Nutritionweek

 

N° 66, March-April 2006 

I.WHAT IS THE CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ORAL IRON ABSORPTION TEST FOR THE ELDERLY ?

E.JOOSTEN (Department of Internal Medicine,Division of Geria-tric Medicine,University Hospitals K.U,Leuven,Belgium) (1)

 

The small dose oral iron absorption test is a potentially useful test in clinical practice and it may be helpful for the diagnosis of iron deficiency anaemia and the differential diagnosis with the anaemia of chronic disease.Clinical studies to date have been small and have insufficiently addres-sed the influence of different nutritional substances and drugs on the iron absorption and the differentiation of those iron deficient patients who would benefit from parenteral iron treat-ment at the onset because of oral iron malabsorption.There is a need for wel-designed studies to re-evaluate its clinical significance.

 

(1) The Journal of Nutrition,Health and Aging vol.9,n° 6,2005,p 387-389.Serdi Publisher,France

Web site:http://www.serdi-fr.com/jnha

 

II. Linking Age-Related Changes in Skeletal Muscle Mass and Composition with Metabolism and Disease

Janssen,R.Ross (Department of Community Health and Epidemiology,Abramsky Hall,Queen's University,Kingston,Ontario,Canada) (1)

 

Skeletal muscle (SM) plays a central role in many biological functions,such as movement and metabolism,and alterations in SM mass and composition can have a marked influence on health and disease.The purpose of this review was to examine and characterize age-related changes in SM mass and composition and to link these changes to corresponding changes in metabolism and disease.It can be concluded from several studies that SM mass decreases with advancing age in both men and women.The age-related reduction in SM,also known as sarcopenia,is related to a corresponding reduction in SM strength,and if left untreated,sarcopenia may lead to functional impairment and physical disability.An emerging body of evidence also suggests that age-related changes in the composition of SM,particularly the accumulation of lipids within SM fibers,may lead to metabolic disorders such as insulin resistance.

 

(1) The Journal of Nutrition,Health and Aging vol.9,n° 6,2005,p 408-419.Serdi Publisher,France

Web site:http://www.serdi-fr.com/jnha  

 

III.Nutritional intake and recreational physical activity in healthy elderly women living in the community

Y.Rolland,F.Pillard,E.Garrigue,K.Amouyal,D.Riviere,B.Vellas (Service de Medecine Interne et de Gerontologie Clinique,Hopital Casselardit,Pavillon Junot,Toulouse,France) (1)

 

Purpose:Recreational physical activity,which increases energy expenditure,may help to maintain proper food intake.To compare the nutritional intake of inactive,active and very active healthy elderly women.Methods:Eighty-two women were recruited in the community.Participants had to be ?65 years and in good health (?2 drugs,?1 major illness,?1 surgical operation,no disability in basic or instrumental activities of daily living and no cognitive impairment).We compared food intakes between the 26 inactive (age 73.9+/-7.7 y,BMI 24.3+/-3.2kg/m2),the 29 active (age 71.5+/-5.6 y,BMI 23.2+/-3.5kg/m2) and the 27 very active (age 70.9+/-4.8 y,BMI 24.3+/-3.2kg/m2) healthy women.The nutritional intake was evaluated by a three-day food record.Macronutrient,mineral and vitamin content were derived from tables.Self-reported type,duration and frequency of recreational physical activities during the last month were converted into energy expenditures.Results:Despite high levels of energy intake (mean 1743.9kcal/d),mean intakes of calcium,vitamin B1,E and folic acid were lower than Recommended Dietary Allowances (-26.2%,-12%,-50.8%,-2.4% respectively) in the whole sample.There were no significant differences of energy intake and quantities of nutrients between the groups except for calcium intake which was significantly higher in inactive women (p=0.04).Conclusion:Active healthy elderly women do not have a better nutritional profile than their inactive peers.

