Nutritional Assessment Tools for the Identification of Malnutrition and Nutritional Risk Associated with Cancer Treatment.

Malnutrition and muscle wasting are common features of cancer cachexia that may interfere with the patient's response to cancer treatment, survival, and quality of life. An accurate nutritional screening at the time of diagnosis and throughout the patient's treatment fosters better control of the disease. Several screening tools have proven to be useful for this purpose. Nevertheless, nutritional evaluation is not a routine practice in this clinical setting and procedures must be standardized. Nutritional risk screening (NRS), malnutrition screening tool (MST), and patient-generated subjective global assessment (PG-SGA) are the most common screening tools, and each one possesses some benefits when screening patients for malnutrition; however, weight loss over a specific time period, dietary intake and anorexia must also be considered. The body mass index-adjusted weight loss grading system predicts survival. We recommend the application of MST or NRS, followed by PG-SGA, food intake determination, measurement of body weight, and its changes as well as body composition, biochemical nutritional markers, muscle function, and physical performance.

Nutritional support in the treatment of chronic hepatic encephalopathy.

The prevalence of under nutrition in cirrhotic patients is 61% and it usually progresses as the disease becomes more advanced. The deterioration in the nutritional status and its associated metabolic derangements has raised doubts about the benefits of severe and prolonged protein restriction as a treatment for hepatic encephalopathy. However, the practice of dietary protein restriction for patients with liver cirrhosis is deeply embedded among medical practitioners and dietitians. To date, no solid conclusions may be drawn about the benefit of protein restriction. However, the negative effects of protein restriction are clear, that is, increased protein catabolism, the release of amino acids from the muscle, and possible worsening of hepatic encephalopathy. In conclusion, chronic protein restriction causes progressive and harmful protein depletion and must be avoided.