What happens to their digestive routine?
In: Biology
What is a body-weight ratio? Do you mean BMI? That’s been debunked as an indicator of health ([source](https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/index.html#:~:text=Body%20Mass%20Index%20(BMI)%20is,or%20health%20of%20an%20individual)).
The feeds a patient receives is meant to keep electrolytes, blood sugar, and protein at optimal levels to ensure healing and normal body processes can take place. Weight loss may occur due to periods of lack of nutrition, such as when we’re concerned for aspiration and may stop the feeds temporarily, or if access to deliver the feeds is difficult to obtain, lost for whatever reason, not aligned with patient or family wishes, etc. But we wouldn’t usually goal the patient to lose weight while comatose. They have other issues to deal with than whether they look “bikini ready”.
Hospitals give a caloric drip to provide patients with nutrients. As they are in medical care, they cannot “munch” like they would in regular life. Is it more “healthy”, eh, depends. Generally, they will be consuming less calories unless they eat like birds in regular life.
usually people who are sick loose weight. they generally aren’t healthier for it. loosing weight due to sickness is basically damage to your body. your muscles atrophy and you can get bedsores.
No. TPN is notoriously terrible for you. It is very inflammatory and can cause liver failure. We are not so great at replicating a healthy diet in an IV. They probably get thinner but it’s not a good thing.
Can they make your weight go up or down? Yes, usually. Are you actually healthier overall at the end of it all? Almost definitely not.
I have a pretty severe autoimmune disease. When it gets bad I start wasting, and develop a condition called Anemia from chronic disease.
I suspect you can see similar in comatose patients.
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