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Malnutrition

What is it? | Symptoms | Tests | Treatments | Related Pages

Treatments

Treatment of under nutrition includes:

  • Restoring the nutrients that are missing, making nutrient-rich foods available and providing supplements for specific deficiencies. Formal nutritional support may be required i.e. oral nutritional supplements, enteral feeding or parenteral nutrition. In someone who is severely malnourished, this must be done slowly until the body has had time to adjust to the increased intake and then maintained at a higher than normal level until a normal or near normal weight has been achieved.
  • Regular monitoring of those patients who have chronic malabsorption disorders or protein- or nutrient-losing conditions. Once the deficiencies have been addressed, putting a treatment plan into place is needed to prevent the malnutrition from recurring.
  • Addressing any social, psychological, educational, and financial issues that may be causing or exacerbating the malnutrition, such as access to nutritious food.

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