Malnutrition and AIDS

Author: admin
March 29, 2008

 

  1. Occurs to some degree in every patient
  2. Greatly diminished quality of life
  3. CDC criterion-involuntary weight loss >10%

Causes of malnutrition

  1. Altered nutrient intake
    • Anorexia
    • Dysphagia
    • Depression
  2. Malabsorption-diarrhea, gas, bloating
    • Enteric pathogens
    • Abnormal GI motility
    • Autonomic dysfunction
    • Bacterial overgrowth
    • 1/2 treated for diarrhea don’t respond
    • Most intestinal injury and dysfunction caused by complicating infections rather than from AIDS directly.
  3. Metabolic changes due to infection
    • Abnormal lipid/protein metabolism
    • Increase in gluconeogenesis

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