Colleagues, the following is FYI and does not necessarily reflect my own
opinion. I have no further knowledge of the topic.
------------------------
Clin Nutr. 2005 Jun;24(3):427-32.
Lack of correlation between total lymphocyte count and nutritional
status in the elderly.
Kuzuya M, Kanda S, Koike T, Suzuki Y, Iguchi A.
Department of Geriatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya
University, 65 Tusruma-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550, Japan.
Background & aims: Malnutrition is a widespread but largely
unrecognized problem in aged people. Although absolute total lymphocyte
count (TLC) has been proposed as a useful indicator of nutritional
status, there is little evidence that low TLC levels reflect
malnutrition in the elderly. To examine whether TLC is a suitable marker
of malnutrition in the elderly. Methods: A total of 161 elderly subjects
(44 males and 117 females, mean age+/-SD: 77.9+/-7.4; range: 65-95
years) were enrolled from geriatric clinical settings. The participants
were categorized according to severely low, low, or normal TLC.
Anthropometry measurements, serum albumin, total cholesterol levels, and
total score on the mini-nutritional assessment (MNA) were determined.
Results: There were no significant differences among the three TLC
groups with regard to anthropometry measurements, serum albumin, total
cholesterol levels, or MNA score. There was a significant negative
correlation of TLC with age, but not with other nutritional markers. The
clinical nutritional screening tool, MNA score, was well correlated with
all of the nutritional parameters used in the present study except for
TLC. Conclusion: TLC is not a suitable marker of malnutrition in the
elderly.
PMID: 15896430 [PubMed - in process]
--
Kathrynne Holden, MS, RD < [log in to unmask] >
"Ask the Parkinson Dietitian" http://www.parkinson.org/
"Eat well, stay well with Parkinson's disease"
"Parkinson's disease: Guidelines for Medical Nutrition Therapy"
http://www.nutritionucanlivewith.com/
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