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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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How To Treat Weight Loss And Appetite Loss When Diagnosed With Liver Cirrhosis?

My father aged 61 is suffering from liver cirrhosis for last 6 months. Doctor says that he is on scale 5 between the scale of 0-10. In last 3 months he has lost drastic weight. Avg weight loss is 2kgs a month. He feels very fragile and his appetite is also very low. Please suggest what do we do now. Regards Rashmi
posted on Fri, 7 Aug 2015
Twitter Wed, 2 Sep 2015 Answered on
Twitter Wed, 2 Sep 2015 Last reviewed on
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General & Family Physician,  's  Response
Hi Rashmi,
Welcome to HCM.
It is unfortunate to note that your father has landed up in cirrhosis of liver.
It is a liver disorder which is associated with weight loss. It also decreases appetite, which will add on to his weight loss.
Since in this condition, albumin is not synthesised in the liver, there is a severe protein deficiency.
To increase his appetite, you can give him digestive enzyme syrup preparations. For diet, give him easily digestible simple carbohydrate rich sift diet.
You should provide protein supplements in powder form with milk daily along with white portion of boiled egg. This will supplement protein and help him to gain weight.
Take care to also provide multivitamin and mineral capsules regularly.
If he is a smoker and alcoholic, he needs to stop it completely as it will worsen his condition.
Hope the information provided would be useful.
Take care and All the best.
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How To Treat Weight Loss And Appetite Loss When Diagnosed With Liver Cirrhosis?

Hi Rashmi, Welcome to HCM. It is unfortunate to note that your father has landed up in cirrhosis of liver. It is a liver disorder which is associated with weight loss. It also decreases appetite, which will add on to his weight loss. Since in this condition, albumin is not synthesised in the liver, there is a severe protein deficiency. To increase his appetite, you can give him digestive enzyme syrup preparations. For diet, give him easily digestible simple carbohydrate rich sift diet. You should provide protein supplements in powder form with milk daily along with white portion of boiled egg. This will supplement protein and help him to gain weight. Take care to also provide multivitamin and mineral capsules regularly. If he is a smoker and alcoholic, he needs to stop it completely as it will worsen his condition. Hope the information provided would be useful. Take care and All the best.