BACKGROUND & AIMS Within a multicentre randomized controlled trial aimed at improving the nutritional status and increase the speed of recovery of elderly hip fracture patients, we performed a process evaluation to investigate the feasibility of the intervention within the present Dutch health care system. METHODS Patients in the intervention group received nutritional counseling during 10 co...

Undernutrition - of both macronutrients and micronutrients - is still a surprisingly common problem among older people in the UK. There is a variety of nutritional supplements that community nurses need to be aware of in managing their patients' nutritional requirements. Different supplements are taken for different disease states. This article looks at the various nutrient and energy requireme...

Malnutrition in hospitalized patients is a major cause for hospital re-admission, pressure ulcers and increased hospital costs. Methods to improve the administration and documentation of nutritional supplements for hospitalized patients are needed to improve patient care, outcomes and resource utilization. Staff at a medium-sized academic health science center hospital in the southeastern Unite...

BACKGROUND Postoperative oral nutritional supplementation has been shown to be of clinical benefit. This study examined the clinical effects and cost of administration of oral supplements both before and after surgery. METHODS This was a randomized clinical trial conducted in three centres. Patients undergoing lower gastrointestinal tract surgery were randomized to one of four groups: group C...

Conventional Cancer Treatment Alone Is Not Working According to the Center for Disease Control in the USA, the age-adjusted mortality rate in the USA for cardiovascular disease and cerebrovascular diseases dropped dramatically between 1950 and 2005 while that for cancer dropped only slightly (See Figure 1, p.170). !is implies that the treatment methods for cancer have not been very e"ective dur...

Nutritional supplements containing Ephedra sinica (ma-huang), a botanical source of ephedrine-type alkaloids, have been linked to numerous episodes of ephedrine (EPH) toxicity. With passage of the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, nutritional supplements are no longer subject to the same FDA preapproval requirements as food additives, prescription, or nonprescription medications...

Within the last decade there has been a dramatic increase in the sale and use of herbal supplements and food supplements by Western populations and within the UK. This increased usage has coincided with a resurgence of interest in nutritional therapy and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies, such as herbal medicine, naturopathy and homeopathy, in which therapists may provide d...