Background: Poor nutrition and age per see add to the development of sarcopenia, i.e. loss of muscle mass and strength, which contributes to increased risk of impaired activities of daily living (ADL) and reduced independence. Protein deficiency plays an important role in the development of sarcopenia. In order to increase the muscle mass protein intake should be combined with physical exercise. A daily physical activity, the sit-to-stand exercise, has been proven to decrease older persons' dependence in ADL. Our study aims to evaluate the effects of the sit-to-stand exercise in combination with a protein-rich nutritional supplement, on physical function and independence in frail nursing home residents. The resident's perceptions and experiences of the intervention and the staff's experiences of supporting the resident to complete the intervention will also be explored.

Methods: The study is a two-arm cluster-randomized controlled trial which will be performed in nursing homes at two municipalities in Sweden. We will recruit 120 residents, age 75 or older and able to stand up from a seated position. Residents (n = 60) randomized to the intervention group will perform the sit-to-stand exercise at four occasions daily and will be offered a protein-rich oral supplement, twice a day. The intervention period will last for 12 weeks and measures of physical function, nutritional status, quality of life and health economy will be performed at baseline and at 12-weeks follow-up. The primary outcome will be the number of chair rises performed in 30 s. The control group will receive standard care. Data will be analysed by intention-to-treat analysis and with mixed effect models. During the last part of the intervention period individual interviews with the residents, on the topic of feasibility with the OPEN concept will be held. Likewise, focus-group-interviews with staff will be performed.

Discussion: The residents' physical and mental health could be expected to improve. Even the work situation for staff could be positively affected. One innovative feature of the OPEN study is the simple intervention consisting of a basic daily activity that can be performed by several nursing home residents with the support of existing staff and available resources.

Low tissue levels of the major marine ω3 fatty acids (FAs) DHA and EPA are found in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We investigated if healthy proxies to AD patients have higher levels of these ω3 FAs. We observed lower levels of EPA and DHA in subcutaneous adipose tissue biopsies from 64 AD patients compared with 16 cognitively healthy proxies. No significant difference was observed when pairwise comparisons were made between a subset of 16 AD patients and their co-habiting proxies. Larger studies are needed to replicate these findings and to determine if they could depend on FA intake or differences in metabolism.

Background & aims: Polymorbidity (also known as multimorbidity)-defined as the co-occurrence of at least two chronic health conditions - is highly prevalent, particularly in the hospitalized population. Nonetheless, clinical guidelines largely address individual diseases and rarely account for polymorbidity. The aim of this project was to develop guidelines on nutritional support for polymorbid patients hospitalized in medical wards.

Methods: The methodology used for the development of the current project follows the standard operating procedures for ESPEN guidelines. It started with an initial meeting of the Working Group in January 2015, where twelve key clinical questions were developed that encompassed different aspects of nutritional support: indication, route of feeding, energy and protein requirements, micronutrient requirements, disease-specific nutrients, timing, monitoring and procedure of intervention. Systematic literature searches were conducted in three different databases (Medline, Embase and the Cochrane Library), as well as in secondary sources (e.g. published guidelines), until April 2016. Retrieved abstracts were screened to identify relevant studies that were used to develop recommendations, which were followed by submission to Delphi voting rounds.

Results: From a total of 4532 retrieved abstracts, 38 relevant studies were analyzed and used to generate a guideline draft that proposed 22 recommendations and four statements. The results of the first online voting showed a strong consensus (agreement of >90%) in 68% of recommendations and 75% of statements, and consensus (agreement of >75-90%) in 32% of recommendations and 25% of statements. At the final consensus conference, a consensus greater than 89% was reached for all of the recommendations.

Conclusions: Despite the methodological difficulties in creating non-disease specific guidelines, the evidence behind several important aspects of nutritional support for polymorbid medical inpatients was reviewed and summarized into practical clinical recommendations. Use of these guidelines offer an evidence-based nutritional approach to the polymorbid medical inpatient and may improve their outcomes.

Objectives: Studies show that regular exercise in combination with nutritional support can be effective in managing sarcopenia, which is age-related involuntary loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength. Qualitative investigations of participants' experiences from interventions in this domain are scarce. In this study, we explored older persons' experiences from an intervention designed to prevent sarcopenia, with the aim of capturing the participants' thoughts and opinions.

Design: A qualitative study embedded in the multicenter randomized clinical trial The Vitality and Vigor in the Elderly study, VIVE2. Focus group interviews were conducted. Manifest and latent content analyses were performed.

Participants: Community dwelling older adults (n=20) 71-86 years of age with minor limitations in mobility.

