Refusal to eat on time. When you need to urgently contact a veterinary clinic

05.03.2020 -

Dialogue from a bearded joke:

I haven't eaten for four days...

So, you have to force yourself!

If you start typing the word “Hunger” into a search engine, the first reaction will be “Hunger strike...” and “Fasting according to Malakhov.” Indeed, hunger strike as a means of achieving one’s goals has firmly entered the political menu, and various tips on radical weight loss at home are given by singers and TV presenters. This post is an attempt, based on available sources, to analyze changes in the body of a long-term starving person.

History of the issue.

The human body can survive without food very for a long time, and centuries-old experience shows that a healthy adult is quite capable of the biblical forty-day fast. In 1920, the famous Irish revolutionary Terence MacSweeney, imprisoned in a British prison and on hunger strike, died only on the 74th day of complete fasting. In a Soviet prison, Anatoly Marchenko went on hunger strike for 117 days (he was force-fed), Cuban dissident Guillermo Fariñas went on a hunger strike for 134 days, and political prisoner Andrei Derevyankin in 1997 endured two dry hunger strikes lasting 10 days.

Experiments on treating obesity with hunger are widely known. The longest course of such treatment was endured by two patients of Dr. T. J. Thompson (Glasgow). One of them, a 30-year-old woman who weighed 127.5 kg before treatment, did not eat anything for 236 days and after that weighed 83.5 kg; another, 54-year-old, had not eaten for 249 days and lost weight from 128 to 94 kg.

There is probably a contradiction in these facts. As will be shown below, such a long fast is both pointless and, apparently, impossible. The English term “ate no food” does not give an idea of the experimental procedure. Perhaps it was carried out in a multi-stage manner, alternating periods of complete abstinence from food (20-30 days) with periods of limited nutrition of the same duration, which gives significantly better results.

However, people who voluntarily give up food are motivated not only by concern for political ideals and waist size.

In the seventies in Moscow, in one of the departments of the 68th hospital, there was a clinic where they treated with hunger according to the famous method of Professor Yu. S. Nikolaev. By the mid-80s, there were similar hospitals in 50 cities of the USSR, including 8 in Moscow, 10 in Leningrad, as well as in Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Omsk...What was treated there? Almost everything. WITH light hand From a famous Swiss doctor, a dashing expression went around the world: “What cannot be cured by hunger cannot be cured by anything.” Let's be realistic: if the spine is broken or a person has contracted AIDS, it is useless to abstain from food. And yet, how can one not remember that in Ancient Egypt, even sexually transmitted diseases seemed to be successfully treated with hunger.

Here are specific case histories taken from specialist publications.
“Patient S, 24 years old, dressmaker. She was admitted to the clinic with complaints of frequent seizures. bronchial asthma(up to 8 times a day)....Intensive drug therapy had no effect. A course of fasting-dietary therapy (RDT) was carried out. Remission of bronchial asthma for two years.”
“Patient S, 52 years old. Duodenal ulcer for 13 years.... Over the last year I have been on sick leave 120 days, of which 90 are in the hospital. In 15 days therapeutic fasting the ulcer has healed completely. It's been 14 years. The disease does not recur."

Stubborn medical statistics claim that positive results obtained in the fasting treatment of numerous metabolic diseases, hypertension, acute articular rheumatism, arthritis, osteochondrosis, neuroses, impotence, coronary disease, various disorders in the activity of the kidneys, liver and biliary tract, numerous pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract, medicinal and food allergies and even a fair number skin diseases. In the 50s, Yu. S. Nikolaev began treating patients with schizophrenia with hunger.

Panacea? Not at all. You cannot go on a hunger strike if you have pulmonary tuberculosis. acute stage, many endocrine diseases, malignant tumors and leukemia, cirrhosis of the liver and kidneys, organic lesions of the nervous system, in diseases where urgent surgical intervention. Treatment is also interrupted in case of cardiac arrhythmia, persistent vomiting, and jaundice. RDT is contraindicated for pregnant women, nursing mothers, and people with severe degrees of malnutrition. There are no age restrictions - all ages are subject to fasting. And most importantly - no self-medication, everything is under the supervision of a doctor.

What happens in the body of a fasting person?

The naked eye can see that a person is losing weight. During 50 days of experimental fasting, with free access to water, approximately a third of the weight is lost. This is not scary: the consequences are irreversible if the proteins of vital organs begin to disintegrate.

