Nutrition
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The STRONGkids is a nutritional screening tool for hospitalized children, which was found to predict a negative weight for height (WFH) standard deviation score (SDS) and a prolonged hospital length of stay (LOS) in a Dutch population of hospitalized children. This study aimed to test the ease of use and reproducibility of the STRONGkids, and to confirm its concurrent and prospective validity in a Belgian population of hospitalized children. ⋯ STRONGkids is an easy-to-use screening tool. Children classified as "low risk" have a 5% probability of being acutely malnourished, with only a 1% probability of a nutritional intervention during hospitalization.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Age-related macular degeneration: Effects of a short-term intervention with an oleaginous kale extract--a pilot study.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a multifactorial degenerative disease of the retina, which accounts for slowly progressive visual impairment in the elderly. An increased dietary intake of xanthophylls is suggested to be inversely related to the risk of macular disease. ⋯ The distribution of the xanthophylls in the macula seems to be more dynamic than originally assumed.
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Review
Presentation and interpretation of food intake data: factors affecting comparability across studies.
Non-uniform, unclear, or incomplete presentation of food intake data limits interpretation, usefulness, and comparisons across studies. In this contribution, we discuss factors affecting uniform reporting of food intake across studies. The amount of food eaten can be reported as mean portion size, number of servings or total amount of food consumed per day; the absolute intake value for the specific study depends on the denominator used because food intake data can be presented as per capita intake or for consumers only. ⋯ Mixed dishes, reported as such or in terms of ingredients and items added during food preparation remain challenging. Comparable presentation of food consumption data is not always possible; presenting sufficient information will assist valid interpretation and optimal use of the presented data. A checklist was developed to strengthen the reporting of food intake data in science communication.
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Review Case Reports
Effect of coenzyme Q10 evaluated by 1990 and 2010 ACR Diagnostic Criteria for Fibromyalgia and SCL-90-R: four case reports and literature review.
Recently, Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) deficiency has been implicated in the pathophysiology of fibromyalgia (FM). It is our objective to present the findings of the FM evaluation before and after oral CoQ10 treatment using the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Diagnostic Criteria of 1990 and 2010, and Symptom Checklist-Revised (Scl-90-R). Four patients with FM were examined using the trigger points, the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire, visual analog scale (pain, fatigue, and sleep), Widespread Pain Index, symptom severity scale, and Scl-90-R. ⋯ After treatment, all patients showed an important improvement in clinical symptoms in all evaluation methods. According to our results, and evaluated by three methods, patients with FM are candidates for treatment with CoQ10. However, more controlled clinical trials and investigations are needed to clarify the precise mechanism(s) by which CoQ10 may contribute in pathological and therapeutic processes of FM and to provide data on its effectiveness in FM.