Nutrition and Wound Healing

Nutrition and Wound Healing

A very important aspect of helping our bodies heal wounds is our nutritional state of being. Improper nutrition, vitamin deficiencies, mineral or protein deficiencies can all make it more difficult for our bodies to heal itself.

Like so many Lymphedema  people, I personally struggle with this issue.

Why?

Let’s face it, there are several reasons why we may not have proper nutrition.

Factors that effect me are

• Exhaustion

Trying to make myself fix something nutritious to eat when I am totally exhausted is hard. So often, I can barely make it through the day with such limited energy and I am just too exhausted to have the strength to fix a proper meal.

• Pain

I love to cook and have quite a reputation for my culinary abilities, but so much of the time, the pain is so intense that the last thing I want to do is to add to it by standing over a stove.

• Emotions

Discouragement takes a toll too. This is a frustrating condition. One day you are doing great, the next you are slammed with either an infection, unexpected fluid gain and more swelling, a new leaking wound, it seems that we struggle each day against being discouraged because of the lack of knowledge of lymphedema, the fact that there is no cure, the physical limitation we are confronted with. It is a challenge each day to keep our spirits up.

The end result of all this can be an improper diet and poor nutrition.

Read the entire important page:

Lymphedema People Nutrition and Wound Healing

A randomized controlled trial of weight reduction as a treatment for breast cancer-related lymphedema.

2007

Shaw C, Mortimer P, Judd PA.

Source

Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Royal Marsden National Health Service Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom. clare.shaw@rhs.uk

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Obesity is considered a risk factor for the development of breast cancer-related lymphedema of the arm and as a poor prognostic factor in response to lymphedema treatment. The objective of this study was to examine weight reduction as a treatment for breast cancer-related lymphedema.

METHODS:

Twenty-one women with breast cancer-related lymphedema were randomized either to receive dietary advice for weight reduction or to receive a booklet on general healthy eating. They were monitored for 12 weeks.

RESULTS:

The primary outcome measure was arm volume at 12 weeks. The results indicated a significant reduction in swollen arm volume at the end of the 12-week period (P = .003) in the intervention weight-reduction group. There was a significant reduction in body weight (P = .02) and body mass index (P = .016) in the weight-reduction group at the end of the 12-week study period.

CONCLUSIONS:

Weight loss achieved by dietary advice to reduce energy intake can reduce breast cancer-relatedlymphedema significantly.

Wiley OnLine

Do patients with lymphoedema cholestasis syndrome 1/Aagenaes syndrome need dietary counselling outside cholestatic episodes?

Aug 2010

Drivdal M, Løken EB, Hagve TA, Bergstad I, Aagenaes Ø.

Source

Regional Department of Eating Disorders, Division of Psychiatry, Building 37A, Oslo University Hospital, Ullevaal, N-0407 Oslo, Norway. ildr@uus.no

Abstract

BACKGROUND & AIMS:

Patients with lymphoedema cholestasis syndrome 1/Aagenaes Syndrome need a fat reduced diet when cholestatic. We wanted to assess the need for dietary counselling outside cholestatic episodes, and hypothetized that no counselling was needed.

METHODS:

Fifteen patients above 10 years of age without symptoms of cholestasis were compared with a sex and age matched control group. Diet from a four-day weighed record and blood samples were compared between the two groups and with general Norwegian recommendations.

RESULTS:

The patients had a similar diet to the healthy controls, except for statistically significant lower intake of energy from total fat (p=0.04) and saturated fat (0.02), and fish (0.05). The patients met the dietary recommendations for macronutrients, except for saturated fat, monounsaturated fat, refined sugar and fibre. Supplements were needed to meet the micronutrient recommendations. Patients had a significantly lower serum level of alpha-tocopherol (0.01) compared with the control group, and the serum 25-OH D level was below reference ranges.

CONCLUSIONS:

The patients would benefit from counselling on fat quality, carbohydrates including fibre intake, and individual needs for vitamins D and E. To secure serum 25-OH D and alpha-tocopherol levels within reference ranges, regular examinations to determine the need for supplementary vitamins D and E are recommended.

Elsevier/Clinical Nutrition

National Nutrition Month

National Nutrition Month: All About Eating Healthy

March 12

March is National Nutrition Month, and all Americans are encouraged to take a look at

their eating habits and make any changes necessary in order to ensure that one is eating healthy. The theme of the observance encourages everyone to eat the recommended amounts of fruits, vegetables, grains, protein foods, and dairy.

One thing that National Nutrition Month may address is childhood obesity, something that has been described countless times as an epidemic in the United States.

Information and awareness on proper nutrition and eating habits may help today’s kids eat healthy while they are still young, a thought that Linda Minges, a North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service Family and Consumer Science Agent, advocates.

