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Query: UMLS:C0024523 (malabsorption)
 7,319 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Abnormal growth is a common feature of thalassaemia major in children. In an attempt to determine whether it has a nutritional cause, 12 children aged 1 to 3 years with thalassaemia major were studied under metabolic ward conditions. Nutritional status was assessed by anthropometry and biochemistry before and after an intensive nutrition regimen. Five children had wasting or stunting on admission. As a result of the nutrition intervention, mean weight for height improved significantly. The mean height increase of 0.4 cm after one month was not significant. Plasma zinc, depressed in half the children on admission, improved, as did alpha tocopherol, while copper decreased. Plasma insulin-like growth factor-I also increased commensurate with improved growth. Fat absorption was normal in all children. Undernutrition is an important cause of associated growth disturbances in children with thalassaemia major. Malnutrition was primarily caused by inadequate nutrient intake, as indicated by the capacity to gain weight appropriately when provided with nutrition support, and by the absence of intestinal malabsorption. While long term studies are required to determine if nutritional support will prevent stunting, these results underscore its central role in preventing nutritional deficiencies and in promoting normal growth in thalassaemic children.
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PMID:Nutritional factors and thalassaemia major. 878 27

Coeliac disease (CD) is a genetically determined gluten-sensitive enteropathy resulting in nutrient malabsorption, with an increasing incidence world-wide. Clinical presentation in early childhood may include classic malabsorption symptoms, whereas older CD children often present extra-intestinal symptoms including short stature and pubertal delay. A gluten-free diet (GFD) generally leads to a rapid catch-up in growth and to normalization of the pituitary function. The pathogenesis of CD-associated short stature is still unclear. Besides the involvement of the growth hormone (GH)/insulin-like growth factor-I axis, a role for ghrelin was recently proposed. Furthermore, some CD patients do not show catch-up growth during GFD, despite reversion to seronegativity for CD markers including antiendomysial and anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies. These subjects show GH deficiency and could potentially benefit from recombinant human GH therapy. This review deals with the management of short stature and the evaluation of growth axis function in CD children.
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PMID:Short stature in children with coeliac disease. 1955 Mar 80