Benedicta Nneoma Nnodum

The ketogenic diet (KD) is a high-fat, adequate-protein, and low-carbohydrate diet that leads to nutritional ketosis and weight loss. It is known to induce ketosis but is not an established cause of clinically significant ketoacidosis. Lactation ketoacidosis is well established in bovine literature but remains a rare phenomenon in humans. Here we present a life-threatening case of severe ketoacidosis in a nondiabetic lactating mother on a strict ketogenic diet. We review the available case reports of lactation ketoacidosis in humans and the mechanisms thereof. Although ketogenic diet has been shown to be safe in nonpregnant individuals, the safety of this diet in lactating mothers is not known. Health professionals and mothers should be made aware of the potential risk associated with a strict ketogenic diet when combined with lactation. Prompt diagnosis and immediate treatment cannot be overemphasized. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of life-threatening lactation ketoacidosis associated with ketogenic diet while consuming an adequate number of calories per day.

Antitumor necrosis factor-α therapy has been used effectively in treatment of many inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and inflammatory bowel disease. There are increasing number of paradoxical reactions associated with this therapy that are being reported. We present the case of a 63-year-old male with psoriatic arthritis maintained on adalimumab and methotrexate (previous treatment trials of prednisone and leflunomide) who developed severe symptomatic sarcoidosis in the brain, liver, and lung. Upon discontinuation of adalimumab, the symptoms resolved but the imaging findings persisted. Although the development of sarcoidosis (usually in the lung, skin, and eyes) while on antitumor necrosis factor-α therapy is increasingly reported, the brain and liver are less commonly involved but should be borne in mind by physicians when extensive granulomatous lesions develop.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease that may affect any organ of the body. Lupus nephritis (LN) is a frequent and serious complication of SLE. We report a case of an 80-year-old woman who was initially diagnosed with late-onset SLE and eventually developed LN in the setting of normal complements, double-stranded DNA, C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and urine sediment. She developed abnormal renal function (creatinine of 1.7 mg/dl) and mild proteinuria (1-2+) without hematuria. Renal biopsy showed class IV lupus glomerulonephritis, active and chronic. The patient was started on mycophenolate mofetil which led to improvement of proteinuria and stabilization of creatinine. The suspicion for LN in a patient with late-onset SLE should remain high when there is development of suspicious renal or urinary abnormalities even if laboratory values do not suggest high disease activity and urinary sediment is normal. To our knowledge, this is one of the oldest patients with biopsy-proven LN and late-onset SLE.

This study aims to determine the impact of physical activity on asthma symptom reporting among children living in an inner city. Among 147 children aged 5–12 years with physician-diagnosed asthma, we assessed asthma symptoms using twice-daily diaries and physical activity using the physical activity questionnaire for children during three 8-day periods (baseline, 3 and 6 months). Linear, logistic, and quasi-poisson regression models were used to determine the association between physical activity and asthma symptoms; adjusting for age, sex, race, BMI, caregiver’s education, asthma severity, medication use, and season. A 1-unit increase in PAQ score was significantly associated with reporting more nocturnal symptoms [risk ratio (RR): 1.03; 95% CI 1.00–1.06], daytime symptoms (RR: 1.04; 95% CI 1.00–1.09), being bothered by asthma (RR: 1.05; 95% CI 1.00–1.09), and trouble breathing (RR: 1.05; 95% CI 1.00–1.10). Level of physical activity should be taken into account in clinical management of asthma and epidemiological studies of asthma symptom burden.