Experts pointed out two causes that cancer patients quickly “exhausted” easily died, not because of disease

Soha.vn – For cancers, when infected, it will make the body’s metabolism increase, if the patient has to intervene or use drugs, the ability to absorb nutrients will decrease. “Double burden” from eating Dr. Nguyen Duc Minh, Former Deputy Head of Scientific Management Division, National Institute of Nutrition said that the current issue of nutrition in Vietnam is of great concern. In low-income areas, children suffer from malnutrition due to lack of muscle-building matter, bone formation, micronutrients … When there is a lack of nutrients such as iodine, anemia, vitamin A will greatly affect the activities of the child’s body, immunity, growth … In places with high-income levels such as urban areas, the obesity rate increases rapidly. As a result, chronic non-communicable diseases related to dietary nutrition also appeared, for example, heart disease, blood pressure, diabetes, gout, blood fat, osteoporosis, cancer…. “Vietnam is under a double burden of disease due to its unbalanced diet“, said Dr. Minh. 2 reasons that cancer patients die easily. According to Dr. Minh, nutrition plays an important role for a living organism. Nutrition is even more important for cancer patients. For cancers, when infected, it will increase the metabolism of the whole body. But the ability to absorb and digest if the patient has to intervene with drugs will decrease. “When suffering from cancer, there is a large rate of patients dying from exhaustion. The second cause of death is cancer patients not responding to treatment because their health (condition) is not enough to withstand the treatment regimen. Both of these causes are related to the patient’s diet. For pediatric cancer patients, nutrition plays a huge role. Because the child is still at a developing age, the lack of nutrition will leave more serious consequences. Research by Unicef shows that about 40% of malnutrition in developed countries usually occurs after a child’s illness: usually, acute respiratory illness, infection, diarrhea … Disease makes children malnourished, stunted and difficult to recover in the future”, said Dr. Minh.

Dr. Nguyen Duc Minh shared the role of nutrition for cancer patients.

According to Dr. Minh, nowadays, there are many trends of eating methods to treat cancer in the world. For example, dieting, eating sesame salt, brown rice, starving cancer cells … are methods that have not been endorsed and recognized by modern medicine. Modern nutrition has proved that what helps normal cells to grow, helps cancer cells too. But in cancer itself, when there are cancer cells, the body will always struggle to fight “foreign” cells from invading. Doctor Minh said that if a cancer patient eats like a normal person, it will lead to malnutrition. Therefore, cancer patients will need a special diet. For example, the diet needs to include unsaturated fatty acids, protein enhancement, and slightly reduced carbohydrates. The diet of cancer patients will have to change the ratio of fat, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, milk. “Cancer scene is almost like an infection. That means the body is in a state of” fighting “against cancer cells. Cancer patients will also develop oxytocin reactions, just like inflammatory reactions occur in cancer patients. Thus, in addition to treatment, a lot of nutrients will be needed to support the ongoing biochemical process in the patient’s body” said Dr. Minh. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Minh Dien, Director of the Vietnam National Children’s Hospital, said that currently at the Vietnam National Children’s Hospital, there are about 50 pediatric inpatient treatments and about 50-60 pediatric outpatient treatments. The clinic still welcomes outpatient examination and treatment for more than 100 pediatric patients. Currently, the treatment of pediatric cancer in the hospital is not only interested in diagnosis and treatment with drugs but also mental treatment for pediatric patients. According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Minh Dien, nutrition for cancer is related to many problems of treatment. In cancer treatment, nutrition plays a very important role in increasing the effectiveness of treatment. On the morning of April 28, the Central Children’s Hospital, the VinaCapital Foundation, and Nutricare launched a nutrition program for pediatric cancer patients at the hospital from April to December 2021. This activity is part of the Nutriticare social responsibility program “Million glasses of milk for the community”.