Results: The experiences from the intervention were categorized and interpreted in one overall theme "Feeling more self-confident, cheerful and safe". The theme encompasses the categories psychological effects of participating in the intervention, physical effects of participating in the intervention, the importance of social support and the importance of a tailored set-up. The participants described their motives for participating in the intervention as being based on concerns regarding the negative health effects of continuing a sedentary lifestyle, difficulties of getting started on their own and lack of confidence in accomplishing change on their own. Participants also expressed that one main objective for participating was to lose weight.

Conclusion: In this study we have captured the experiences of older adults with minor mobility limitations who participated in a lifestyle intervention. The experiences are interpreted in one overall theme "Feeling more self-confident, cheerful and safe". The central understanding of the participants' experiences was that the intervention affected them in several ways, both psychologically and physically, and that supporting factors included the social support, which became a prerequisite for success. A noticeable finding was the discrepancy between the motive of the participants, to lose weight, and the aim of the study, to improve muscle function. The expectation to lose weight seems to reflect what is commonly known as to be healthy. To our knowledge, at least in Sweden, there are no campaigns or public information highlighting the risks of sarcopenia and the complex issue of if, and when weight loss is desirable for older individuals. This finding highlights the importance of providing such information to this target group. The findings in this study provide valuable knowledge for research teams, practitioners and decision makers when designing and setting objectives for health-promoting interventions for older individuals.

Background: Nutritional supplementation and physical activity have been shown to positively influence muscle mass and strength in older adults. The efficacy of long-term nutritional supplementation in combination with physical activity in older adults remains unclear.

Methods: Mobility-limited (short physical performance battery [SPPB] ≤9) and vitamin D insufficient (serum 25(OH) D 9–24 ng/mL) older adults were recruited for this study. All subjects participated in a physical activity program. Subjects were randomized to consume a daily nutritional supplement (150 kcal, 20 g whey protein, 800 IU vitamin D, 119 mL beverage) or placebo (30 kcal, nonnutritive, 119 mL). In a prespecified secondary analysis, we examined total-body composition (dual energy X-ray absorptiometry), thigh composition (computed tomography), and muscle strength, power, and quality before and after the 6-month intervention.

Results: One hundred and forty-nine subjects were randomized into the study [mean (standard deviation, SD) age 78.5 (5.4) years; 46.3% female; mean (SD) short physical performance battery 7.9 (1.2); mean (SD) vitamin D 18.7 (6.4) ng/mL]. After the intervention period both groups demonstrated improvements in muscle strength, body composition, and thigh composition. Nutritional supplementation lead to further losses of intermuscular fat (p = .049) and increased normal muscle density (p = .018).

Conclusions: Six months of physical activity resulted in improvements in body composition, subcutaneous fat, intermuscular fat, and strength measures. The addition of nutritional supplementation resulted in further declines in intermuscular fat and improved muscle density compared to placebo. These results suggest nutritional supplementation provides additional benefits to mobility-limited older adults undergoing exercise training.

Objectives:

To examine the potential association between serum 25(OH) vitamin D and theperformance on the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) including the sub-components; five repeatedchair stands test, 4 meters walk test and balance in older mobility-limited community-dwelling men and women.

Design:

A cross sectional study was performed in American and Swedish subjects who were examined forpotential participation in a combined exercise and nutrition intervention trial. Logistic regression analysis andlinear regression analyses were performed to evaluate the association for 25(OH)D with the overall score onthe SBBP, chair stand, gait speed and balance.

Participants:

Community-dwelling (mean age 77.6 ± 5.3 years)mobility limited American (n=494) and Swedish (n=116) females (59%) and males.

Measurements:

The SPPB(0-12 points) includes chair stand (s), gait speed (m/s) and a balance test. Mobility limitation i.e., SPPB score ≤9 was an inclusion criterion. A blood sample was obtained to measure serum 25(OH)vitamin D concentrations.

Results:

No clear association of 25(OH)D with SPPB scores was detected either when 25(OH)D was assessedas a continuous variable or when categorized according to serum concentrations of <50, 50-75 or <75 nmol/L.However, when analyzing the relationship between 25(OH)D and seconds to perform the chair stands, asignificant quadratic relationship was observed. Thus, at serum levels of 25(OH)D above 74 nmol/L, higherconcentrations appeared to be advantageous for the chair stand test, whereas for serum levels below 74 nmol/Lthis association was not observed.

Conclusion:

This cross- sectional study lacked clear association betweenserum 25(OH)D and physical performance in mobility limited adults. A potentially interesting observation wasthat at higher serum levels of 25(OH)D a better performance on the chair stand test was indicated.

