Survival chances of preemies can be increased by
preventing light from reaching their food
The survival rate of preemies — premature babies — born
between 26 to 31 weeks of gestation can be improved by blocking light from
reaching the intravenously-fed infused nutritious mixture they depend on for
survival, says a new study. Premature babies need to be fed intravenously due
to the immaturity of their digestive system and their high nutritional
requirements during their first days of life. Exposing this type of food
preparation to light generates oxidants which the premature infant’s immature
defences can not fight. ‘An easy to implement, fully light-shielded delivery
system for parenteral nutrition needs to be developed to reduce mortality rates
in premature infants,’ said study’s lead author Jean-Claude Lavoie from CHU
Sainte-Justine, Canada.
Parenteral nutrition is essential to the survival of
babies born preterm because it provides them with vital nutrients like
proteins, fat and glucose, and enables them to develop just as foetuses of
their age would do in their mother’s womb. ‘The photo-excited vitamins B2 and
‘electron donors’ such as vitamin C, amino acids and lipids all interact in the
multivitamin solution and generate oxidants,’ the researcher said. ‘This
creates an oxidative stress which kills newborn cells. Studies show that
shielding parenteral nutrition from light significantly decreases such an
interaction,’ he added.
‘However, the solution has to be shielded from the moment
it is prepared in the pharmacy all the way through to infusion on the ward,
including all bags, tubing and syringes through which it passes,’ said
co-researcher Maxime Thibault, a pharmacist at CHU Sainte-Justine. ‘Partial
photo-protection is ineffective in preventing oxidant generation,’ Thibault
said. Jean-Claude Lavoie’s team is about to launch a clinical trial to assess
the efficacy of an end-to-end photo-protected delivery system that would be
easy to implement in clinical settings. The study was published in the Journal
of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition.
29.09.2015
Patients with pancreatitis have poor chances of
improving their condition
Sufferers of pancreatitis have a high likelihood of their
condition worsening if they fail to stop smoking and to cut alcohol
consumption, said a study released on Monday. University of Auckland
researchers said their analysis of 14 clinical studies from around the world,
involving almost 8,500 patients, was the first comprehensive research to
quantify how often patients with acute pancreatitis suffered recurrent bouts,
Xinhua news agency reported citing the study.
It also showed a high chance they would eventually go on
to develop chronic pancreatitis, study leader Dr Max Petrov said in a
statement. After just one episode of acute pancreatitis, a patient had a one in
five chance of getting repeated episodes of pancreatitis and a one in 10 chance
of developing chronic pancreatitis. ‘This research shows that a significant
proportion of people who suffer from acute inflammation of the pancreas can go
on to have permanent scarring of the organ, long after initial
hospitalisation,’ said Petrov.
‘Smoking cessation and reducing alcohol consumption can
help prevent this progression,’ he said. Men were at significantly higher risk
of chronic pancreatitis than women. Acute and chronic pancreatitis were
pancreatic diseases that were on the rise, with more than 2,500 New Zealanders
hospitalised last year. Chronic pancreatitis could affect the ability of
patients to perform normal daily activities, as well as reducing their
employment rates and work productivity, and patients had a death rate of up to
50 percent two to three decades after diagnosis.
29.09.2015
Change is not made without inconvenience, even from
worse to better
Richard Hooker
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