Current opinion in clinical nutrition and metabolic care
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Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care · Nov 2010
ReviewDo all sedentary activities lead to weight gain: sleep does not.
To discuss the benefits of having a good night's sleep for body weight stability. ⋯ Short sleep duration appears to be a novel and independent risk factor for obesity. With the growing prevalence of chronic sleep restriction, any causal association between reduced sleep and obesity would have substantial importance from a public health standpoint. Future research is needed to determine whether sleep extension in sleep-deprived obese individuals will influence appetite control and/or reduce the amount of body fat.
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Obese individuals have impaired respiratory function relative to their normal-weight counterparts. Despite these negative effects, obesity is paradoxically associated with better survival in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The purpose of this review is to describe this 'obesity paradox', to discuss the effects of obesity on respiratory function, and to speculate as to whether obesity-related alterations in respiratory mechanics can influence the natural history of COPD. ⋯ Obese patients with COPD do not appear to be at a disadvantage during exercise relative to lean COPD patients. Obesity may be associated with improved survival in COPD but specific mechanisms for this paradox remain to be elucidated.
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Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care · Nov 2010
ReviewVitamin B12: the forgotten micronutrient for critical care.
To analyse the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of vitamin B12 and evaluate current evidence on vitamin B12 status in the critically ill with systemic inflammation. ⋯ Despite evidence from animal studies, so far there are no clinical intervention trials that have studied vitamin B12 as a pharmaconutrient strategy for critical care. Well designed animal and clinical studies are required to clarify several outstanding questions on the optimal posology, safety, and efficacy of high-dose vitamin B12 in the critically ill.