The Journal of nutrition
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The Journal of nutrition · Aug 1998
Malnutrition of children in the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea.
Natural disasters have caused extensive damage to crops and to infrastructure in the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea (DPRK). The international community has responded by providing emergency food aid. To improve understanding of the magnitude of food deficiency in the DPRK. ⋯ Additional information was obtained on institutional access to food and on the care, treatment and parental support of a subsample of severely malnourished and nonmalnourished children. The prevalence of acute malnutrition (wasting), based on weight-for-height Z-score < -2, varied from 0 to 32.7% among institutions, and the prevalence of chronic malnutrition (stunting), based on height-for-age < -2 Z-score varied from 0.6 to 74.1%. The findings from this survey indicate the presence of areas with severe acute or chronic malnutrition in the DPRK.
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The Journal of nutrition · Aug 1998
Fibrinogen synthesis is elevated in fasting cancer patients with an acute phase response.
The unusual amino acid composition of acute phase proteins may be relevant to our understanding of the mechanism of tissue wasting in chronic inflammatory disease. During periods in which demand for amino acids outstrips dietary supply, skeletal muscle protein may be mobilized to meet this demand. An imbalance in the amino acid composition of these proteins may thus be detrimental to the body's nitrogen economy. ⋯ Assuming that tryptophan is limiting, up to 2.6 g muscle protein ( approximately 12 g skeletal muscle tissue) may be wasted to synthesize 1 g fibrinogen. Interpretation of the observation that circulating free tryptophan concentrations were significantly reduced in the cancer patients will have to await flux measurements. The metabolic changes accompanying the inflammatory response suggest that down-regulation of this process may be beneficial.