Anorexia and nutrition

This chapter considers all the patient's symptoms and all the information available to doctors and assesses the symptoms, signs and information given using this to choose the appropriate remedies for the problem, and offers extra information where available and appropriate. Patients can find anorexia depressing, and for the family it can be very distressing trying to provide adequate nutrition for a patient who has no interest in food. In advanced disease, it may not be realistic to achieve a significant improvement in the patient's nutritional state. Seek advice from a specialist nutritional support nurse or dietitian. Emphasise the importance of an adequate fluid intake even if the patient is unable to manage a 'balanced' diet. Some patients, especially those suffering from oesophageal or oropharyngeal cancer, may require enteral feeding. Many will be fed via a gastrostomy tube and will require the input of a nutrition nurse specialist, but they can often be managed at home.