Oral feeding in the nutritional management of the cancer patient
De Wyes, W.D.; Herbst, S.H.
Cancer Research 37(7 Pt 2): 2429-2431
1977
ISSN/ISBN: 0008-5472 PMID: 266417 Document Number: 119476
Nutritional treatment of the cancer patient by mouth includes prevention of anorexia, attempts to modify eating behaviour and the offering of nutritional supplements to the patient. Anorectic factors for which specific techniques may be used include taste abnormalities, pain, nausea and depression. Modification of the patient's eating behaviour involves education, monitoring and feedback. Education includes nutritional instruction and instruction in favourable patterns for eating meals and stimulation of eating snacks. Eating snacks includes the use of nutritional supplements and acceptance by the patient of commercially available supplements was studied. When synthetic chemically defined nutritional products were compared with a milk-based product, patients preferred the milk-based product. Intercomparisons showed slight differences in preference between milk-based products and differences between patients and controls in their relative order of preference. Preference testing may be useful in helping the health care team to select the best nutritional supplement for each patient.