June Challenge: Protein-calorie malnutrition

[banshee]

OK, I spent a week looking at 4 nutrients, and was originally planning on doing another 4 nutrients each week. I'll probably get back to that next week, but in my research last week I came across a term - protein-calorie malnutrition (also called protein-energy malnutrtion, or PEM) - and I got curious. So at least for a couple days this week I'm going to study this condition.

Here's a starting article (http://www.emedicine.com/ped/topic1360.htm) from eMedicine that seems to do a pretty good job of defining it. And this article (http://www.emedicine.com/derm/topic797.htm), also from eMedicine, has a bit more on PEM in adults. More later...

[Missy]

What a good subject Mary!! I'll be watching..and participating when I get caught up with the findings of this board in the past week...I KNEW it was going to be a rough one coming back!!! :D ~ I knew when I left that I'd come back to LOTS of great information!!!!!! ~ I'm NOT dissapointed!!! lol

:paranoid: oh...where to BEGIN!!!! :D

[Shadow]

Banshee - Great topic :D! I look forward to your findings! Since I'm buried under my own study for the week, I will leave it to you to provide the cliff notes on this for me :)!

[Billie]

This certainly adds to or enforces the Cordain, article I was reading. "Marasmus involves inadequate intake of protein and calories, whereas a child with kwashiorkor has fair-to-normal calorie intake with inadequate protein intake".

"In addition to PEM, children may be affected by micronutrient deficiencies, which also have a detrimental effect on growth and development. The most common and clinically significant micronutrient deficiencies in children and childbearing women throughout the world include deficiencies of iron, iodine, folate, vitamin D, and vitamin A. Although fortification programs have helped diminish deficiencies of iodine, vitamin A, and vitamin D in individuals in the United States, these deficiencies remain a significant cause of morbidity in developing countries. Micronutrient deficiencies and protein and calorie deficiencies must be addressed for optimal growth and development to be attained in these individuals".

And as well in children with stature:

Some studies indicate that poor growth secondary to inadequate nutrition occurs in as many as 10% of children in rural areas. and

Inadequate food intake is the most common cause of malnutrition worldwide.

Amazing study, thanks for the work you did on it,

[banshee]

This is a very interesting interview (http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/helthrpt/stories/s166041.htm) with an Australian researcher who did a study on the effect of protein and fibre on blood pressure. Essentially, it seems that low protein diets contribute to high blood pressure, and increasing protein in the diet will lower blood pressure by the same amount as blood pressure medications. (And combining higher protein with higher fibre almost doubles the effect, so is actually more effective that medications. <sarcasm on> Gee, we haven't seen that at all with Protein Power, have we? :rolleyes: <sarcasm off>)

I'd really like to find the actual study, although the interview gives quite a bit of information about the study parameters.

This isn't exactly related to the original "protein malnutrition" that I started studying, but I've expanded my range a bit. The PEM articles all seem to be focused on either very young children or the elderly, and also on extremely malnourished people. I was originally interested in this because I was wondering if my diet before PP, which was pretty low protein, might have caused some of my health problems. But I certainly wasn't at the stage of being hospitalized for malnutrition. So I'm curious what other effects a low-protein diet might have. This is tough to research, though, because a lot of the articles Google is finding are the sites that claim that an ultra-low protein diet is healthy for you and increases longevity.

The research continues... ;)

[Billie]

Mary thanks so much I have a dear friend who I will be sending this too ASAP. If you get the full study let us know, thanks for the share!

[banshee]

Of course, what protein intake research would be complete without looking at the latest health craze - soy protein.

I found out that a whole lot of research is being done in this area. I also found a Canadian website that seems to do a pretty good job of summarizing the research and doesn't seem to have an agenda to promote. The Soy Story (http://www.cspinet.org/nah/soy/soy.html) lists a bunch of the health claims about soy and then examines the research relating to those claims. Definitely worth a read. With all the hoopla both for and against soy, it's nice to see a site that impartially examines the evidence. It also has a list of references at the end for those who are interested in digging deeper into this.

The one thing that I found interesting from this article is that soy isoflavones appear to be helpful in treating heart disease in women. We now know that women do not have the same symptoms as men for heart disease, so it stands to reason that women might have different needs with regard to treating it. According to the article:


“Women have a high frequency of anginal pain that’s not associated with blockage of the coronary arteries,” explains Bowman Gray researcher Tom Clarkson. “Estrogen is necessary to enable coronary arteries to dilate when they get a signal,” he adds. Without estrogen, they constrict, and that causes the pain. But when he feeds soy with isoflavones to female monkeys that have clogged arteries, “the arteries are able to dilate when they need to.”
And when researchers in Australia gave 80 mg of isoflavones a day — without soy — to 21 women, they found a 26 percent improvement in the elasticity of the women’s arteries.

I'll probably edit this post later to summarize the article further, but I need to scoot for a doctor appointment. Just wanted to get this online in case anyone is looking for lunchtime reading. :D