An interesting research paper was  presented this past weekend at The European Society For Clinical Nutrition And Metabolism’s Annual Congress in Leipzig, Germany. The study funded by the nutrition division of pharmaceutical giant Abbott Laboratories, analysed data from 1.16 million hospital cases to assess if patients benefited from orally administered nutritional supplements. The 1.16 million sample was split evenly between those who received oral supplementation as part of their treatment, and those who did not. The study found that patients who received supplements had, on average, a 21% reduction in length of hospital stay.

As well, the probably of readmission after 30 days, for those with a history of readmission, was reduced by 6.7%. The study was intended to demonstrate that supplementation may be a cost effective way for hospitals and other health care facilities to reduce their patient costs. While the focus of the research was economic, the corollary is that nutritional supplements do appear to help the metabolism recover and thereby contribute to better health.

References

Goldman DP, Lackdawalla DN, Phillipson TJ, Snider JT, Stryckman B, Impact of oral nutritional supplements on hospital outcomes, American Journal Of Managed Care Vol. 19, No. 2, 121 - 128