I work for CW doctors and sometimes their advice makes me cringe page

[RobinNM]

I do medical transcription remotely for oncologists. I just finished a report that seriously had me cringing. It was for a moderately overweight female patient who is recovering from the treatment for acute myeloid leukemia and has the symptoms of fatigue and lack of appetite. Patient has recently lost 11 pounds but claims that she is eating the same.

The nurse practitioner counseled the patient that not eating is not a good way to lose weight because she will continue to feel fatigue but then counsels the patient to use Boost or Ensure in addition to possibly protein powders. She actually used the words Boost and Ensure in the same sentence as healthy eating.

They recommend Boost or Ensure quite frequently and have also recommended Carnation Instant Breakfast on more than one occasion.

These are really good, well-respected oncologists, too. It just makes me sad that they are so smart about one aspect, but not about the nutrition part of it.

[healthy11]

Ugh... so sad

[solstice]

I think it's common for most docs to recommend Ensure to cancer patients...I agree, it makes me cringe too.

[RobinNM]

I think it is common, Solstice, but it's just so sad. The occasional report I've seen from the nutritionist on staff has also advocated the use of supplements like that. CW at its finest.

[healthy11]

It's devastating because the right nutrition could be the key to these patients survival and they're drinking Ensure. It just makes me sick. It's just hard to believe that we live in such a time that this is the norm and that it's considered the right practice... the right advice.

[jojohaligo]

It's amazing that they don't know about bone broth. Oh yah...I forgot...it's not marketed by a pharmaceutical company.

[BratKat]

I work in a pharmacy and patient's come in occasionally asking where to find the Ensure for themselves are a family member because the doctor recommended it. The pharmacist and I discourage them from purchasing it and show them the ingredient list of total crap, then recommend something like greek yogurt or even ice cream if the are lactose tolerant and non-diabetic. Seriously, do the doctors that recommend this crap have any idea what is in it? Would they even care?

[RobinNM]

I think jojohaligo has it right in that the greek yogurt, etc., is not marketed by Big Pharma so it's not going to be recommended. I'm not usually one for conspiracy-type theories (if this even qualifies) but I really believe that the propaganda that Big Pharma has been pushing for years has become so entrenched in CW that typical doctors are unable to move away from it.

[Moochy]

These are really good, well-respected oncologists, too. It just makes me sad that they are so smart about one aspect, but not about the nutrition part of it.

Being clever does not make you wise.

[Sabine]

Nix on Ensure and Boost as well, but this is the part that caught my attention:

The patient is losing weight while eating the same.
The NP tells her 'not eating is not a good way to lose weight', completely disregarding what the patient is telling her: that she is eating the same.
Obviously something besides calories is going on.

How about investigating that?
But it is so much easier to assume that the patient is lying or 'just doesn't know'.
While this may be the case, is it something to assume?
How about starting with the idea that the patient will tell her NP the truth. After all, she's there for help, right?