Nutritional Assessment
In medicine, nutritional status can be assessed by measuring the concentration of transthyretin in the blood. In theory, other transport proteins such as albumin or transferrin could be used, but transthyretin is preferred because of its shorter half-life, although this means that its concentration more closely reflects recent dietary intake rather than overall nutritional status. Transthyretin concentration has been shown to be a good indicator of whether or not a malnourished patient will develop refeeding syndrome upon commencement of refeeding, via either the enteral, parenteral or oral routes.
| Protein | Half-Life (days) | Normal Levels | Malnutrition | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mild | moderate | severe | |||
| Prealbumin | 2-4 | 15.7-29.6 mg/dL | 12-15 | 8-10 | <8 |
Read more about this topic: Transthyretin
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