Nutritional status and eating habits in patients with primary progressive dementia

Kod bolesnika s demencijom uočene su specifične patološke promjene u prehrambenom ponašanju koje posljedično smanjuju raznolikost prehrane i dovode do neuravnoteženog unosa hranjivih tvari.Cilj ovog rada bio je ispitati te promjene kod bolesnika s primarnom progresivnom demencijom s naglaskom na Alzheimerovu bolest. Ukupno je bilo uključeno 40 bolesnika koji se liječe u Neurološkoj poliklinici u Ambulanti za demencije i općoj neurološkoj ambulanti te u Savjetovalištu za prehranu u KB Dubrava. Prikupljeni su podaci o njihovim prehrambenim navikama putem nekvantitativnog modificiranog upitnika o učestalosti konzumiranja pojedinih namirnica te antropometrijski i biokemijski podaci. Rezultati ovog istraživanja potvrdili su dosadašnje spoznaje o većoj sklonosti prema slatkoj hrani koja je uočena kod 42 % bolesnika s demencijom, a kod petine bolesnika uočen je deficit vitamina B skupine. Kod većine pacijenata uočen je nedovoljno učestali unos namirnica s potencijalnim protektivnim učinkom, stoga bi valjalo obratiti pažnju na veći učestali unos namirnica poput masne plave ribe, maslinova ulja, zelenog lisnatog povrća te bobičastog voća.Specific pathological changes in dietary behaviour have been observed in patients with dementia which consequently reduce the diversity of diet and lead to unbalanced nutrient intake. The aim of this study was to examine these changes in patients with primary progressive dementia with a focus on Alzheimer's disease. A total of 40 patients enrolled in this study are treated at the Neurological Polyclinic in the Clinic for Dementia and general neurological clinic and at the Nutrition Department in the University Hospital Dubrava. Non-quantitative modified questionnaire was used to collect their eating habits, while anthropometric and biochemical data were collected from their medical file. The results of this study confirmed the previous findings on a higher preference for sweet food, which was observed in 42 % of patients with dementia and a fifth of patients had a deficiency of vitamin B. Insufficiently frequent intake of food with a potential protective effect was noticeable in most patients; therefore attention should be paid to a higher and more frequent intake of food such as fatty bluefish, olive oil, green leafy vegetables and berries