News Round-up
Exercise and Improved Diet Before Surgery Linked to Fewer Complications and Enhanced Recovery
Actively preparing for major surgery by exercising and improving diet (known as ‘prehabilitation’) is associated with fewer complications, less time in hospital, and improved recovery and quality of life in adults, finds an analysis of clinical trials published by The BMJ.
The researchers stress that the certainty of evidence for all comparisons was generally low to very low, but they say prehabilitation based on exercise, nutrition, or exercise combined with other components, may be beneficial.
Although this review was conducted according to best practices and was based on the latest trial evidence, the researchers acknowledge several limitations and stress that the certainty of evidence for all comparisons across all outcomes was generally low to very low due to bias and the high level of variation (heterogeneity) between trials.
However, they say the results for exercise and nutritional prehabilitation were robust after excluding trials with a high risk of bias, “suggesting that prehabilitation based on exercise, nutrition, or exercise combined with other components, may benefit adults preparing for surgery and could be considered in clinical care.”
Visit: www.bmj.com/content/388/bmj-2024-081164
The Malnutrition Pathway Launches New Online Resource to Assist Healthcare Professionals in Managing the Overlapping Syndromes of Frailty, Sarcopenia and Malnutrition
The Malnutrition Pathway has developed a new online resource focusing on frailty and the syndromes sarcopenia and malnutrition which often co-exist and contribute to frailty (www.malnutritionpathway.co.uk/frailty_guide). The resource ‘A Guide to Managing Frailty, Sarcopenia and Malnutrition’ has been written by Consultant Geriatrician Dr Sanjay Suman, and the Malnutrition Pathway Clinical Director and Consultant Dietitian Dr Anne Holdoway. The guide aims to enable health and care professionals to recognise the signs of frailty, sarcopenia and malnutrition and encourage action to identify and tackle nutritional issues that are contributing and could be addressed with referral for further assessment if required.
“By failing to identify and treat frailty, sarcopenia and malnutrition we are placing individuals at risk of adverse outcomes,” says Dr Sanjay Suman, Consultant Geriatrician. “All health and social care professionals have the opportunity to assess frailty in those who are vulnerable, and this new resource includes advice on simple clinical observations and muscle strength measurements that can be incorporated into consultations. Exercise and nutrition are the cornerstone of management of these conditions and there is increasing evidence that nutrition and movement have a positive effect on health outcomes.”
“Making timely interventions to improve an individual’s nutritional and physical status can assist individuals in maintaining their body composition and function, which can have a positive impact on their quality of life and survival,” says Dr Anne Holdoway, Consultant Dietitian and Chair of the Malnutrition Pathway panel. “By incorporating a number of simple assessments into consultations all health and care professionals can assist in identifying frailty, sarcopenia and malnutrition. This new resource outlines some appropriate identification tools and includes advice on adopting a person-centred, holistic approach to treatment and prevention.”
Click here to access ‘A Guide to Managing Frailty, Sarcopenia and Malnutrition’ and here to access the accompanying patient leaflet.
New NICE Guideline: Overweight and obesity management
This guideline covers the prevention and management of overweight, obesity and central adiposity in children, young people and adults. It brings together and updates all NICE's previous guidelines on overweight and obesity. It does not cover pregnancy.
This guideline updates and replaces the following NICE guidelines:
- Preventing excess weight gain (NG7, March 2015)
- Obesity: identification, assessment and management (CG189, November 2014)
- Weight management: lifestyle services for overweight or obese adults (PH53, May 2014)
- Weight management: lifestyle services for overweight or obese children and young people (PH47, October 2013)
- BMI: preventing ill health and premature death in Black, Asian and other minority ethnic groups (PH46, July 2013)
- Obesity: working with local communities (PH42, November 2012)
- Obesity prevention (CG43, December 2006).
To access the guideline, visit: www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng246
Analysis Shows UK Cancer Cases Have Risen in Women But Fallen in Men
New UK statistics from World Cancer Research Fund show a 3.7% rise in the total number of cancer cases diagnosed in women in 2021 compared with 2019, while cases in men remained relatively stable.
Dr Vanessa Gordon-Dseagu, Research Interpretation Manager at World Cancer Research Fund, said: “While the total number of cancers is still higher among men than women, the latest increases among women, and decreases among men, suggest that this difference is declining quite rapidly.
It is likely that any changes in the number of new cases are partially explained by behaviour. This will be particularly true for those cancers for which there is strong evidence that behaviour increases risk. For example, smoking increasing lung cancer risk or processed meat and alcohol increasing bowel cancer risk. Following WCRF’s Cancer Prevention Recommendations can help people reduce their cancer risk.”
To read further about UK cancer statistics, visit: www.wcrf.org/preventing-cancer/cancer-statistics/uk-cancer-statistics/y
Can drinking coffee or tea help prevent head and neck cancer?
In a recent analysis of data from more than a dozen studies, coffee and tea consumption was linked with lower risks of developing head and neck cancer, including cancers of the mouth and throat. The findings are published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.
“While there has been prior research on coffee and tea consumption and reduced risk of cancer, this study highlighted their varying effects with different sub-sites of head and neck cancer, including the observation that even decaffeinated coffee had some positive impact,” said senior author Yuan-Chin Amy Lee, PhD, of Huntsman Cancer Institute and the University of Utah School of Medicine. “Coffee and tea habits are fairly complex, and these findings support the need for more data and further studies around the impact that coffee and tea can have on reducing cancer risk.”
To read the paper, visit: https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cncr.35620
