Our most important medical test device for cancer patients – the scale.

Sometimes in my practice, the nursing assistants would forget to take a patient’s temperature or even their pulse or blood pressure. But one test they never failed to do was to weigh the patient. Nothing better indicated a patient’s clinical status than his/her weight. If their weight was stable, then they were successfully holding off the cancer. If the weight went up, perhaps they were winning the battle. But if their weight went down, it was time to worry. Of course many will say that it is the chemotherapy that is making the patients shed pounds. Not true, except for some really harsh protocols. In fact, when we started giving chemotherapy to otherwise healthy women recently operated on for breast cancer, their biggest problem was weight gain. Almost always, when a cancer patient is constantly losing weight and doesn’t have anything interfering with eating, it is because the cancer is advancing. The problem is called cancer cachexia. Although as you would expect, some of the lost weight is due to fat loss, even more important is the loss of muscle mass. Needless to say, this weight loss distresses both the patient and their family. Much of my time in talking to patients and their families was in discussing eating – what to eat – my answer – anything. There are a huge number of studies trying to figure out why this weight loss happens, but there have been no clear answers. Some of it is caused by poor appetite, but even patients who seem to be eating enough...
Source: Dr.Kattlove's Cancer Blog - Category: Oncologists Source Type: blogs