Alas, death often awaits not 50 days, but much earlier: people die not from exhaustion, but due to self-poisoning with tissue decay products. Decay products are carried away not only by intestinal lavage - doctors recommend long, but not exhausting walks in the air. It is not for nothing that some foreign clinics discharge starving patients if they are able, but do not want to walk for at least three hours a day.

Physiologists often write: they say, in our body fats are up to carbon dioxide and the waters burn in the flame of carbohydrates. And during fasting, the body loses carbohydrates in a matter of days, and therefore fats are oxidized only to intermediate products - substances of the ketone series: acetone, acetoacetic and beta-hydroxybutyric acids. During this period of fasting, called acidosis, a person smells of acetone. Depending on individual characteristics, the maximum concentration of ketone bodies in the blood occurs on the 6-12th day of fasting. These days there may be a bad mood, lethargy, headaches.

With the end of acidosis, the level of ketone bodies in the blood drops, and more advanced metabolic mechanisms are activated. After seven to nine days of abstaining from food, so-called spontaneous gastric secretion appears. It contains a lot of proteins and enzymes. With RDT, this secretion becomes food: it decomposes into its component parts and is absorbed into the blood. It turns out that a person eats himself. The phagocytic activity of leukocytes becomes such that the body gets rid of “extra” tissues and diseased cells. Experts call this beneficial process autolysis. It is this substance that rejuvenates and cleanses the body, and physiologically active compounds are formed from “extra” tissues. But the body does not squander everything it gets - the heart and brain retain their mass for a very long time.

The antithesis of this process is that weight loss slows down significantly. If in the first days the fasting person loses 1.5-2 kg per day, now only 0.2-0.3 kg.

Here is the accounting of a starving body: it covers 82% of its energy needs by consuming adipose tissue, 15% by proteins, 3% of costs come from carbohydrates. The body saves on everything: it reduces the level of metabolism and arterial pressure, slows down breathing and pulse, constricts peripheral blood vessels to reduce heat transfer. But people still feel cold: after all, heat generation has decreased and body temperature has dropped.

Appetite disappears around the third day of fasting. The tongue is covered with white or gray plaque. A cesspool reigns in your mouth. You have to brush your teeth several times a day. There's no need to be upset - that's all good signs, indicating that hunger has begun to do its noble work. On the contrary, a clean or slightly coated tongue indicates that toxins are poorly washed out of the body.

Sometimes the lips and mouth become incredibly dry, and even cracks appear on the lips. Salvation is water. When the intestines are empty, it does not require water, and you need to drink it a liter a day so that the kidneys are not damaged.

Many amateur fasters drink spring water, Borjomi or Narzan instead of ordinary water. And this is precisely what cannot be done: salts retain water in the tissues, and along with it they retain toxins. Only in the initial period of RDT, during acidosis, if lethargy or weakness bothers you, is it permissible to swallow an alkaline mineral water like Borjomi or add a little baking soda to ordinary water.

Smoking can cause a lot of trouble. When smoking while fasting, collapse may develop with a sharp drop in cardiac activity or a disorder of consciousness with motor agitation due to brain hypoxia. The craving for tobacco subsides somewhere on the 10-11th day of hunger, when the acidosis ends and the revaluation of values begins.
In general, after acidosis you look at the world a little differently. Smells become very important sensors of information. And all this with general inhibition, a slower reaction to the environment.

Snoring stops after three days of fasting - but there is no perfection in the world - it usually returns on the 3-4th day of recovery.

In general, abstaining from food is quite easy, at least easier than going out of hunger, but there are still some things to be wary of. For example, you should not quickly get out of bed with an empty stomach - you may faint. There are also sore throats: the tonsils are not cleansed by food, but lysozyme, which disinfects the mouth, salivary glands Every third person produces less and less. With a peptic ulcer, bleeding may occur during acidosis or at the beginning of the recovery period.

Taking any medications is contraindicated, since the body's reactivity has increased by an order of magnitude.

Recovery.

A way out of hunger recovery period RDT is usually half as long as the fasting time. Two days - juices (only freshly squeezed, carrot, beet, apple, grape, tomato). I'm sure they will seem very tasty to people who haven't eaten for three weeks.

The fierce appetite at this time is explained by the body switching from endogenous, internal nutrition to normal, external nutrition. These days you should stick to a predominantly bed lifestyle.

Next - a tomato plus an apple - and that's all for the day! Grated carrots or cucumbers and boiled beets are acceptable. You get full very quickly (although not for long). Next - vegetarian cabbage soup, buckwheat(without salt!). From the fifth day - kefir, from the seventh - bread. Sour cream, cottage cheese and butter are removed on the 10th day of recovery. This is how you gradually return to your normal diet.

