More dietitians needed for cancer patients, says UCC study
A third of cancer patients with weight loss aren't getting any nutritional care.
A major study by the Irish Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism along with UCC has found they were never seen by a dietitian.
It highlights a major gap in cancer care which can lead to higher risks of complications and reduced survival.
Nutritional Sciences Lecturer in UCC Aoife Ryan says there aren't enough dieticians:
"36% reported that they had experienced weight loss at some point in their cancer journey
"Things like fatigue is impacted by weight loss and also we know that they live for a much shorter amount of time than patients who are weight stable," she said.
"It's a combination of (things). People are not aware of the dangers of losing weight on an involuntary basis during treatment.
"(There are) not enough dietitians employed to be able to deal with the vast number of patients are affected by this."