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Nutrition and mesothelioma treatment
By Eden Ali | September 27, 2007
Questions that usually arise on issues of nutritional therapy over mesothelioma are the goals of it. The primary goal of dietary rehabilitation is to help patients get the nutrients essential to retain a healthy weight and adjust to changes brought on by aggressive treatment or mesothelioma development. A nutritionist can help:
- prevent or correct malnutrition
- prevent wasting of muscle, bone and other lean body mass
- facilitate the patient to better endure aggressive treatments such as chemotherapy
- continue the ability to fight infection
- maintain strength and energy
- preserve or improve quality of life.
Usually, there is a standard nutritional practice which people follow for better living. Contrarily, a cancerous patient has a totally different diet. Usually this is confusing since the standard diet of a person includes large portions of fruits, vegetables and whole grain breads and cereals, as well as moderate amounts of meats and dairy products and reduced intake of fat, sugar and salt. In the case of cancer patients, recommendations focus on higher calorie and protein content.
The reason for these dietary modifications is to build strength and better tolerate the effects of the cancer and/or its treatment. When it comes to healthy eating, it can become a challenge when you have cancer. Eating a healthy diet is most important when a patient prepares himself/herself for mesothelioma treatment. Reasons for this are to have a reserve of strength, ability for tissue reconstruction and battling against infections. It is also important so that the body can cope with side effect caused by treatment.
During treatment, patients are advised that when they have appetite, they should try to eat foods that have high calorie and protein content. When the appetite is absent, should try to find one or two things that are tolerable and continue eating those until you can add other foods to your diet like liquid meal supplement to make up for nutrients not gotten in meals. Drinking of lots of fluids also helps especially when you aren’t eating well. Even though it is more pronounced in advanced mesothelioma, consultation of a medical professional should be made first before making any drastic dietary adjustments.
Topics: Mesothelioma nutrition therapy |