CMSM roundtable: Knowledge gaps in the field of micronutrients
On July 8th, the CMSM round table session "Knowledge Gaps in the Field of Micronutrients" took place, organized by CMSM and Sepsis Nederland. The host was Roland de Wolf; the session was chaired by Dr. Manfred Eggersdorfer.
After a welcome address and round of introductions, Dr. Eggersdorfer, Professor of Healthy Aging at UMC Groningen, gave a presentation. He provided an excellent overview of the role of essential nutrients for health and vitality. He paid particular attention to the consequences of insufficient micronutrient intake throughout the life course and drew the connection to healthy aging. He also highlighted the benefits, both societal and financial, of the broad application of micronutrients. During and after the presentation there was room for discussion. Interesting topics were raised, such as intensifying contact with health insurers in order to save on healthcare budgets in the long term. There was also a nice interaction with the online attendees, during which the quality of hospital meals was brought up.
Next, Prof. Dr. Christian Stoppe (University of Würzburg and Charité Berlin) gave a presentation. He leads international clinical trials in Critical Care and has built a research group focused on interventional nutrition studies. Topics included micro- and macronutrients, enteral and parenteral nutrition, guidelines and organ-protective strategies, and critically ill patients. In line with the theme of the meeting, "Unanswered questions in the field of micronutrients," he guided the audience through the various studies that have been conducted. He nicely illustrated which question underpinned each study, and which new questions the results raised. The message here was that an unexpected result should not be a reason to discontinue research in that direction, but should rather motivate a deeper exploration of the topic, in order to expand our understanding. Once again, pointed questions were asked during and after the presentation, leading to a constructive discussion.
All in all, a very successful CMSM roundtable, with plenty of future perspective and ideas to take steps forward in the field of micronutrients and nutrition. Recordings of the presentations will be made available on YouTube.
Round table and collaborations
The core group currently consists of Idelette Nutma, Reindert Graaff, Roland de Wolf, Manfred Eggersdorfer, Marjo Kommeren, Jaap Toet and Chaja Hudepol. This group is actively working on spreading the philosophy through various channels, such as letters to the government, and contact with the media.
Those that are interested in joining this collaboration, can choose between different levels of involvement.
Level of involvement
Members
Sphere one
Sphere one consists of members of the round table group, who wish to be actively involved in these processes, e.g. by giving suggestions on the work that is being done, sharing the work through their channels, and signing the documents that are written.
Sphere two
Sphere two is a solution for those members of the round table that want to be involved in the process, but do not feel comfortable being an active advocate. We do appreciate the valuable input we receive from this group and will not put these RT members on the spot by asking them to publicly support the group.
Collaborations and network organisations
From a patient perspective, the CMSM aims to direct more attention towards the added value of micronutrients in the recovery after critical illness. It would be wonderful if we could improve the recovery of patients in that way. To this end, the CMSM is always on the lookout for partners to collaborate with, so our patient-driven approach is strengthened by first hand accounts.
De Vereniging van Mensen met Brandwonden
To this end, we have been in contact with the association of people with burn wounds. Together we aim to collect the experiences of (former) patients, and look at the role that micronutrients played in their recovery.
Relevant organization: Alliantie Voeding in de zorg
The 'Alliance Food in Healthcare' is the dutch national expertise center of nutrition in healthcare. They realise improvements in patient health by making scientific insights in nutrition and physical activity personally applicable in healthcare and prevention. This is done in collaboration with the government, companies, insurance, point of care facilities and knowledge institutions. Asked by the ministry of health, they work on the National Prevention Agreement, focussing on healthy nutrition in point of care facilities, personalised nutritional advise for patients, and the inclusion of nutrition and prevention in healthcare education.
A good example of research in this domain is the line of research by prof. van Zanten regarding metabolic stress.
Sepsis en daarna
A few years back, the call came from 'Sepsis and afterwards', to direct more attention towards the role of vitamin C in the acute phase of Sepsis. The organisation soon found allies who stood up for the same cause, as mentioned above. They inspired each other. Gradually this grew into a collaboration of multiple experts and patient- and citizen organisations; the CMSM. Sepsis is a critical illness where the role of especially vitamin C has been repeatedly researched. These findings regarding micronutrients offer patients some perspective for better support during recovery.
Mijn Data Onze Gezondheid
Mijn Data Onze Gezondheid (My Data, Our Health) is a patient-driven organization that develops solutions for people with a physical or mental affliction. This is done by actively unlocking the ability of citizens to do research: Citizen Science.
MD|OG believes that the observations and findings, which we as citizens can collect, are of great importance to ourselves, the healthcare sector, and society as a whole.
