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To determine the feasibility of increasing the calcium, protein and calorie intake of osteoporotic fracture patients by repeated dietary counselling delivered by a dietitian, a randomized controlled trial was conducted. Among 189 patients presenting with osteoporotic fractures to an Orthopaedics and Traumatology Department of a large regional hospital, 98 patients were randomized to the intervention group and 91 were randomized to the control group (with usual care). Intervention group received three sessions of dietary counselling with tailored made recommendations over a period of 4 months, while the control group only received dietary assessment and pamphlets on the prevention of osteoporosis. Almost all subjects in both intervention and control groups had calcium intake below the recommended level of 1000 mg at baseline. Half and 60% of subjects in both groups had total energy and protein intake below recommended levels respectively. The mean weights of control and intervention groups at baseline were 51.5 and 50.9 kg respectively, while the body mass index (BMI) were 22.6 (kg m(-2)) and 22.6 (kg m(-2)) respectively. After dietary intervention, significant increase of intake was seen in calcium intake (P = 0.0095 by t-test) in the intervention group. No significant increase was seen in protein or calorie intake. No significant change was observed in the body weight or BMI although there was a positive trend in the intervention group for all these parameters. We concluded that there was general malnutrition in Chinese elderly who presented with osteoporotic fractures. Dietary calcium could be increased by repeated professional dietary counselling. Future studies with longer duration and more objective clinical outcomes will be helpful to further demonstrate the long-term effects of dietary intervention on osteoporosis and other chronic diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AIM: Dyslipidaemia may be a risk factor for diabetic kidney disease. We examined prospectively association between the use of statins and development of renal dysfunction in type 2 diabetes. METHODS: A consecutive cohort of 5264 diabetic patient recruited between 1996 and 2005 underwent detailed assessments. Renal dysfunction was defined as first estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 ml/min/1.73 m(2), or, the first hospitalisation with a diagnosis of renal disease as coded by the International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision. Drug use was quantified using the proportion of exposure time from baseline to event/death/censored time, as appropriate. RESULTS: In this cohort (male: 47.3%, median age: 55 years, median duration of diabetes: 6.0 years), none had renal dysfunction at baseline. During a median follow-up period of 4.9 (quartiles: 2.77, 7.04) years, 703 patients (13.4%) developed renal dysfunction, 1275 patients (22.2%) were exposed to statins. After controlling for baseline risk factors, multivariable adjusted hazard ratio of statin use for development of renal dysfunction was 0.32 (95% CI 0.21-0.50, p<0.0001). CONCLUSION: Use of statins was associated with reduced risk of developing renal dysfunction in type 2 diabetes and this association was independent of baseline risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]