The main enemy is salt, which causes swelling. One must forget about this white poison for the same number of days as the famine lasted. Another white poison, sugar, is also useless during recovery. From the fifth day, you can use honey instead. Nothing fried is allowed.

When hunger is dealt with incorrectly, tragedies happen. For example, a certain Italian, after a long hunger, immediately ate several plates of pasta and found himself in a cemetery. In Moscow, it was difficult to save a man who began his escape by eating a bowl of rich soup with meat broth. And in the Caucasus, a woman died who decided that her intestines, weaned from food, could cope with medlar fruits full of small seeds. A volvulus occurred in someone who, instead of juices, resorted to canned green peas - they contain a lot of proteins...

Alas, the brutal appetite rages not for a day or two, but for about three weeks. And the weight comes back at the same rate as it fell. Therefore, for those who want to lose extra pounds, it would be a good idea to think about whether the game is worth the candle: will they gain even more weight? Will they be able to strictly follow medical recommendations? In parting, the clinic advises many to adhere to a dairy-vegetable diet, arrange a weekly fasting day on which only to drink juices, and, without hesitation, resort to a longer refusal of food when the first signs appear. former illness, say, an asthma attack.

The great benefits cannot be underestimated vegetable oils, which contain a lot of polyunsaturated acids that help convert cholesterol into soluble forms. That is why sunflower, olive, cottonseed and other oils strengthen the walls of blood vessels, improve their elasticity, acting as powerful anti-sclerotic agents. And, of course, movement, movement and movement...

You can't do without chemistry. Glucose is fuel for the brain.

One of the most important needs of the body is the need for energy necessary for the most important life processes. Typically, the main source of energy, the main biological fuel, is glucose, and its primary consumer is the brain, for which glucose is no less important than oxygen. A drop in blood sugar causes behavioral disturbances, delirium, loss of consciousness and ultimately structural brain damage leading to death.

The human brain needs 100-145 g of glucose per day. In the body, glucose is stored mainly in the liver, in the form of animal starch - glycogen. Its reserves here are much less than 100 g, and part of them, moreover, under normal circumstances is not available for use. Thus, glycogen stores in the liver can supply the brain with glucose for just a few hours. The glucose supply is not enough even from breakfast to lunch. Therefore, the liver begins to synthesize glucose from other substances contained in the tissues of the body. Free ones appear in the blood fatty acid, formed by the breakdown of fats and capable of supplying energy to many tissues of the body, with the exception of the nervous system and brain.

In the first days of fasting, the body of a person weighing 65 kg synthesizes about 160 g of glucose per day. Most of it is formed in the liver. The associated loss of protein and a noticeable loss of mineral salts cause the body to lose water—this mainly explains the weight loss in the first stage of fasting. With further fasting, various general factors come to the aid of the body. The basal metabolism slows down; in addition, the overall energy requirement is reduced due to a decrease in the mass of metabolically active tissues. A fasting person becomes less active, more economical in spending energy, and strives to perform all actions with the least possible expenditure of energy.

However, all these factors are only of secondary importance: they reduce energy costs, but do not remove the question of its source. A starving organism now faces two seemingly incompatible tasks. On the one hand, the brain still requires energy equivalent to at least 100 g of glucose per day; but on the other hand, at such a rate of synthesis of glucose from proteins, their reserves necessary for life will quickly be depleted.

To meet all of its glucose needs, the body would have to process about 155 grams of muscle protein per day, which means a loss of 25 grams of nitrogen. The adult human body contains about 1000 g of nitrogen, and losing more than half of this amount is fatal. Therefore, with such protein consumption, a starving person could live no more than three weeks. The raw material for glucose synthesis could be triglycerides from adipose tissue, but they can only provide about 16 g of glucose per day.

After several weeks of fasting, an increasing portion of the weight loss comes from body fat intake. The specific energy content in fats is about 9 cal/g, an order of magnitude higher than in proteins and carbohydrates. That's what it is main reason that with continued fasting, weight loss slows down. Eventually, the body's fats begin to cover almost all of its energy needs.

Hunger - forced and voluntary.

What useful conclusions can we draw from understanding physiological functions starving body?

First of all, we can try to give some recommendations in case of catastrophic situations when food supplies are extremely limited. Of course, having at least a little food is better than having none at all. However, surprisingly, starvation can occur if a person tries to maintain life on a diet consisting mainly of carbohydrates and deficient in protein even faster than with complete starvation.

