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Nutritional Support in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

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Nutrition in Neurologic Disorders

Abstract

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating, degenerative disorder of the motor neurons, causing weakness and wasting of muscles controlling limb movement, speech, swallowing, and breathing. Malnutrition and weight loss occur frequently and are associated with increased morbidity, disability, and mortality. The main causes of malnutrition are driven by a combination of disease consequences, including suboptimal oral intake, muscle atrophy, and hypermetabolism. The nutritional care of patients is a crucial element of disease management. During the early stages of ALS, monitoring of nutritional status, assessment of swallowing, dietary advice, food fortification, and provision of oral nutrition support are all key aspects of nutritional management. With disease progression, gastrostomy feeding becomes necessary for many patients to help maintain their nutritional status. This chapter presents the current practice and evidence on the effectiveness of nutritional interventions on key outcomes such as survival, disease course, and nutritional status.

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  1. Department of Neuroscience, Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

    Theocharis Stavroulakis & Christopher J. McDermott

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  1. Theocharis Stavroulakis
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  2. Christopher J. McDermott
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Correspondence to Christopher J. McDermott .

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  1. Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey

    Ethem Murat Arsava

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Stavroulakis, T., McDermott, C.J. (2017). Nutritional Support in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. In: Arsava, E. (eds) Nutrition in Neurologic Disorders. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53171-7_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53171-7_6

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