Dr. Mary E. Keith This is Me

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1. 1. St. Michael's Hospital - Nutrition Researchers

   www.saintmichaelshospital.com/ - [Cached]

   Published on: 9/20/2006   Last Visited: 9/20/2006

   Dr. Mary Keith

2. 2. Thiamin deficiency common in hospitalized heart failure patients

   www.eurekalert.org/pub_release - [Cached]

   Published on: 1/14/2006   Last Visited: 1/14/2006

   In fact, what was important was that a relatively small dose of thiamin from a multi-vitamin was protective against developing thiamin deficiency," said Mary E. Keith, Ph.D. from St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
   
   Dr. Keith said that heart failure may increase the body's need for certain nutrients, including thiamin, so even patients who are eating relatively well may not be getting enough of them. At the same time, the illness may make it harder to maintain a proper diet. She said that this study helps focus attention on the role of diet in managing serious conditions, such as heart failure.
   
   "Physicians and the public have exclusively focused on drug therapy to the detriment of at least one of the foundations of good health-appropriate nutrition," she said.
   ...
   Finally, our study also investigated factors other than diuretic medication, such as diet, medical status and demographic factors that might be contributing to the development of thiamin deficiency," Dr. Keith said.
   
   In contrast to earlier studies, these results did not show an association between the use of diuretic medications and thiamin deficiency. However, Dr. Keith said that their report is not the final word on this point.
   
   "The relationships between thiamin loss, thiamin status and diuretic use are not definitively established and controversy remains. Our population was a cross-section of hospitalized patients who had differing levels of disease severity and had differing doses of diuretics prior to their admission, which may have accounted for the lack of relationship between diuretic dose and thiamin deficiency," she said.
   
   Dr. Keith also pointed out that although they observed that patients taking supplements were less likely to be deficient in thiamin, the association did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.06).

3. 3. www.stmichaelshospital.com

   www.stmichaelshospital.com/pro - [Cached]

   Published on: 1/5/2008   Last Visited: 3/21/2008

   Mary Keith, (B.A.Sc., PhD) Research associate, heart and vascular program Assistant professor, department of surgery, University of Toronto