 

(1) The Journal of Nutrition,Health and Aging vol.9,n° 6,2005,p 397-402.Serdi Publisher,France

 Web site:http://www.serdi-fr.com/jnha

 

IV.DIABETES – CORRELATED BIOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS (FASTING GLYCAEMIA,C-PEPTIDE,INSULINAEMIA) IN HEALTHY CENTENARIAN SUBJECTS

Petruzzi ,Pinzani,Rafanelli,Ungar,Malentacchi,Petruzzi,Pazzagli,Masotti (Dep.t of Critical Care Medicine and Surgery,Gerontology and Geriatrics Unit;Dept of Clinical Pathophysiology,Clinical Biochemistry Unit,University of Florence,Florence-Italy) (1)

 

Background and Aims:There is still big controversy on concerning the presence of carbohydrate metabolism impairment in advanced age.Insulin in serum has been a key parameter for carbohydrate metabolism studies.Highly specific and sensitive non-isotopic immunoassays are used for blood insulin measurements.We used one of these recent methodologies to investigate carbohydrate metabolism in centenarians.Moreover we evaluated connecting peptide (C-Peptide) by the use of non isotopic luminescence assay.Materials and Methods:We measured serum fasting glycaemia,insulinaemia and C-Peptide in tree subject groups:i) 28 normal adult subjects,of both gender,(age range 18-62 yr);ii) 25 normal elderly subjects,of both gender (age range 66-91 yr);iii) 26 healthy centenarians (8 men and 18 women (age range 100-105 years).All tree groups were selected by the criteria of the Eurage Senieur Protocol.We determined serum glycaemia by glucoso-oxidase method,serum insulin and serum C-Peptide levels by the electrochemiluminescence immunoassay ECLIA method (Roche Elecsys 1010/2010 and modular analytics E170 (Elecsys module) immunoassay analyzers.Results:Fasting glycaemia levels (mg/dl±SE) were:i)95±8;ii)94±9;iii) 96±12.Insulinaemia levels (mU/±SE) were:i) 13.03±3.84;ii) 9.90±3.26;iii) 13.50±2.89.C-Peptide values (ng/ml±SE) were:i) 0.82±0.03;ii) 0.78±0.08;iii) 0.38±0.06.Fasting glycaemia and insulinaemia appeared unmodified in the tree subjects groups under investigation,whereas C-Peptide showed a significant reduction (P<0.01) in centenarians.Conclusions:In this study serum glucose levels and insulinaemia,in centenarians,appeared unchanged in comparison to adult and elderly normal subjects.C-Peptide was significantly reduced in centenarians in comparison to normal adult and elderly subjects.The reduction (P<0.01) in plasma C-Peptide in centenarians does not seem to be relevant with an impaired glucose tolerance,but most probably with disturbances of C-Peptide clearance in the liver.Thus,we investigated most common liver function tests in centenarians,but they resulted in the normal range.

 

(1) The Journal of Nutrition,Health and Aging vol.10,n° 1,2006,p55;IANA Symposium Obesity in the Elderly,abstract (Rome,26-28 January 2006 ).Serdi Publisher

Web site:http:// w ww.serdi-fr.com/jnha

 

V.Obesity and Racial Differences in Active Life Expectancy in Older Reynold SL

(Associate Professor and Assistant Director for Academic Affairs School of Aging Studies,University of South Florida,Tampa,FL,33620 USA) (1)

 

Recent research on older adults in the US indicates that obesity has no effect on life expectancy on people who have survived to 70 years and older.However,obesity has a strong impact on the probability of becoming disabled in the same age group.Given the higher prevalence of obesity in the African-American community and future growth in the proportion they will represent in the total US older population,ascertainment of the relative impact of obesity on older African Americans and older Whites Active Life Expectancy (ALE) is important both for public health concerns,and for planning for long-term care needs at the state and federal levels.In this study,I use the first three waves of the Asset and Health Dynamic Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD) conducted between 1993 and 1998 (n=8,222 at baseline).I use a multistate lifetable method,utilizing the Integrated Markov Chain (IMaCh) software to estimate ALE,including transition probabilities between two active states and death,and years and percent of remaining life lived in disability,separating out males,females,African Americans,and obese and non-obese persons.Results indicate that obesity has a stronger effect on life expectancy in older African Americans than in older Whites for both sexes.Obesity has a stronger impact on disability in older White than African American males,and a stronger impact on older African American women only.The results of this study imply a complex relationship between obesity and the races at old age in the US,which deserves further research.

 

(1) The Journal of Nutrition,Health and Aging vol.10,n° 1,2006,p55;IANA Symposium Obesity in the Elderly,abstract (Rome,26-28 January 2006 ).Serdi Publisher

Web site:http://www.serdi-fr.com/jnha