Diet and nutrition
Learn to manage your diet and nutrition during pancreatic cancer treatment at the Jreissati Pancreatic Centre at Epworth.
If you have pancreatic cancer, the chances are that you will also experience issues with your diet and nutrition. Fixing these issues is important because it can improve treatment outcomes and quality of life. At the Jreissati Pancreatic Centre at Epworth, patients will be able to work directly with one of our experienced dietitians.
Patient education video | Epworth dietitian explains nutrition and pancreatic cancer
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How does pancreatic cancer affect diet and nutrition?
Pancreatic cancer and its treatment can cause your pancreas to stop working properly. This can result in not being able to digest your food properly or absorb nutrients from your food. This can cause you to experience the following symptoms:
- nausea and vomiting
- diarrhoea
- no appetite
- changes in taste and smell
- mouth sores
- changes in bowel habits
- dry mouth
- problems chewing and swallowing
- heartburn or indigestion
- fatigue
- starting to feel full fast (early satiety)
It is important to learn how to manage your symptoms to keep you in good health and prevent weight loss. Losing weight can impact the effectiveness of your treatment and draw out your recovery.
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Does diabetes affect diet and nutrition?
Diabetes is a condition where your body can’t balance glucose levels correctly. If left untreated, diabetes can cause serious long and short term health complications. Common symptoms of diabetes include:- feeling more thirsty than usual
- blurred vision
- feeling tired and lethargic
- leg cramps
- dizziness
- sudden loss of weight
- increased need to urinate
Diabetes is very manageable, even if you have pancreatic cancer. You can control diabetes through diet, tablets or having insulin injections. Your multidisciplinary team will be able to advise you on the best course of action based on your needs.