The malnutrition treatment rate of cancer patients in my country is not high, and many patients do not receive nutritional treatment. In response to this situation, Wang Guiqi, director of the Endoscopy Department of Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, pointed out that radiotherapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy are important means of tumor treatment, but they are all passive treatments. Nutritional therapy or psychotherapy should also be used to actively improve immune function, kill tumor cells, and improve the longer-term survival of patients with malignant tumors. “To treat malnutrition, just like a surgeon needs a scalpel to perform an operation, it needs means and weapons. The effective weapon for treating malnutrition is special medical food.” Wang Guiqi said.
“The focus of prevention and treatment of malnutrition should be on the digestive tract. Esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, and pancreatic cancer are the three malignant tumors with the highest incidence of malnutrition.” Director of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Clinical Nutrition Shi Hanping, the director of the department, also emphasized that nutrition is the first-line treatment, and special medical food is an effective weapon for nutrition treatment. Hunger-free hospitals should be built to allow patients to receive a variety of treatments under good nutritional conditions during hospitalization.
“Among tumor patients or patients with chronic diseases, the proportion of malnourished people is high. Although special medical food has just started to develop in my country, the market demand is huge.” Executive Vice President of China Nutrition and Health Food Association Chang Li Liangqiu said that among the malnourished people in China, the proportion of people who use special medical food is low. The 2015 Food Safety Law identified formula food for special medical purposes as a type of special food. Given its food attributes and legal positioning, the demand for special medical food will become more and more strong, not only because of the rigid increase in the number of people, but also because of the With the improvement of living standards, people have not only the requirements for the length of life, but also the requirements for quality and dignity.
As of December 2021, a total of 81 FSMPs have been approved for the Chinese market. Li Liangqiu believes that with the standardization of policies, more scientific research investment and more products entering the market, everyone will gradually understand the special medical food, and the use of medical institutions will become more standardized, and the special medical food will surely usher in a 100 billion market.
How to make special medical food play a greater role in the treatment, prevention and rehabilitation of diseases? Shi Hanping suggested that, first of all, it is necessary to improve the understanding of nutrition, carry out popular science education, so that more patients and medical staff can understand the clinical efficacy of special medical food, and its value in improving the treatment effect, improving the quality of life and saving medical expenses. Nutritional therapy concerns. “We call on more companies to develop more and better products, and hope to learn to promote the academic value of food for special medical purposes. The government management department should also give more policy preference to the food industry for special medical purposes.”
New Beijing News reporter Wang Kara
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