METABOLISM IN UNDERNUTRITION

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Abstract
In a recent publication1 the treatment of undernutrition by high caloric diets was described. During the periods of gain in weight of the patients of the series studied in the hospital, observations were made of the changes which took place in several phases of metabolism. This report describes the observations which were made on the basal metabolism, nitrogen metabolism and efficiency of digestion. Comparatively low levels of basal metabolism have long been recognized in association with undernutrition.2 The total basal heat output is definitely reduced, and the relative deviations vary somewhat, depending on the use of standards of weight or body surface for the estimation of the basal metabolic rate in view of the unusual body proportions of these patients.3 The clinical significance which may be attached to observations of low basal metabolic rates is not easily determined. Many reports describe lowered metabolism in association with minor

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