p = 0.09) while in bulbar ALS those who entered before had a median survival of 435 days to 177 days (p = 0.38)., Conclusions: The entry of patients with ALS in a nutritional protocol increases survival. There is an advantage in the evolution of patients with early nutritional treatment.

Background: The establishment of healthy eating habits in children at school and in family life is very important for preventing obesity in children., Aims: To know the habits of late-breakfast in a scholar population, the prevalence of overweight and obesity, and establish healthy dietary habits through the late-breakfast., Methods: A prospective interventional study was performed in a school group. Children from 10 to 13 years-old were included. The study had three phases: pre-intervention (anthropometric assessment and questionnaire of late-breakfast frequency), intervention (parents and teachers received information about "the importance of proper nutrition in school" focused on the transcendence of a healthy and balanced diet that includes a suitable late-breakfast every day at school, and the students received the late-breakfast during two weeks that included milk, fruit and a traditional sandwich), and post-intervention (questionnaire of late-breakfast frequency)., Results: Frequency of overweight was 10.6% and obesity 2.6%. After the intervention the proportion of children who had late-breakfast increased by 9.2%, and the kind of food which they ate changed., Conclusion: Dietary habits can be modified in a scholar population with an easy nutritional intervention.

Inflammatory bowel disease is an entity with not wellknown pathogenesis, and important nutritional and metabolic implications because of the high prevalence of malnutrition, the possible implication of dietary factors in its pathogenesis and because of the hypothesis that nutritional intervention could be a primary treatment for the disease. Some nutrients could induce a low antigenic stimuli, regulate inflammatory and immunological responses and stimulate intestinal mucosal trophism. Present available evidence supports enteral nutrition in Crohn's disease as a primary treatment if treatment with steroids is not possible (failure or contraindication) (grade of recommendation A) or either combined treatment with drugs in malnourished patients or those with inflammatory bowel stenosis. In those patients with sustained clinical remission, no benefit of either enteral nutrition or supplements in the absence of nutritional deficits has been shown. Elemental or modified formula (glutamine, omega 3 fatty acids) could not be recommended. In ulcerative colitis, nutritional influence over the activity of the disease has not been shown, although there are some promising results regarding enteric coated W3 fatty acids and a possible role for probiotics. In the treatment and prevention of pouchitis, there could be a role for probiotics (VSL#3). Nutritional treatment should be considered an integral component in the Management of patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

We present the case of a male patient suffering from a primary amyloidosis and a nephrotic syndrome who came to dietotherapy clinic. In the first visit we made a nutritional record including an anthropometric evaluation, body composition, biochemistry, and food intake. The patient had an excess of body water, proteinuria, low plasma protein, albumin, prealbumin and HDL cholesterol levels, and high concentrations of total cholesterol, LDL and triglycerides. The consumption of protein and sodium was higher than the recommendation. An individualized diet was made. Six months later, his weight and the excess of body water decreased, but the fat free mass remained unchanged. The levels of albumin and prealbumin increased, the proteinuria decreased. Total cholesterol, LDL and triglycerides decreased until normal levels. Dietetary treatment in nephrotic syndrome is effective to decrease proteinuria, improve cholesterol and triglycerides levels, and to prevent malnutrition.