Many chest patients 'malnourished'

Many hospital patients require extra nourishment

More than four in 10 patients attending chest clinics at a London hospital could be chronically undernourished, say researchers.

This could severely hamper their ability to cope with and recover from lung disease.

The research study, from St Thomas' Hospital in South London, checked only a small number of patients, using a recognised questionnaire test for malnutrition.

However, 27 out of the 66 were undernourished.

This is broadly in line with other studies which found four in ten elderly people admitted to hospital were suffering from malnutrition.

Being underweight or malnourished is thought to have a harmful effect on the immune system. It makes it harder for such patients to fight off serious chest infections such as pneumonia.

It costs the NHS many thousands of pounds and blocks a bed every time a patient has to spend longer in hospital recovering it costs the NHS.

In total, it has been estimated to cost the health service £220m a year.

The government has conceded that hospital food is in many cases either not appealing or not sufficiently nutritious to help patients maintain weight, or even put weight back on.

Celebrity food writer Loyd Grossman has been recruited by the NHS to help redesign menus.

Dr John Harvey, from the British Thoracic Society, said: "An improved nutritional status may lead to a better quality of life for chronic respiratory patients.

"Healthcare professionals must not ignore this important aspect in the health of their patients - and work with dieticians to develop eeffective treatment."

Research dietician Elizabeth Weekes, from St Thomas', who carried out the research, said: "Our evaluation has revealed the scale of nutritional problems in lung disease patients - it was based on just one respiratory clinic and could be evidence of a much wider issue across the country."