Minges shared: “Develop healthy habits at an early age when children are a sponge… that prevention can go a long way with overall health.” She teaches a program to 4- and 5-year-old children called “Color Me Healthy,” which teaches children about healthy eating and being active through sight, touch, and sound.

Among its activities is getting to children to try new foods, one of the steps that they have to take in their journey towards a healthier lifestyle. Minges shares the following tips with parents who would like to get their children to eat healthy but still unfamiliar foods: start with smaller portion sizes, and add more fun to fruit and vegetable servings by adding herbs and spices. Minges also suggests encouraging children to engage in outside play, in order to stay active.

Testcountry.com

Homegrown beef with no hormones, antibiotics on sale

Mar 4, 2012

SALISBURY — Burleson Farms offers all-natural beef for sale in Rowan County.

Lanny Burleson started raising cattle naturally three years ago after retiring from East Rowan High School, where he taught agriculture for 24 years.

While his family has raised cattle on a Stanly County farm since the 1950s, Burleson said he decided to try raising all-natural cattle with no hormones or antibiotics.

He sells the beef at Variety Produce in Rockwell, as well as online at www.burlesonbeef.com.

Burleson cattle eat grasses and hay grown on the family farm, and all beef is homegrown from birth to harvest.

“Our cattle are well cared for as they grow, free from the growth-enhancing antibiotics, added hormones, preservatives and animal by-products commonly used in commercial feed lots,” Burleson said.

Their diet is supplemented with small amounts of grain prior to processing to enhance the beef’s marbling and flavor, he said.

he said.

Burleson Farms cattle are guaranteed to be at least 50 percent Angus, crossbred with European breeds to gain hybrid vigor and efficiency while maintaining the tenderness and flavor of Angus beef, Burleson said.

Beef is sold in eighths, quarters or half sides. An eighth side of beef weighs between 50 and 60 pounds ($5.75 per pound), a quarter side between 100 and 125 pounds ($5.50 per pound) and a half side about 250 pounds ($5 per pound). Two adults typically eat a quarter side of beef per year. The beef is packaged, vacuum sealed, weighed and labeled according to the type of cut.

Business Roundup

Immunonutrition in the surgical patient.

Mar 2012

Marik PE, Flemmer M.

Source

Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Critical Care Nutrition, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA, USA - marikpe@evms.edu.

Abstract

Both malnutrition and the physical injury related to trauma and surgery increase the expression of T-helper 2 (Th2) lymphocytes which cause impaired cell mediated immunity. Activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and sympathoadrenal system with the release of cortisol and catecholamines drive the development of Th2 cells. Th2 cytokines result in the accumulation of arginase-1 expressing myeloid-derived suppressor cells in lymphoid tissue. The myeloid-derived suppressor cells cause an arginine deficient state resulting in impaired lymphocyte function. Prostaglandin-E2 released following trauma plays a synergetic role with cortisol and catecholamines in driving these pathways. There is now increasing evidence that immunomodulating enteral formulas supplemented with arginine and omega-3 fatty acids can reverse many of the immune mediated changes and decrease the number of adverse outcomes after major surgery and trauma. These immunomodulating enteral formulas should be strongly considered in surgical patients undergoing major surgery and following severe trauma.

Minerva Anesthesiologica

Nutritionally mediated programming of the developing immune system.

Sept 2011

Palmer AC.

Source

Center for Human Nutrition, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD.

Abstract

A growing body of evidence highlights the importance of a mother's nutrition from preconception through lactation in programming the emerging organ systems and homeostatic pathways of her offspring. The developing immune system may be particularly vulnerable. Indeed, examples of nutrition-mediated immune programming can be found in the literature on intra-uterine growth retardation, maternal micronutrient deficiencies, and infant feeding. Current models of immune ontogeny depict a "layered" expansion of increasingly complex defenses, which may be permanently altered by maternal malnutrition. One programming mechanism involves activation of the maternal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in response tonutritional stress. Fetal or neonatal exposure to elevated stress hormones is linked in animal studies to permanent changes in neuroendocrine-immune interactions, with diverse manifestations such as an attenuated inflammatory response or reduced resistance to tumor colonization. Maternal malnutrition may also have a direct influence, as evidenced by nutrient-driven epigenetic changes to developing T regulatory cells and subsequent risk of allergy or asthma. A 3rd programming pathway involves placental or breast milk transfer of maternal immune factors with immunomodulatory functions (e.g. cytokines). Maternal malnutrition can directly affect transfer mechanisms or influence the quality or quantity of transferred factors. The public health implications of nutrition-mediated immune programming are of particular importance in the developing world, where prevalent maternal undernutrition is coupled with persistent infectious challenges. However, early alterations to the immune system, resulting from either nutritional deficiencies or excesses, have broad relevance forimmune-mediated diseases, such as asthma, and chronic inflammatory conditions like cardiovascular disease.

PubMed