The nutritional risk in oncology: a study of 1,453 cancer outpatients.

PURPOSE: There is little information about the nutritional status of cancer outpatients because the practice of nutritional screening is rarely performed. This study aims to define the pattern of scores of nutritional risk in 1,453 outpatients and factors associated with a high nutrition risk score, to facilitate the identification of such patients by the oncologists. METHODS: We prospectively screened the nutritional status of cancer outpatients according to the NRS-2002 score which combines indicators of malnutrition and of severity of the disease (1-3 points, respectively). A score ≥ 3 indicates "nutritional risk". The association of the nutritional scores with some patient/tumour/therapy-related variables was investigated through univariable and multivariable linear regression models. RESULTS: Thirty-two percent of outpatients were at nutritional risk. Primary tumour site, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group score and presence of anorexia or fatigue were significantly associated with the nutrition risk score. Depending on the combination of these variables, it was possible to estimate different probabilities of nutritional risk. CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of a relevant nutritional risk was higher than expected considering the favourably selected population. The nutritional risk was associated with common clinical variables which are usually recorded in the charts and could easily alert the oncologist on the need of a further nutritional assessment or a nutritional support.

Pilot dietary study with normoproteic protein-redistributed plant-food diet and motor performance in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Although a plant-based diet can provide some benefits in Parkinson's disease (PD), no study to date has evaluated the effectiveness of a plant-food diet in the management of the disease. In this pilot study, we compared the effect of a plant-food menu (PFD) and of a omnivorous menu on motor performance of 25 PD patients, 12 in the intervention group (PDi) and 13 in the control group (PDc). After 4 weeks, the PDi group showed a significant reduction (Mann-Whitney test) in the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, total score (47.67 vs. 74.46, P = 0.008) and sub-score III motor performances (25.42 vs. 46.46, P = 0.001), and the modified Hoehn and Yahr Staging Scale (1.96 vs. 3.15, P = 0.005). These data suggest that PFD may be useful in the management of PD patients by improving their motor performances. Additional studies are needed in order to confirm these preliminary results.