Nutrition
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It is not clear yet if abnormal body mass index affects the outcome of stroke patients receiving intravenous thrombolysis (IVT). We aimed to explore this issue through a retrospective cohort study and meta-analysis. ⋯ Our results suggested that abnormal body mass index had no prognostic significance for the functional outcome or mortality of stroke patients at 3 mo after IVT.
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Assessing food intake of pregnant women is extremely important, because maternal dietary patterns can influence fetal development as well as have either positive or negative effects on both the mother and fetus. Thus, the aim of the present study was to carry out a systematic review of the literature on food frequency questionnaires developed and validated for pregnant women, in order to assess their methodological quality and validation process. ⋯ Food frequency questionnaires developed for pregnant women appear to be reliable tools to assess food intake by this group. Overall, they had good methodological quality and adequate correlation coefficients compared with reference methods.
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Childhood undernutrition continues to be a major public health problem and one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality in developing countries. The risk factors of child undernutrition are diverse and change with time, place, and season. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and associated factors influencing stunting and wasting among children 1 to 5 years of age in the Nkwanta South Municipality, Ghana. ⋯ Furthermore, factors influencing wasting were parents' educational level, parents' working status, child's age, birth interval, exclusive breastfeeding, poor appetite, child's vaccination status, and recurrent diarrhea. The results showed a high prevalence of stunting and wasting among children 1 to 5 years in the Nkwanta South Municipality. This finding indicates the degree to which nutritional screening for children is very crucial, and thus recommends government and health authorities to adapt or promote nutrition-related interventions such as educational awareness on the utilization of family planning services for birth spacing, exclusive breastfeeding practices, and vaccination to prevent undernutrition among young children.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The effect of β-hydroxy β-methylbutyrate (HMB) with nutritional counselling on anthropometric muscle mass markers, strength, functionality, and quality of life in patients on the waiting list for liver transplantation: A double-blind study.
Patients on the waiting list for liver transplantation (LTx) usually lose muscle mass. Supplementation with β-hydroxy β-methylbutyrate (HMB) may have a promising effect on this clinical condition. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of HMB on muscle mass, strength, functionality, and quality of life in patients on the LTx waiting list. ⋯ Nutritional counselling with supplementation with HMB or active control in patients on the LTx waiting list improved AC, dynamometry, and the FI in both groups.
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The ketogenic diet (KD) is one of the main treatments for drug-resistant epilepsy. However, there have been few multicenter reports on the use of the KD for the treatment of Dravet syndrome (DS). The aim of this study was to analyze the efficacy and safety of this approach based on a large number of multicenter cases. ⋯ Real-world, multicenter data analysis showed that the KD is effective for patients with DS and has a low incidence of side effects.