Fibre Intake Is Associated with Cardiovascular Health in European Children.

BACKGROUND: We aimed at analysing the association between dietary fibre intake during childhood and cardiovascular health markers. METHODS: We used observational longitudinal analysis and recorded diet using 3-day diaries at the ages of 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 years in children from the EU Childhood Obesity Project Trial. At the age of 8, waist circumference, systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP) and biochemical analyses (lipoproteins, triglycerides and homeostasis model for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR)) were evaluated. Those parameters were combined into a cardiometabolic risk score through the sum of their internal z-scores. RESULTS: Four-hundred children (51.8% girls) attended to the 8-year visit with a 3-day diary. Adjusted linear regression models showed that children who repeatedly stayed in the lowest tertile of fibre intake during childhood had higher HOMA-IR (p = 0.004), higher cardiometabolic risk score (p = 0.02) and a nonsignificant trend toward a higher SBP at 8 years. The higher the dietary intake of soluble fibre (from fruits and vegetables) at 8 years, the lower the HOMA-IR and the cardiometabolic risk score (p = 0.002; p = 0.004). SBP was directly associated with fibre from potatoes and inversely with fibre from nuts and pulses. CONCLUSION: A diet rich in dietary fibre from fruits, vegetables, pulses and nuts from early childhood was associated to a healthier cardiovascular profile, regardless of children's weight.

Tratamiento con eritropoyetina en la insuficiencia renal / Erytropoietin treatment in renal failure

Se presenta la experiencia con el uso prolongado de Eritropoyetina humana recombinada en 14 niños y adolescentes en hemodiálisis crónica, no hipertensos o con hipertensión controlada, y no convulsivos, que previamente se transfundían mensualmente. Las dosis oscilaron en 5 y 110 U/K, intravenosa, dos veces por semana, durante treinta meses. Se identificó la dosis individual mínima, hematológicamente eficaz sin efectos indeseables. Los resultados obtenidos fueron: 1.-Aumento, dependiente de la dosis, de eritrocitos, hemoglobina y reticulocitos. Para obtener aumentos semejantes, las dosis fueron variables para cada paciente. Para dosis individuales estables, la mejoría hematológica fue más intensa en los pacientes con sobrecarga marcial y administración diaria de hierro; y más precoz con las dosis altas que con las bajas. Ninguno de los 14 pacientes debieron ser transfundidos durante el plazo del estudio, excepto dos, por hemorragias intercurrentes. 2.-Mejoría cardiológica y nutricional. 3.-Mejoría de la calidad de vida, con aumento de la capacidad física, observable aún antes de la mejoría hematológica. Se observaron efectos secundarios: tendencia a elevar la creatinina, urea y fósforo sanguíneos, y en dos pacientes hipertensos, a elevar en forma controlable la presión arterial