Welcome to the Nutrition Support Team Blog

Hello, and welcome to the University of Virginia Health System’s Nutrition Support Medicine Blog!

We have wanted to expand the Medicine Nutrition Support Team and Traineeship Webpage for some time.  This blog format will allow us to provide more frequent updates about our programs, share clinical pearls, and comment on the world of nutrition support in general.  We will try to post regular updates and pass along information and resources that we have found useful—everything from interesting new articles to how we are dealing with the latest TPN shortages!

If our entries spur any questions or comments,  please share your thoughts and feedback by emailing:

Joe Krenitsky @ jk3X@virginia.edu

Carol Rees Parrish @ crp3a@virginia.edu

Stacey McCray @ sf8n@virginia.edu

As a start, here are some worthwhile articles that we have recently perused:

• Fang JC, Delegge MH. Enteral feeding in the critically ill: the role of the gastroenterologist. Am J Gastroenterol. 2011;106(6):1032-7.

This article written by two experienced gastroenterologists is a great general review for physicians on the role of nutrition support in the ICU.

• Kalantar-Zadeh K, Cano NJ, Budde K, et al.  Diets and enteral supplements for improving outcomes in chronic kidney disease. Nat Rev Nephrol. 2011 May 31.

The article reviews the limitations and implications of serum protein as markers of nutrition status in renal failure; it also discusses the role of nutrition in altering morbidity and mortality in the setting of renal failure.