AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Nutritional changes

While nutrients from food help the body’s cells to renew and repair, oncology treatments can severely affect the way food is transported around the body and making it difficult to eat a wide variety of the right foods to meet nutritional needs.

With food digestion not as efficient, abdominal fullness, taste changes, constipation, vomiting, dry mouth and lack of appetite are common reasons for not eating after treatment begins. Blood glucose levels can also become elevated (hyperglycaemia or high blood sugar) because of the way the body manages blood sugars in response to illness and treatment.

When surgery directly affects the mouth or digestive system or treatment limits the ability to eat, your health care team which (which will include a dietician or nutritionist) will provide the right nutritional balance through supplements and intravenous feeding until you are well enough to eat easily. They will also work out ways to manage the digestive and food processing changes you experience.

In the United States research shows that 20 per cent of all cancer deaths after treatment are related to malnutrition and while the ability to eat will diminish in people who have a terminal illness, nourishing the body through artificial feeding is essential to prolong a good quality of life.