NUTRITIONAL ASPECTS OF CANCER-RELATED FATIGUE

Fatigue, which may well be the most common experience of patients with cancer, remains underappreciated by health care professionals. Perhap s one reason is that because of its complexity and many components, fa tigue is not completely understood. Knowledge of fatigue models, such as the Integrated Fatigue Model of Piper, can help dietitians identify potential causes of fatigue such as activity-rest patterns, and ident ification can lead dietitians to early intervention. Understanding can cer treatment factors, such as nausea and decreased participation in a ctivities of daily living, that are believed to play a part in fatigue form another level on which dietitians can provide intervention. Thro ugh intervention, dietitians, working with patients and other members of the multidisciplinary team, may increase the understanding and appr eciation of fatigue as well as provide relief from it. Efforts to main tain nutritional status can decrease or prevent some of the fatigue as sociated with cancer and its treatment. Therefore, the goal of clinica l dietitians who work with a fatigued patient with cancer is to use nu trition management to minimize therapeutic side effects and maximize t he patient's nutritional parameters.