Nutritional Care in Iranian Intensive Care Units

Intensive care units (ICUs) provides intensive treatment medicine to avoid complications such as malnutrition, infection and even death. As very little is currently known about the nutritional practices in Iranian ICUs, this study attempted to assess the various aspects of current nutrition support practices in Iranian ICUs. We conducted a cross-sectional study on 150 critically ill patients at 18 ICUs in 12 hospitals located in 2 provinces of Iran from February 2015 to March 2016. Data were collected through interview with supervisors of ICUs, medical record reviews and direct observation of patients during feeding. Our study showed that hospital-prepared enteral tube feeding formulas are the main formulas used in Iranian hospitals. None of the dietitians worked exclusively an ICU and only 30% of patients received diet counselling. Regular monitoring of nutritional status, daily energy and protein intake were not recorded in any of the participating ICUs. Patients were not monitored for anthropometric measurements such as mid-arm circumference (MAC) and electrolyte status. The nasogastric tube was not switched to percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy or jejunostomy (PEG/PEGJ) in approximately 85% of patients receiving long-term enteral nutrition (EN) support. Our findings demonstrated that the quality of nutritional care was inappropriate in Iranian ICUs and improvement of nutritional care services within Iranian ICUs is necessary.

Knowledge and attitude on cardiovascular disease risk factors and their relationship with obesity and biochemical parameters

Background: According to the high prevalence of cardiovascular diseases [CVDs] in developing countries as well as high treatment expenses for patients and health-care systems, CVDs prevention in such societies has a great importance. One of the most effective strategies is improvement of knowledge and attitude towards the CVDs risk factors. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge and attitude of females on CVDs risk factors and also the relationship between knowledge and attitude with obesity indices and biochemical parameters

Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 89 women with the age range of 11 to 67 y old and body mass index [BMI] of 24 to 51 kg/m2. Participants were interviewed face to face using a valid questionnaire in order to evaluate their knowledge and attitude on CVDs risk factors. Blood sampling was implemented after 12 h of overnight fasting. Fasting blood glucose [FBG] and lipid profile were assessed by enzymatic methods. Anthropometric measurements were performed and obesity indices were calculated

Results: More than 70% of participants had moderate or good knowledge and attitude about CVDs risk factors. Participant's knowledge and attitude had a significant positive association with educational level and a significant reverse relationship with age, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and obesity indices

Conclusions: Results of this study indicated that knowledge and attitude levels on CVDs risk factors affect the obesity indices and metabolic profile. Hence, knowledge and attitude enhancement is the main target and initial step in improving life quality and preventing cardiovascular diseases

review of the relationship between dietary glycemic index and glycemic load and type 2 diabetes

Background: In recent decades, studies on type 2 diabetes [T2D], have adopted a new approach to the field of a more complete collection of variables related to the lifestyles and diet of people. Diet is an important factor in increasing the rate of T2D among individuals. Considering the consumption of a high-carbohydrate diet, little attention has been paid to the type of carbohydrates consumed in the incidence of T2D. The present study aimed to review the literature on the relationship between the glycemic index [GI], the glycemic load, [GL] and T2D, it also targets at evaluating and comparing the results of similar studies in other countries

Methods: Using search engines, including PubMed, Science Direct, Embase and Scopus, and key words such as GI, GL, diabetes; articles with cross-sectional, clinical trial, Prospective and retrospective cohort designs between 2000 to 2016 were selected. Moreover, non-English language articles were not investigate

Results: The results of these studies showed that a diet containing low GI and GL has beneficial effects on the metabolism of glucose in the body and is also considered as a factor to protect the body against T2D and its complications

Conclusions: Monitoring eating habits of people with T2D can have beneficial effects on T2D and its associated risk factors