NUTRIM science stories

What if you could predict lung attacks... by listening to your voice? Researchers Rosanne Beijers, pulmonologist Sami Simons, and physician-researcher Lauren Reinders (MUMC+) show how an innovative voice analysis app is changing COPD care. 

Combining newest digital technology such as a voice app, with personalized care, this method could transform COPD care for patients everywhere. COPD patients supported by treating these attacks and their effects on the whole body with smart nutritional care.

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The goal and research focus of Sanne Gerards is preventing childhood obesity by encouraging healthy habits for toddlers from an early age on. SUPERFIT promotes exercise and healthy eating in young children (aged 2-4) and combines efforts at daycare, at home, and in the community. 

Eighty childcare locations in Limburg use the SuperFIT method to start healthy habits early. Explore coach Niki Jehoel, and educational professional Moniek Wattel at the Toermalijn daycare center, shows how it’s done in practice.

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Zlatan Mujagic, Fleur Veldman and Kimberley Hawinkels explain how the gut talks to the brain. Using innovative methods, like dexascan and special stomach-to-ear measurements, they explore how signals move along the vagus nerve. 

Where does abdominal pain come from, shining a light on the brain-gut axis? What is Irritable Bowel Syndrome and why it’s so much more than just a gut problem? Understanding these connections opens new doors for better treatments and healthier lives

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Obesity is complex and varies from person to person. Excess fat tissue is not just a storage site but an organ that, when dysfunctional, contributes to serious health issues like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even cancer. Professor Gijs Goossens researches how fat tissue and tools like DEXA scans can provide deep insights into obesity’s causes and effects. 

Understanding the unique biology behind each individual’s obesity leads to effective treatment and a more personalized approach. Obesity rates are high, this tailored strategy could transform how we prevent and treat obesity for better health and wellbeing.

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At Maastricht UMC+ and NUTRIM, researchers and clinicians are joining forces on prehabilitation. By supporting patients to become physically and mentally fitter before their operation. This approach, called pre-revalidation, prevents, improves recovery, reduces complications, and sets a healthier trajectory for life after surgery.

Marcel den Dulk, Lis Hoeijmakers and Bart Bongers show their work in the Clinical Research Unit. Targeted lifestyle coaching, exercise and nutritional support can change surgical outcomes for patients with cancer, with teamwork and personalized care.

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Many people with cancer lose weight unintentionally. This reduces quality of life and makes it harder to endure cancer treatments. Why does this weight loss happen? 

Marit van Hooren and Niels Ruber explain a possible link to the bowel.

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More infants in the Netherlands develop allergies like asthma and eczema. Research shows that while playing outdoors, infants ingest soil, full of beneficial bacteria? 

Niels van Best explains his research on how bacteria from nature can strengthen the immune system of young infants.

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People who have been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for a while lose a significant amount of muscle mass and, consequently, muscle strength. 

Julia Bels studies how nutrition can help ICU patients in preserving and strengthening their muscles.

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Changes in the voice, measured via a smartphone app, may indicate the onset of a respiratory attack in people with asthma or COPD. Research by pulmonologist Sami Simons and his team offers opportunities for accessible home monitoring and earlier treatment.

When patients are recovering from bowel cancer, it is not just about curing the disease. Just as important is the question: how is someone really doing? How do they feel, physically and mentally, in their daily lives? Dr. Stéphanie Breukink, a colorectal surgeon and principal investigator wants to make precisely that aspect more visible. 

The NUTRIM / Maastricht UMC+ pulmonology team — Sami Simons, Loes van Bemmel and Lauren Reinders — recently travelled to Brazil as part of the newly funded VOCAL project. They developed an app to detect COPD through voice. To bring lung‑health diagnostics within reach of communities that need it most. 

You need a lot of protein! Or so you’d assume, marvelling at the branding of candy bars, cereals, and, bizarrely, coffee and indeed water. Jorn Trommelen, Assistant Professor at NUTRIM department Human Biology on who needs how much protein, and why.

Matty Crone, Professor of “Health Promotion: “The Connection between Prevention and Care”. She advocates an integrated approach that encompasses different life stages and social aspects. Another important aspect of Crone's vision is building resilient communities. Social networks can act as crucial resources. A resilient community requires a different way of working together between residents, municipality, organizations, and informal groups in the neighbourhood. 

Professor John Penders stands at the helm of pioneering research into the role of gut bacteria in various diseases in which the gut microbiome may be seen as key to better health. Our gut can be a treasure trove of bugs. The gut microbiome may be seen as key to better health. John explains why.

Professor Gijs Goossens highlights the crucial role adipose tissue plays in our metabolism and overall health. The more we understand about this complex chronic condition, the better we can address the associated health risks, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Obesity is a global problem that has increased alarmingly over the past 30 years. Obesity arises from a complex interplay of biological, psychological, behavioural and environmental factors.

Obesity is one of the great public health problems we face. New drugs such as Ozempic offer possibilities but also raise moral, economic and health questions. Why is ‘just lose some weight’ naïve and unempirical? Why might covering Ozempic be cheaper for health insurers? We brought together experts Anne Roefs, Gijs Goossens and Mickaël Hiligsmann to talk about obesity and its new miracle cure.

Lessons on aging from active older people. “We need to look at very active older people if we want to understand aging,” says Bas Van Hooren, NUTRIM researcher. If some people stay strong and fit deep into their golden years, the implication is that many of the rest of us might be able to as well, he said.

During her internships, Myrthe Eussen witnessed how much material was discarded in healthcare. Now, she is a PhD candidate working on the CAREFREE project at NUTRIM, which focuses on sustainability in the operating room. “During a half-hour gallbladder surgery, five to seven kilograms of waste is thrown away.” 

NUTRIM researchers have developed a technique in collaboration with Research Engineering IDEE and Maastricht Instruments to measure the activity of gut bacteria by mapping the gases they produce. With this method, scientists can track how gut bacteria respond to different foods over an extended period of time. 

Perihilar cholangiocarcinoma is a rare and aggressive cancer that forms in the bile ducts near the liver. Julien is researching if and why drainage fails to improve prognosis and contradictally, increases the possibility of complications. We aim that physicians can advise a patient to undergo drainage or not and the effect the decision has on the liver’s function. 

According to Luc van Loon, you can become a bodybuilder even after age 80. But the disadvantage of our dynamic muscles is that you also can lose them quickly when not using them or using them less. Maintaining muscles is an active process. You have to keep stimulating them.

Does personalized nutrition have positive effects on health? "The answer to this question is a resounding yes," says Ellen Blaak, Professor of human biology "It may seem quite logical, but until now the scientific evidence for this had not been provided. A recent study does provide that evidence. And that's good news, because an appropriate diet can prevent chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease."

An international research consortium, including NUTRIM researcher Zlatan Mujagic and other researchers from Maastricht, has investigated the effects of stress on the gut. This research has unraveled how stress leads to worsening inflammatory bowel diseases. 

A meal with meat ensures muscle proteins are built faster than a vegan meal with the same amount of protein. This according to the research of Philippe Pinckaers. Pinckaers was the first to compare the speed at which muscle proteins are being made after eating a complete meal with animal or plant proteins. 

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly cancers: only two in 10 people survive the first five years after diagnosis. Merel Aberle, affiliated with research institute NUTRIM and the Department of Surgery shows that it is important to also look at the patient.