BBB Seminar - Jutta Dierkes
Malnutrition in hospitalized patients: diagnosis and pathophysiological consequences
Hovedinnhold
Jutta Dierkes
Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen
Malnutrition among hospitalized patients is common and affects about 30% of patients in Norway. Common risk factors are increasing age, and severity of disease. However, malnutrition is associated with numerous biochemical alterations and has consequences for future hospitalizations, morbidity and mortality. At the Centre for Nutrition, we have done a number of studies investigating malnutrition in the general patient population and specifically in patients with kidney disease. Key features are weight loss, reduced muscle mass and inflammation. However, diagnosis of malnutrition remains a challenge as no single test is able to identify malnourished patients. There is very limited research on biomarkers which could support the diagnosis. A group of patients who is particularly affected by malnutrition are cancer patients who we will investigate with new multi-center studies funded by the European Commission.
Chairperson: Harald Barsnes, Department of Biomedicine
