Proper nutrition and a healthy lifestyle help prevent tumors and are also important for people who have been diagnosed with cancer, as a proper diet can help relieve the symptoms caused by the disease and the side effects of treatments.
But what is proper nutrition for the cancer patient? In many cases, altered metabolism, caused by disease and side effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatments (nausea, stomatitis, altered taste and smell, etc.) do not promote a proper food intake leading to malnutrition which is a depletion of energy reserves, protein, of the body. In the oncology patient, undiagnosed malnutrition can seriously and in time compromise the smooth running of antitumor therapies and the final prognosis. In its severe forms, protein-caloric malnutrition must be considered a real disease that is associated with the tumor and significantly affects its prognosis, so much so, so that 20% of cancer patients die from problems strictly dependent on weight loss and not from tumor-specific reasons. It is scientifically proven that to a certain extent malnutrition can be prevented and reversible with adequate nutritional support.
Personalized diet in cancer, as well as a number of dietary supplements, have a special value given that nutritional status can influence the duration of the disease, the response to drug treatments, mortality.
A common problem in cancer patients is sarcopenia.
CANCER SARCOPENIA is a particular form, typical of the cancer patient, even young, which occurs especially if the disease affects the digestive tract (esophagus, stomach, pancreas) and the neck, head. In these patients, in fact, weight loss is more relevant due to both digestive disorders and symptoms affecting the diet, as well as metabolic changes induced by the disease itself: increased inflammatory cytokines, proteolysis (ie muscle mass degradation) and lipolysis (ie fat mass degradation). In these situations it often happens that patients are sarcopenic already at the time of diagnosis. Indeed, they often get diagnosed precisely because they have lost weight, are tired and are looking for the cause of this damage. Actually, more than 80% of patients with pancreatic or stomach cancer report significant weight loss at diagnosis. In cancer of the colon, esophagus and throat, the incidence of sarcopenia is 50-60%.
If you want a diet adapted to your type of cancer, our dietitians can help you. Fill in the form to know what type of cancer you have been diagnosed with, upload your medical letters and send them to our email address: info@evaprecisionnutrition
You will be contacted as soon as possible by a specialist.
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