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PEN Group Award Winners KATE HALL
on behalf of the PEN Group
This year’s Awards went to Kay Baxter and Fiona Struthers, ICU Dietitians from the NHS Forth Valley for their application entitled ‘Estimating Nutritional Requirements in the Obese Patient’; and Kirsty-Anna McLaughlin and Anne Holdoway, from the Dietetic Department, Royal National Hospital Rheumatic Diseases Bath and the Dietetic Department, Royal United Hospital Bath respectively, for their application entitled ‘Energy required for weight maintenance in traumatic brain injury rehabilitation patients versus predictor equations’.
Congratulations to the winners of this
year’s Awards which were kindly sponsored by Fresenius-Kabi and Abbott Nutrition. On behalf of the PEN Group committee I would also like to thank those other PEN Group members who applied for the PEN Group Award this year – it is always difficult judging the Awards because of the high calibre of applicants.
The judging for the PEN Group Awards was carried out independently by three judges and each applicant was blinded and the judges used a set judging criteria. The lucky PEN Group Award winners were announced at the Late Summer PEN Group Meeting in November where each winner was presented with their Award and certificate.
Experts Call for Better Diagnosis and Treatment of Sarcopenia to Help Maintain Every Day Function and Independence in Older People
International experts speaking at the Abbott Nutrition symposium on ‘Nutrition and lean body mass’ at the Annual BAPEN Conference on 29th November 2011, called for increased recognition and action to fight sarcopenia, a condition which detrimentally affects muscle mass and function as we age.
Lean body mass decreases at a rate of eight per cent per decade after the age of 40 years, and 15 per cent per decade after the age of 70.1
Muscle
loss is associated with decreased physical strength and energy and other serious health complications including mobility disorders, increased risk of falls and fractures, impaired ability to perform daily tasks, disabilities, loss of independence and increased risk of death.2 Despite the negative impact sarcopenia has on a person’s quality of life, consensus on its definition has only recently been published.2 Speaking at the BAPEN conference, Professor Avan Aihie Sayer, Professor of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Southampton and Clinical Scientist at the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, said: “With an ageing population, we need to better understand the ageing process and its impact on physical function. Sarcopenia is associated with serious health consequences and education is needed in the diagnosis and management of this condition.”
Sarcopenia may be accelerated by factors such as poor nutrition and physical inactivity – risk factors common in older people and in patients requiring bed-rest, and those with chronic long-term health issues.2
Research shows that nutritional strategies can be successfully employed to counter the effects of sarcopenia. As people age, the body not only requires increasing amounts of protein, but there is also a need to address a person’s calorie intake and provide nutritional support to sustain muscle function as well as mass.3
Recent
research has focused on the essential amino acid leucine and particularly the properties its metabolite, ß-hydroxy-ß-methylbutyrate (HMB), has in stimulating protein synthesis and inhibiting protein breakdown.4, 5
Experts believe HMB may help to build lean body mass and prevent muscle weakening in the older person.4-6
Dr Matthew Vukovich,
Professor and Department Head of the Department of Health and Nutritional Sciences at South Dakota State University, said: “Clinical studies have shown that HMB supplements are associated with improvement in measures of functional ability and muscular strength. This research highlights the potential for incorporating HMB into a nutritional strategy to reduce sarcopenia. Further research is needed, but therapeutic use of HMB in combination with protein and vitamin D is very promising.”
References: 1. In Baier S, Johannsen D, Abumrad N et al. Year long changes in protein metabolism in elderly men and women supplemented with a nutrition cocktail of ß-hydroxy-ß-methylbutyrate (HMB), L-arginine, and L-lysine. J Parenter Enteral Nutr 2009; 33:71-82. 2. Cruz-Jentoft AJ, Baeyens JP, Bauer JM et al. Sarcopenia: European consensus on definition and diagnosis. Age and Ageing 2010; 39: 412-423; 3. Doherty TJ. Invited review: Aging and sarcopenia. J Appl Physiol 2003; 95: 1717-1727; 4. Wilson GJ, Wilson JM, Manninen AH. Effects of beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB) on exercise performance and body composition across varying levels of age, sex, and training experience: A review. Nutr Metab 2008; 5: 1-17;
5.Vukovich MD, Stubbs NB, Bohlken RM. Body Composition in 70-year-old adults responds to dietary ß-hydroxy-ß-methylbutyrate similarly to that of young adults. J Nutr 2001; 131: 2049-2052; 6. Flakoll P, Sharp R, Baier S et al. Effect of ß-hydroxy-ß-methylbutyrate, arginine and lysine supplementation on strength, functionality, body composition and protein metabolism in elderly women. Nutrition 2004; 20: 445-451.
Powell-Tuck Prize DR SHELDON COOPER on behalf of BAPEN Medical
The Powell-Tuck prize this year was awarded to Nina Lewis, University of Nottingham for her abstract ‘Treating occult coeliac disease with a gluten-free diet is associated with a significant improvement in quality of life’. This was presented during the BAPEN Medical coeliac symposium at BAPEN Conference in Harrogate, and the was prize awarded by the founder of BAPEN Medical, Professor Jeremy Powell-Tuck.
Two runners up, both from the University of Aberdeen, were also awarded: Emma Metcalfe for her abstract ‘Branched-chain amino acid supplementation in adults with cirrhosis and hepatic encephalopathy: a systematic review
13 BAPEN In Touch No.63 January 2012
and meta-analyses’, and Andrew Palmer for his abstract ‘The role of -3 supplemented parenteral nutrition in critical illness in adults: a systematic review & meta-analysis’. We are pleased to announce that we are aiming to open submissions
for the Powell-Tuck prize for abstracts submitted to DDF in June 2012. The logistics are far more complex for us, but we are confident that we should be able to achieve this award at this multidisciplinary event. Please watch In-Touch and
the BAPEN website for further details. The Powell-Tuck prize is open for surgical and medical trainees and attracts high class abstracts for not only this prestigious award, but also free conference fees for the next BAPEN Annual Conference.
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