The Relationship between Nutritional Status, Anemia and Other Vitamin Deficiencies in the Elderly Receiving Home Care.

AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of anemia and other vitamin deficiencies among elderly home care patients and to evaluate the causes of anemia and effect of malnutrition as a contributing factor. METHODS: Anemia was defined according to the World Health Organization. Hemogram, serum iron, iron binding capacity, ferritin and transferrin saturation values, serum vitamin B12, folic acid and vitamin D levels were evaluated. It was tried to differentiate as absolute iron deficiency anemia, anemia of chronic disease, anemia of unknown cause and vitamin B12 deficiency anemia. Malnutrition was evaluated by Mini Nutritional Assessment test. RESULTS: Total of 472 patients (mean age 81,4±7,4 years) were included in the study. Anemia was detected in 179 (%37,9) patients, 22,7% of males and 45,5 % of female. Prevalence of iron deficiency anemia, vitamin B12, folic acid and vitamin D deficiencies were found 43%, 46%, 19% and 91% respectively. 22,8% of all patients were malnourished, 17,5% were under malnutrition risk. In patients with anemia 16,2% chronic disease anemia and 37,4% unknown anemia were detected. CONCLUSIONS: With or without malnutrition, iron deficiency anemia, vitamin B12 deficiency and vitamin D deficiency were common in the home care elderly patients.

Association of haematological parameters with bone mineral density in elderly diabetic women.

OBJECTIVES: In this study, we aimed to evaluate whether an association exists between complete blood count (CBC) parameters and bone mineral density (BMD) in elderly females with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and to estimate the differences in BMD in T2DM. METHODS: The medical records of female patients who had been referred for BMD analysis to a tertiary hospital in Ankara, Turkey were reviewed. RESULTS: A total of 275 women (66 with T2DM, 209 without T2DM; mean age 72.1 ± 5.4 years) were included in study. White blood cell (WBC) counts, lumbar spine BMD (LSBMD) and femoral neck BMD (FNBMD) were found to be significantly higher in T2DM. There was an inverse association between haematocrit (Hct) and LSBMD in diabetic group (r = - 0.330; P = 0.008). CONCLUSION: Diabetic patients had higher BMD levels. Regardless of the mechanisms, Hct could be a readily available potential candidate to identify diabetic patients with osteoporosis.

Epidemiological characteristics and molecular typing of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi during a waterborne outbreak in Eastern Anatolia.

In this study, we aimed to study the molecular and epidemiological characteristics of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi) outbreak in Eastern Anatolia. Six hundred and thirty-seven patients from the same county with clinical diagnosis of typhoid fever were investigated with conventional methods from stool, urine and blood specimens. Antibiotic susceptibility tests and identifications were performed for positive specimens. Clonal relationships between the isolates were investigated using pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) method. A questionnaire was completed for the water consumption habits of patients. Of 91 culture positive specimens, 76 were blood, 13 were stool and 2 were urine. The isolates were resistant to ampicillin, ampicillin/sulbactam, chloramphenicol, cefuroxime, amikacin, gentamicin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Although there was a single band difference in some isolates, PFGE results indicated that this was an outbreak caused by single strain according to the Tenover criteria. This outbreak thought to be associated with the consumption of tap water contaminated with sewage represents a breakdown of the basic public health and civil engineering infrastructure. Appropriate public health measures should be taken in order to avoid such outbreaks in the future.