Diagnosis and Treatment of Malnutrition
Diagnosis
- Consider the patient’s food history and performs medical assessment, which includes measurements of weight, height and skin folds.
- Requested tests blood and urine tests (such as absorption of D-xylose or albumin), which indicate the degree of deficiency of vitamins, proteins and minerals.
- A very important laboratory data to determine if a patient has malnutrition is the value of blood proteins, such as albumin (the main protein that circulates in our bodies).
Prevention
Ensure that the diet include vitamins, proteins, lipids, minerals and carbohydrates in a balanced way, which can be supported by supplements and food supplements is essential that these measures are strengthened and closely monitored during infancy, pregnancy, lactation and aging. Continue reading
Causes and Symptoms of Malnutrition
Causes
- Poor feeding, especially during childhood, adolescence, pregnancy, lactation and aging, which is associated with poor selection of food, religion, preferences, disease, ignorance and low income.
- Strict dieting for long periods.
- Anorexia and bulimia.
- Cancer or AIDS.
- Infections.
- Chronic diarrhea.
- Defect absorption in the intestine causes the nutrients in food is not utilized, this condition can be caused by chronic diseases in digestive system, kidney, heart, lungs, pancreas and metabolism disorders.
- Alcoholism in advanced degree conducive to the neglect of food.
- Vegetarian diet because it does not provide all the nutrients the body needs. Continue reading
Malnutrition: Nutrient Deficiency
Nutrient deficiency is generally associated with poor diet with vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates and fats, changes in the process of intestinal absorption, chronic diarrhea and diseases such as cancer or AIDS. This condition usually develops in stages, because at first causes changes in the values ??of nutrients contained in blood, then, causes dysfunction of organs and tissues and, ultimately, generate physical symptoms with the risk of death.
Notably, there are periods of life which are more prone to malnutrition, such as childhood, adolescence, pregnancy, lactation and age, the first being that you can leave severe sequelae, for example, decreased IQ, impaired learning and memory retention, poor muscle development and frequent infections. The latter represents one of the leading causes of death, because the nutrient deficiencies alter immune barriers that protect against the attack of germs. Continue reading