Ute Gola

More than the sum of its parts? Nutrition in Alzheimer's disease

The aim of this article is to emphasize the importance of malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies in Alzheimers disease and discuss recent supplementation trials. Alzheimers disease (AD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease with increasing socio-economic impact. It leads to cognitive decline over the years, finally resulting in brain atrophy and gradually destroying a persons ability to learn, reason, make judgments, and communicate. Most of the cases are sporadic and risk factors evolve. There is evidence that malnutrition, oxidative stress, and homocysteine-related vitamins play a role in the pathogenesis of AD. A plethora of epidemiologic studies have explored the associations between nutrients and AD. In addition, more and more data from recent trials are evolving to analyze the impact of micronutrient supplementation in AD and incipient AD concerning B vitamin status and antioxidants. Available data do not support definitive conclusions regarding specific recommendations on micronutrient supplementation for the prevention or treatment of AD; however, more data from prospective trials are needed. Approaches with multiple nutritional components might be promising.

Design and validation of a program to identify inadequate intake of iron, zinc, and vitamin A

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to create an innovative, easy-to-use, and informative web-based application system to calculate the iron, zinc, and vitamin A intake in comparison to the recommended nutrient intake (RNI). METHODS Food survey data on commonly consumed Indonesian foods (122 foods) were recorded from 68,800 households. The data were used to extract 13 relevant food groups representing typical Indonesian dietary patterns and were incorporated into the development of new software called the Calculator of Inadequate Micronutrient Intake (CIMI). To validate, 24-h dietary recall data of children (n = 118) and adult women (n = 124) from Indonesia were collected and analyzed using CIMI and Nutrisurvey (NS) and the results were analyzed. RESULTS CIMI calculates the absolute intake of energy, macronutrients, retinol, ß-carotene, retinol equivalents, iron, and zinc. The percentages of RNI fulfillment with regard to age and sex are presented. The bioavailability levels of iron and zinc are considered. Validation showed that results of CIMI and NS were comparable with regard to the average intake and range of data distribution ratio. Due to bioavailability factors, more participants who had intake of iron (adult group) and zinc (both groups) below the cutoff were detected by CIMI. The range of correlation coefficient of NS and CIMI were from 0.889 (energy) to 0.713 (iron) in the childrens group and from 0.919 (protein) to 0.686 (vitamin A) in the adult group. CONCLUSION CIMI is a simple and rapid tool that calculates energy and nutrient intake, and also the percentage of nutrient fulfillment in comparison with the dietary recommendation.