More than half of the colorectal cancer survivors reported unavailability of the post-recovery nutritional to advise. They also reported a lack of dietary guidance during the treatment even for stoma patients.
These patients were surveyed to estimate the problems related to their dietary habits. The majority of them said that they have no idea about which food is healthy for them and which is not. They also reported a change in their appetite and how senses of taste and smell change after recovery.
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Due to the unavailability of post-recovery nutritional advice, colorectal cancer patients often rely on online information. It includes guidelines shared by major cancer charity websites such as Macmillan Cancer Support. The new study highlighted the unavailability of resourceful information and the need for individual care to prevent diet-related problems. The complete study findings are published in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics.
Dr. Bernard Corfe from the University of Sheffield is the lead investigator and author of this study. According to him, colorectal cancer survivors are in dire need of specialized post-recovery dietary advice because their bowel and colon are already damaged by cancer. Even after beating it, they need to make certain changes in their diet as well as lifestyle particularly those patients who are using a stoma bag.
Without nutritional advice from experts, it is hard to live a normal life even after recovering from cancer. The only option left for these colorectal cancer survivors is to search for online guidelines but having so much misinformation on cancer, it is easy to fall for unverified sources posting dietary guide that isn’t accurate.
All this suggests that these survivors need dietary advice from the reputed and reliable sources and if it is coming from a nutritionist directly, for every individual patient, this is the best solution.
The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), UK shares dietary guidelines for the colorectal cancer survivors on how to manage their bowel function, what to eat, and care for patients carrying a permanent or temporary stoma bag.
Usually, the dietary guidelines during chemotherapy are the same for everyone. But individual advice for every patient, coming from a nutritionist is more helpful and desirable. The nutritional guideline can be made for every stage i.e. before treatment starts, during treatment, and after ending the treatment.
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Different charity organizations for cancer i.e. Bowel Cancer UK are already trying to help the cancer survivors by publishing the online guidelines and booklets. But these guidelines are generic and may not be sufficient for every person.
Some of these patients don’t even realize that they won’t be able to eat the same foods after recovering from cancer that they were eating before. It may not look like lots of people but thousands of people who are living with colorectal cancer or are recovered from it are actually in thousands. It is necessary that all of them receive good advice on healthy eating or else they may end up at hospitals again.
