Lung Cancer Nutrition Therapy
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Nutrition Therapy for Lung Cancer
A high percentage of lung cancer patients who come to Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) are malnourished. Malnutrition has a significant impact on both your ability to tolerate treatment and your quality of life.
In addition, many lung cancer patients experience shortness of breath, chronic coughing and mucus build-up, which may affect your ability or desire to eat. The result can be weight loss, malnutrition and significant fatigue.
Our cancer nutrition team is dedicated to helping you stay strong and nutritionally balanced so your lung cancer treatment is not interrupted. When you first arrive at our hospital, your dietitian will assess your nutritional status and develop a comprehensive nutrition plan, focused on your needs. The nutrition team works directly with our chefs, creating recipes and meals to incorporate the foods, herbs and spices that have been scientifically proven to be beneficial to people with cancer.
As part of your medical nutrition therapy program, your dietician will monitor your nutrition status closely to prevent malnutrition related to your lung cancer treatment. Your dietician may prescribe supplements and appetite stimulants, and suggest eating more frequent, high-calorie mealsor drinking oral supplements.
The nutritional therapy team also provides continued support through education, including programs and classes on topics such as cooking at home, finding specific foods in your area, and the relationship between a healthy diet and wellness. By teaching you good nutrition throughout your lung cancer treatment and beyond, we take the guesswork out of which foods to eat and which supplements to take.
Additional Nutrition Support for Lung Cancer
For lung cancer patients who are undergoing aggressive treatments and are not able to meet their nutrition needs orally, the nutrition therapy team will provide alternative options, including IV nutrition and feeding tubes.
In addition, cancer patients often need help controlling their sugars post-operatively, because stress can raise sugar levels. Steroids that are often used to reduce side effects of chemotherapy, such as nausea, can also raise sugars. Your nutritional therapy team will assist you in managing blood sugar levels throughout your lung cancer treatment.
An Integrated Approach
The nutritional therapy team communicates regularly with your oncologists and the other members of your lung cancer team.
All of our physicians', clinicians' and medical nutrition therapy teams' offices are conveniently located in the same building. Working together in close proximity allows for a fully integratedapproach to treating lung cancer. Your nutritionist is able to share any specific nutrition challenges with other members of your care team, such as your physical therapist and naturopathic clinician, and work together to find solutions that meet your individual needs.
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