Malnutrition among patients in Irish Hospitals is costing the health service €2.8 billion. 

A study released today shows over 222,000 have serious nutritional issues as a result of cancer or chronic diseases.

Dr Niamh Rice from The Irish Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism said patients with disease-related malnutrition take longer to recover and spend more time in hospital.  

“You can’t cope with periods of semi-starvation or reduced intake when you’re ill,” she said. 

“You quickly lose function; your body doesn’t function in the normal way and it just can’t mount an immune response as effectively. 

“So, you end up in hospital more frequently, you stay there longer, you get more complications - simply because you’re unable to retain your nutritional status.” 

The problem has become significantly more widespread in recent years and the number of cases has increased by 59% since 2012. 

“It affects anyone with a chronic disease that is interfering with their ability to eat or their appetite - and that can happen very quickly,” Dr Rice said. 

“I think anybody would understand; they certainly know about cancer patients and the relationship between cancer and weight loss. 

“But there are other diseases that interfere with appetite.” 

The study estimates that the cost of treating malnutrition has doubled since 2012.

Main image: A doctor holding stethoscope. Picture by: Alamy.com