Nutrients provide the body with the components necessary for effective functioning. Nutrients can be broken down into macronutrients, such as proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, and micronutrients, such as vitamins, provitamins, and various minerals. A shortage of any of these nutrients can result in nutritional deficiency within the body, affecting its ability to maintain functioning.
“Modern medicine pays little attention to nutritional deficiencies in cardiac surgery patients. At the same time, in oncology, pediatrics, gastroenterology, nutrition is treated more closely. To remedy this situation, in 2011 we began a study that included the task of identifying the prevalence of nutritional deficiency among those who underwent cardiac surgery,” said lead author Sergey Efremov, an anesthesiologist-resuscitator, head of the research department at the Pirogov Clinic of High Medical Technologies, St Petersburg State University, in a press release.
In patients with severe cardiac failure, the extreme emaciation of the body is a potential result and has been termed cardiac cachexia. The reasons for such emaciation include low cardiac output or a response to drugs that suppress appetite. Read more…
