View clinical trials related to Failure to Thrive.
Filter by:In this prospective randomized controlled multi center trial the investigators stratify "Very Low Birthweight " (VLBW)-infants with growth retardation in small for gestational age (SGA) or intrauterine growth restricted (IUGR) - infants and aim to investigate the impact of a nutritional management with enhanced nutrients from discharge up to the 52nd week of postconceptional age on growth, body composition, metabolic programming, metabolomics, microbiome and long term neurodevelopmental outcome. In this study, the investigators will evaluate the difference in metabolic profiles of SGA and IUGR preterm infants. The investigators will further longitudinally assess, how different nutritional interventions affect the altered pathways in the first year of life and identify, in combination with data available from metabolic markers, microbiome and breast milk analysis, potential pathways resulting in increased disease risk later in life.
A major consequence of chronic liver disease in childhood is growth failure. This is because a chemical essential for growth called growth factor is created in the liver. Lack of response to growth hormone in people with chronic liver disease is characterized by high levels of growth hormone and low levels of growth factors. This growth hormone resistance is reflected in a variety of factors including insulin resistance and low nutritional intake. Unfortunately, growth hormone therapy has no effect for children with liver disease. In addition, failure of normal growth or malnutrition makes liver disease even worse in children, and growth hormone therapy is not likely to reverse this. A lack of proper nutrition is associated with hospitalizations and frequent complications. Poor growth is a predictor of poor outcomes after liver transplantation. Thus the management of children with liver disease remains a challenge. Children who have successful orthotopic liver transplants (OLT) show much improvement in some aspects of growth, including skin fold thickness, mid-arm circumference, and normalization of growth factor levels. However, some studies have recently reported that the growth of 15-20% of children remains poor even after a liver transplant. This can be explained by persistent abnormalities in growth factors after transplant. Growth factor was found to be a good tool for prognosis in patients with chronic liver disease. Studies showed that patients with liver cirrhosis and growth factor levels below normal values showed lower long-term survival rates compared with patients who had above normal values. This suggests that growth factor can be a good predictor of survival and early marker of poor liver function. In this case, aggressive feeding may modestly improve growth factor levels leading to improved growth but it is unlikely that effects will be optimal. The investigators propose that growth factor administration may have a positive effect that leads to better growth which is a major predictor of good outcome. To date, no reports study the use of growth factor in children with chronic liver disease. This study proposes to examine the effect of growth factor therapy in childhood chronic liver disease.
The study will be a randomized, double-blind, prospective trial. Newborn infants (enrollment age 0-14 days) will be assigned randomly to receive one of two products, provided in identical packages except for the lid color. Neither the investigators nor the parents will know which product the infant is receiving. The infants will be monitored at study enrollment, and at 4, 8, and 12 weeks of age. There will be two study groups, each receiving one of the following formulas: 1. The new partially hydrolyzed whey formula (NF) - Materna cow's milk infant formula containing partially hydrolyzed whey protein, produced and packaged by Materna Laboratories, Maabarot. 2. The currently marketed partially hydrolyzed whey formula (CF) - Nan HA, produced by Nestlé. In order to maintain blinding, the Nan HA will be repacked in packaging identical to the Materna product, except for the lid color