Glossary
- Anorexia:
- Loss of appetite for food.
- Antiemetic:
- A drug used to control nausea and vomiting.
- Biological therapy:
- Sometimes called immunotherapy, this treatment uses the body's natural
defense system to destroy cancer cells.
- Calorie:
- Calories measure the energy your body gets from food. Your body needs
calories as "fuel" to perform all of its functions such as breathing,
circulating the blood, and physical activity. When you are sick, your body
may need extra calories to fight fever or other problems.
- Carbohydrate:
- One of the three nutrients that supply calories (energy) to the body.
Carbohydrates are needed for normal body function. There are two basic kinds
of carbohydrates: simple (sugars) and complex (starches and fiber).
- Chemotherapy:
- The use of anticancer drugs for treatment.
Chloride:
- A mineral the body needs for fluid balance and other essential functions.
- Dehydration:
- When the body loses too much water, severe diarrhea or vomiting can
cause dehydration.
- Diet:
- The food you eat each day, including both liquids and solids.
- Dietary fat:
- One of the three nutrients that supply calories (energy) to the body.
Fat also helps the body absorb certain vitamins. Small amounts of fat are
necessary for normal body function. Foods high in fat are also high in calories.
- Diuretics:
- Medication that helps the body get rid of water and salt.
- Dyspepsia/Indigestion:
- Upset stomach.
- Dysphagia:
- Difficulty in swallowing.
- Edema:
- The buildup of excess fluid within the tissues.
- Electrolytes:
- A general term for the minerals necessary to give the body the proper
fluid balance.
- Fortified:
- A food is fortified when extra nutrients are added.
- Glucose:
- A simple sugar occurring in some fruits and honey; the sugar found in
blood.
- Infection:
The illness produced when germs enter the body and overpower the
immune system. Infections can occur in any part of the body. They cause
a fever and other problems, depending on the site of the infection. Cancer
treatment can weaken the immune system, but good nutrition can strengthen
it.
- Intravenous IV:
- Into a vein.
- Lactose intolerance:
- The inability to digest lactose properly. Lactose is a sugar in milk.
After some types of surgery you may no longer be able to digest lactose
easily. This lactose intolerance may go away over time. There are special
milk products without lactose.
- Malnutrition:
- When the body receives too few of the essential nutrients.
- Minerals:
- Nutrients required by the body in small amounts such as iron, calcium,
and potassium.
- Nutrient:
- The form food takes after being broken down during digestion. The major
classes of nutrients that the body needs are proteins, minerals, fats, carbohydrates,
and vitamins.
- Nutrition:
- A three-part process that gives the body the nutrients it needs. First,
you eat or drink food. Second, the body breaks the food down into nutrients.
Third, the nutrients travel through the bloodstream to different parts of
the body where they are used as "fuel." To give your body proper
nutrition, you have to eat or drink enough of the foods that contain key
nutrients.
- Oral rehydration therapy:
- The use of specially formulated solutions to replace the water and other
essential minerals lost as a results of severe diarrhea or vomiting.
- Partial parenteral nutrition (PPN):
- When a person receives some of the nutrients he or she needs through
a needle in his or her vein.
- Potassium:
- A mineral the body needs for fluid balance and other essential functions.
- Protein:
- One of the three nutrients that supply calories (energy) to the body.
The protein we eat becomes a part of our muscle, bone, skin, and blood.
- Radiation therapy:
- A cancer treatment that uses x-rays to destroy the cancer. Also called
irradiation, radiotherapy, or x-ray therapy.
- Sodium:
- A mineral required by the body to keep body fluids in balance; too much
sodium can cause you to retain water.
- Total parenteral nutrition (TPN):
- When a person receives all the nutrients he or she needs through a needle
in his or her vein. TPN may be used when the mouth, the stomach, or the
bowel is sore from cancer treatment, or when a person is unable to eat solid
foods, such as right after surgery.
- Vitamins:
- Key nutrients that the body needs to grow and stay strong. The best
sources of vitamins such as vitamins A, B, and C, are fruits and vegetables.