St. Jude Children's Research Hospital dietitians help children with cancer maintain proper nutrition during treatment
Newswise — Treatments for childhood cancer and other pediatric catastrophic diseases can affect appetite. At St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, a team of dietitians work with patients to ensure proper nutritional care.
Treatment side effects can cause nausea, unusual allergies and mouth sores as well as changes to the sense of taste. Nutritional care that helps patients achieve normal growth and weight gain, and continue normal activities is important to overall well-being. Nutrition as a treatment can speed recovery and reduce the incidence of medical complications, thereby decreasing the number and duration of hospital stays as well as the need for medications and other treatments.
The St. Jude clinical nutrition team includes certified pediatric specialists, certified nutrition support specialists and international board-certified lactation consultants. These specialty dietitians have additional intensive training in pediatric nutrition, nutrition support such as alternative feedings by tube or vein, and lactation to support and protect breastfeeding in the sick infant. The dietitians routinely consult with other members of the medical team to determine the best course of nutritional therapy for patients receiving treatment.
In addition to working with patients, the clinical nutrition staff is involved in several studies aimed at understanding the long-term effects of treatment and the impact that treatment has upon nutrition status.
St. Jude Children’s Research HospitalSt. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is internationally recognized for its pioneering research and treatment of children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. Ranked the No. 1 pediatric cancer hospital by Parents magazine and the No. 1 children’s cancer hospital by U.S. News & World Report, St. Jude is the first and only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. St. Jude has treated children from all 50 states and from around the world, serving as a trusted resource for physicians and researchers. St. Jude has developed research protocols that helped push overall survival rates for childhood cancer from less than 20 percent when the hospital opened to almost 80 percent today. St. Jude is the national coordinating center for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium and the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study. In addition to pediatric cancer research, St. Jude is also a leader in sickle cell disease research and is a globally prominent research center for influenza.
Founded in 1962 by the late entertainer Danny Thomas, St. Jude freely shares its discoveries with scientific and medical communities around the world, publishing more research articles than any other pediatric cancer research center in the United States. St. Jude treats more than 5,700 patients each year and is the only pediatric cancer research center where families never pay for treatment not covered by insurance. St. Jude is financially supported by thousands of individual donors, organizations and corporations without which the hospital’s work would not be possible. In 2010, St. Jude was ranked the most trusted charity in the nation in a public survey conducted by Harris Interactive, a highly respected international polling and research firm. For more information, go to www.stjude.org.
Expert available:Ginger Carney is a registered dietitian and the director of Clinical Nutrition at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Carney, a widely respected author, editor, reviewer and lecturer on clinical nutrition topics, can discuss providing nutritional care to children with cancer and other pediatric catastrophic diseases.
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