The beneficial effect of a high protein-calorie diet on a malnourished patient during hospitalization.

ABSTRACT

The effect of a high protein-calorie diet was studied on a 45 year-old Thai woman suffering from severe nutritional deficiency i.e. anaemia and multiple vitamin deficiencies. Several clinical chemical parameters in blood, red cells and urine for the assessment of the nutritional status were investigated at the time of admission to the hospital and after two and four weeks hospitalization. The patient was only treated with the high protein-calorie diet of the hospital and did not receive any vitamin supplementation. Only with this treatment the clinical signs disappeared within 4 weeks and also all the biochemical abnormalities returned to normal. With this study it is demonstrated that high multiple vitamin supplementation may not always be necessary for the good treatment and recovery of hospitalized patients suffering from vitamin deficiencies.