Nutrition for Wasting Syndrome of HIV Patients

For a patient diagnosed with HIV wasting syndrome it is very difficult to maintain advised nutritional intake. First of all because of repetitive nausea and diarrhea one may feel better not to eat at all than suffer such outcomes, also many medications and treatments are really strict about the times and portions a patient may eat. Some drugs may react with the food causing undesirable side effects, thus the patients must be educated about exact times they may eat and certain types of foods to avoid.

According to New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute the advised (2004) “proportion of macronutrients should approximate 50% to 55% carbohydrates, 15% to 20% protein, and 30% fat.” If comparing to a non-HIV patient recommended American diet the protein proportion is higher because of the lean body mass loss the patients with HIV Wasting Syndrome suffer from.  

Also “clinicians should recommend the use of “once daily” multivitamin supplements containing selenium (20-40 mcg) for all HIV-infected patients experiencing weight loss” (New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute the advised, 2004).

Patients diagnosed with wasting syndrome of HIV should eat multiple small portions throughout the day. Due to vomiting and diarrhea associated to wasting syndrome, patients are recommended to maintain high caloric diet with more protein than a healthy person would need. Reasons to that are because of diarrhea and vomiting the body isn’t able to absorb the amount of nutrients needed resulting in malnutrition. The consequences are also one will not absorb enough vitamins needed to keep the body in good working condition.

In summary, patients with Wasting Syndrome of HIV should maintain their high caloric intake by eating small meals throughout the day. They should eat more protein then healthy people are recommended, and take multivitamins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute. (2004). General Nutrition, Weight Loss, and Wasting Syndrome. HIV Clinical Resource. Retrieved from http://www.hivguidelines.org/clinical-guidelines/adults/general-nutrition-weight-loss-and-wasting-syndrome/