How are you, stomach? A review of gastric cancer and nutritional care

Gastric cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors. Its morbidity and mortality rates are among the top three cancers. The onset is getting younger and younger. According to statistics, the youngest patient who died of gastric cancer was only 7 years old, and once discovered, it was in the late stage. So how do people get gastric cancer? In the absence of a good screening mechanism for gastric cancer, how should we fight against gastric cancer? What dietary and nutritional issues should gastric cancer patients pay attention to during treatment? Next, let's take you into the world of gastric cancer and see how and what gastric cancer patients should eat after surgery?

1. Understanding Gastric Cancer

Gastric Cancer Overview:

Gastric cancer, also known as gastric malignancy, is the fifth most common cancer and the third most deadly cancer in the world. Gastric cancer is usually divided into two categories: according to the location of occurrence, it can be divided into cardia cancer, gastric body cancer, gastric antrum cancer, etc.; according to the histological characteristics, common types include adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, lymphoma, etc.

Risk Factors and Symptoms of Stomach Cancer:

Gastric cancer does not develop overnight. Its incubation period is generally about 5-10 years. The cause of its development is related to many factors. Common risk factors include Helicobacter pylori infection, long-term irregular diet, high-salt diet, smoking, alcoholism, family history, etc. In addition, malnutrition, environmental factors and certain genetic diseases may also lead to the occurrence of gastric cancer.

Patients generally do not have obvious symptoms in the early stages of gastric cancer. They may have mild upper abdominal discomfort, pain, bloating, etc. As the disease progresses, patients may experience weight loss, loss of appetite, vomiting, difficulty swallowing, and even more serious symptoms such as gastric bleeding.

Diagnosis and treatment of gastric cancer

Early diagnosis of gastric cancer is crucial to improving treatment effectiveness. Currently, the commonly used methods for diagnosing gastric cancer include gastroscopy, biopsy, CT scan, X-ray gastrointestinal angiography, etc. Treatment methods include surgical resection, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy.

2. How should gastric cancer patients receive nutritional care during treatment?

1. Personalized Nutrition Assessment

Each patient's condition is unique, including the stage of disease, treatment plan, physical condition and nutritional needs. Therefore, medical staff will conduct a personalized assessment of each patient, including examination of weight, physical condition, biochemical indicators and dietary history, to develop a personalized diet plan.

2. Nutritional support

food:

Energy intake: Gastric cancer patients usually need a high-energy diet to maintain physical strength, promote recovery, and reduce muscle wasting. Doctors will set appropriate energy intake goals based on the patient's condition to ensure that the patient gets enough energy.

Protein intake: Protein is an essential nutrient for body repair and gastric cancer treatment. During the treatment of gastric cancer, patients need additional protein to help repair tissues, protect immune function and improve nutritional status. For example, fish, poultry, dairy products and soy products are all good sources of high-quality protein.

Maintain water and electrolyte balance: Gastric cancer patients may experience problems such as vomiting and diarrhea during the diet, leading to loss of water and electrolytes. In order to maintain the balance of water and electrolytes, they should focus on consuming enough water and electrolytes, such as sodium, potassium, and magnesium, in their diet.

Diverse diet: In order to meet the nutritional needs of patients, the diet should be as diverse as possible, including a balanced diet of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, healthy fats, etc., which can provide rich vitamins, minerals and fiber and enhance immune function.

Parenteral nutrition :*

Parenteral nutrition support refers to providing adequate nutrients to gastric cancer patients through non-oral routes, such as intravenous infusion or enteral stents. For some patients who cannot take in enough nutrients orally, parenteral nutrition support can provide the required nutrients and meet the body's needs, which is very important for patients to maintain physical strength and support treatment.

Enteral nutrition powder :

If the patient has started eating after gastric cancer surgery, taking easily digestible foods such as rice soup, rice porridge, noodles and egg custard, and is recovering well, the doctor may recommend that the patient add some oral nutritional supplements, that is, enteral nutrition powder. Enteral nutrition powder usually consists of high energy, high protein and comprehensive nutrients, and can provide nutritional support to patients through oral form.

3. Tips for preventing gastric cancer

1. Regular physical examinations: Regular physical examinations can help detect signs of early gastric cancer or gastric mucosal lesions;

2. Control your weight: Obesity is one of the risk factors for gastric cancer. Maintaining a proper weight can help reduce the risk of gastric cancer.

3. Infectious factors: If Helicobacter pylori infection is confirmed through scale screening, active bactericidal treatment should be carried out;

4. Optimize diet and lifestyle habits: avoid eating pickled foods for a long time, etc. High-risk groups with smoking and drinking habits should adjust their lifestyle as soon as possible.

In general, nutritional support for gastric cancer is crucial for the patient's recovery and treatment. A reasonable diet can help patients improve treatment effects, relieve adverse symptoms, and improve their quality of life to a certain extent. The above is only a personal opinion. Specific nutritional care should be adjusted according to the individual differences and treatment responses of the patients to obtain the best nutritional effect. (Di Panpan, Nursing Department, Shijiazhuang Maternal and Child Health Hospital)