Diagnosing vitamin deficiency more effectively
This week is Nutrition and Hydration Awareness Week - raising awareness of nutritional standards in clinical settings to improve patient safety, experience and recovery.
In this article, we speak to Viapath Scientific Director Dr Dominic Harrington, on the importance of eating healthily and how laboratory medicine is contributing to better diagnosis of the sick, as well as preventing disease in the well.
Healthcare and healthy eating
Our Trust partners strive to set the bar in nutritional standards for hospital inpatients, and our experts at Viapath know all too well the consequences of poor nutrition, which can lead to the hastened progression of degenerative diseases, neurological disorders and vascular disease to name but a few.
As with many disorders and diseases, early detection and intervention can help to prevent lasting damage to health.
Positive intervention
“Interest in nutrition continues to grow. Along with the cessation of smoking and regular physical exercise – choosing to eat healthily really can have a positive impact on our quality of life in later years,” says Viapath Scientific Director Dr Dominic Harrington.
“The development and application of laboratory markers of vitamin status is one way of giving people the opportunity to make evidence based decisions that contribute towards living a healthy life”.
The rise and rise of Nutristasis
The Nutristasis Unit at St. Thomas’ Hospital was set up by Dominic in 2002.
His view was that laboratory tests routinely used to diagnose vitamin status were frequently too insensitive to detect patients who would benefit from nutritional support.
A new approach was introduced in the Nutristasis Unit which looked not only at direct measurements of vitamins in blood (static markers), but also at functional biomarkers which directly reflect the vitamin status of target tissues.
The development and application of paired markers has allowed for greater clinical utility and accuracy of vitamin deficiency diagnosis.
The Nutristasis Unit has grown from a one person operation to now having a dedicated group of 12 experts carrying out circa 250,000 diagnostic tests a year.
Our expertise in this area is renowned, with our customers including; hospitals, GPs, universities, private patients and research centres across the UK and worldwide.
The introduction of an online ordering pilot, launching this Spring, will only raise the profile of the Unit further. This will allow people to request a snapshot of their nutritional status without the need for a clinician’s referral, giving greater accessibility and choice to our patients.
Setting industry standards
At Viapath, our aim is to transform pathology services and set the standard in diagnostic laboratory testing. The optimal performance of analytical methods underpins the validity of laboratory test results which, in turn impact on clinical decision making and conclusions drawn from research studies.
The United Kingdom National External Quality Assessment Service (UKNEQAS) for Vitamin K (KEQAS) is an accredited international scheme set up at the Nutristasis Unit to help improve the harmonisation and accuracy of vitamin K analysis.
Samples are distributed to participating laboratories which measure the vitamin K concentrations and return their results for comparison and statistical analysis. In this way External Quality Assessment (EQA) schemes such as KEQAS can help identify methodological bias, analytical error and common pitfalls of analysis.
KEQAS also aids in communication by providing a hub for laboratories to exchange information thereby raising awareness of the methodological, research and clinical issues surrounding vitamin K analysis.
Such schemes are essential for ensuring laboratories are accurately reporting results and not misdiagnosing patients, taking the lead in this area outlines our commitment to quality of service for our patients and customers.
Further Information
Nutrition and Hydration Awareness Week is a collaboration between the Hospital Caterers Association, National Association of Care Catering and Patient Safety Domain NHS England.
http://nutritionandhydrationweek.co.uk/
The Nutristasis Unit at St. Thomas’ Hospital is an industry leading laboratory for the measurement of endogenous vitamins in bodily fluids and tissues.
As the provider of KEQAS to 15 different countries, under the directorship and management of Dr Dominic Harrington and his team (pictured below), Viapath are recognised internationally as experts in this discipline.
Click below to visit the Nutristasis webpage to view our key people, test repertoire and contact details.
http://www.viapath.co.uk/departments-and-laboratories/nutristasis-unit-at-st-thomas
