Cystic fibrosis - a serious disease affecting the nutritional status and energy requirement even in adult age
Abstract
At the Department for TB and Respiratory Diseases of the Faculty Hospital in Prague Motol at present half the patients with cystic fibrosis who in the Czech Republic reached adult age are being followed-up. The objective of the present work was to evaluate the nutritional profile of these adult patients with cystic fibrosis.
The authors examined 15 patients, mean age 22.9 +/- 3.2 years. The examination included assessment of height, body weight, skinfold thickness above the triceps, brachii, the energy output transferrin, blood gases.
Functional examination of the lungs was made by the method of the flow-volume curve. The body mass index (BMI) was 18.04 +/- 4.17, albumin 32.75 +/- 4.57.
The resting energy expenditure was 112.1 +/- 20.8% of the basal energy output calculated according to the Harris-Benedict formula. The mean value of pO2 was 8,081 +/- 1,145 kPa, pCO2 5,841 +/- 1,197 kPa.
The results indicate malnutrition of the examined patients: in general the findings can be considered as a sign of severe protein-energy malnutrition. The baseline study confirmed the assumption of a high prevalence of nutritional disorders in adult patients with cystic fibrosis.
The next essential step must be to ensure comprehensive and individualized nutritional intervention.