Background: Ageing is a highly complex process marked by a temporal cascade of events, which promote alterations in the normal functioning of an individual organism. The triggers of normal brain ageing are not well understood, even less so the factors which initiate and steer the neuronal degeneration, which underpin disorders such as dementia. A wealth of data on how nutrients and diets may support cognitive function and preserve brain health are available, yet the molecular mechanisms underlying their biological action in both normal ageing, age-related cognitive decline, and in the development of neurodegenerative disorders have not been clearly elucidated.

Objectives: This review aims to summarise the current state of knowledge of vulnerabilities that predispose towards dysfunctional brain ageing, highlight potential protective mechanisms, and discuss dietary interventions that may be used as therapies. A special focus of this paper is on the impact of nutrition on neuroprotection and the underlying molecular mechanisms, and this focus reflects the discussions held during the 2nd workshop ‘Nutrition for the Ageing Brain: Functional Aspects and Mechanisms’ in Copenhagen in June 2016. The present review is the most recent in a series produced by the Nutrition and Mental Performance Task Force under the auspice of the International Life Sciences Institute Europe (ILSI Europe).

Conclusion: Coupling studies of cognitive ageing with studies investigating the effect of nutrition and dietary interventions as strategies targeting specific mechanisms, such as neurogenesis, protein clearance, inflammation, and non-coding and microRNAs is of high value. Future research on the impact of nutrition on cognitive ageing will need to adopt a longitudinal approach and multimodal nutritional interventions will likely need to be imposed in early-life to observe significant impact in older age.

Background: Inadequate nutritional intake and altered response of aging muscles to anabolic stimuli from nutrients contribute to the development of sarcopenia. Nutritional interventions show inconsistent results in sarcopenic older adults, which might be influenced by their basal nutritional status. Objective: To test if baseline serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations and dietary protein intake influenced changes in muscle mass and function in older adults who received nutritional intervention. Methods and design: Post-hoc analysis was performed in the PROVIDE study that was a randomized controlled, double blind trial among 380 sarcopenic older adults. This study showed that those who received a vitamin D and leucine-enriched whey protein medical nutrition drink for 13 weeks gained more appendicular muscle mass (aMM), and improved lower-extremity function as assessed by the chair stand test compared with controls. To define low and high groups, a baseline serum concentration of 50 nmol/L 25(OH)D and baseline dietary protein intake of 1.0 g/kg/d were used as cut offs. Results: At baseline, participants with lower 25(OH)D concentrations showed lower muscle mass, strength and function compared with participants with a high 25(OH)D, while the group with lower protein intake (g/kg/day) had more muscle mass at baseline compared with the participants with higher protein intake. Participants with higher baseline 25(OH)D concentrations and dietary protein intake had, independent of other determinants, greater gain in appendicular muscle mass, skeletal muscle index (aMM/h(2)), and relative appendicular muscle mass (aMM/body weight x 100%) in response to the nutritional intervention. There was no effect modification of baseline 25(OH)D status or protein intake on change in chair-stand test. Conclusions: Sufficient baseline levels of 25(OH)D and protein intake may be required to increase muscle mass as a result of intervention with a vitamin D and protein supplement in sarcopenic older adults. This suggests that current cut-offs in the recommendations for vitamin D and protein intake could be considered the "minimum" for adults with sarcopenia to respond adequately to nutrition strategies aimed at attenuating muscle loss. (C) 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Rationale: Suboptimal nutritional practices in elderly caresettings may be resolved by an efficient introduction ofnutritional guidelines.Aims: To compare two different implementation strate-gies, external facilitation (EF) and educational outreachvisits (EOVs), when introducing nutritional guidelines innursing homes (NHs), and study the impact on staffperformance.Methodological design: A quasi-experimental study withbaseline and follow-up measurements.Outcome measures: The primary outcome was staff perfor-mance as a function of mealtime ambience and food ser-vice routines.Interventions/research methods: The EF strategy was a 1-year,multifaceted intervention that included support, guidance,practice audit and feedback in two NH units. The EOVstrategy comprised one-three-hour lecture about nutri-tional guidelines in two other NH units. Both strategieswere targeted to selected NH teams, which consisted of aunit manager, a nurse and 5–10 care staff. Mealtime ambi-ence was evaluated by 47 observations using a structuredmealtime instrument. Food service routines were evalu-ated by 109 food records performed by the staff.Results: Mealtime ambience was more strongly improvedin the EF group than in the EOV group after the imple-mentation. Factors improved were laying a table(p = 0.03), offering a choice of beverage (p = 0.02), theserving of the meal (p = 0.02), interactions between staffand residents (p = 0.02) and less noise from the kitchen(p = 0.01). Food service routines remained unchanged inboth groups.Conclusions: An EF strategy that included guidance, auditand feedback improved mealtime ambience when nutri-tional guidelines were introduced in a nursing home set-ting, whereas food service routines were unchanged bythe EF strategy.