V.B. Gurvich organized several experimental hunger hikes in the mid-80s. The first of them simulated an emergency situation: 11 practically healthy people walked 408 km on an empty stomach, thereby proving that it is possible to get out of any forest. Then there was a kayak trip, when hungry people swam 530 km in 15 days along a shallow winding river. Then a medical and health-improving trip took place, in which 18 people with various ailments took part.

What about the various special weight loss diets that have become popular? Most of them, especially the most extravagant ones, have no scientific basis. From a purely biochemical point of view, the most effective method weight loss is a complete fast to the point where body fat is consumed as the main source of energy for the brain and other tissues. However, prolonged complete fasting can be dangerous, especially if you have concomitant diseases. Obviously, no one should, on their own initiative, be treated for obesity (and for other diseases - of course!) by fasting without a preliminary medical examination, hospitalization and constant medical supervision.

Be healthy!

Based on materials from the magazines "Scientific America" and "Chemistry and Life"

What people are not prepared to do to lose weight! Some people torture themselves with diets, some buy expensive (but in most cases absolutely useless) “fat burning” pills, some don’t leave the massage parlor, and there are others who simply pump out fat on the surgeon’s table. But a little time passes, and the weight returns again. And then those losing weight decide to take the most serious step - they refuse to eat. How much weight can you lose if you don’t eat, and is it worth making such sacrifices?

Everyone knows that you can die from hunger. A person can survive only a few weeks without food, and last days he will remain practically unconscious. Therefore, for an unprepared person, a 24-day fasting marathon, which some people who are losing weight go to, desperate to lose excess weight in other ways, it is like death. In any case, serious health problems definitely cannot be avoided, especially if you have chronic diseases.

Do you know what happens in the body when the supply of nutrients from outside stops? It begins to switch to internal power. But this process takes place over several days. Moreover, the body resists it, and the brain is busy only searching for food. The feeling of hunger increases every day, and if you give in to it, you can eat three times more than usual. By the way, this is how most people recover from fasting.

But if you don’t eat anything and heroically endure hunger, then about 3-4 days you will experience sharp deterioration well-being, manifested in:

severe dizziness;
attacks of nausea;
darkening of urine;
causeless mood swings;
the formation of a dense coating on the tongue;
strong acetone odor from the mouth.

This is an acidotic crisis, which indicates that the breakdown of adipose tissue has begun. When it breaks down, acetone and fatty acids are formed.

Until this point, the body's nutrition comes from other sources. First it tries to save energy by sharply slowing down metabolic processes. And then it begins to use muscle tissue, which is easier to break down than fat.

The conclusions are simple: by giving up food for a day or two, you will unload your digestive system, clean out your intestines, but will not get rid of fat reserves, even if you fast every other day. But muscle may get hurt. As a result, the body will become even looser, and its volume will remain virtually unchanged.

Types of fasting

A way to give up food to lose weight is to eat! Proper fasting is really beneficial for the body and gives excellent results. But it requires compliance with certain rules and strict control over one’s condition. If you are constantly overeating on “bad things”, and then you simply stop eating or (even worse!) start eating once a day - don’t expect anything good! Therefore, it is worth learning about the basic rules of different types of fasting.

A short

A fast of up to three days is considered short. It is relatively safe and can be performed even by untrained people. Although there is one rule that applies to all types of fasting: breaking out of it takes the same number of days as you managed to do without food. This is necessary in order to smoothly “turn on” the digestive system to normal mode.

Any fasting involves complete abstinence from food. That is, a person drinks only water or green (herbal tea). You have to be careful with herbs - even the safest ones cannot be consumed in unlimited quantities. Juices are food, not drink. During fasting, the ban also applies to them.

Surviving daily fasting is relatively easy if you are actively engaged in everyday activities, and not lying on the couch and waiting for the time to open the refrigerator.

Here are a few rules that will help make this period easier:

remove all food items from sight;
plan the day in advance so that it is all busy;
cancel all important meetings and intense workouts;
find motivation that is meaningful to you and remember it when hunger arises;
imagine not how tomorrow you will be able to eat to your heart's content, but how beautiful your body becomes.

Try to find like-minded people. Fasting together is much more fun, and then you can compare the results. After completing your fast, eat only light and healthy foods for at least a day: vegetables, fruits, low-fat cottage cheese.

Or you can spend the day out on fruit and vegetable juices. This will saturate the body with vitamins and microelements and give the digestive system another day of rest.

Long

Fasting longer than three days is called long. This is what gives the body enough time to reach its own fat reserves. But if you constantly eat a lot, and then suddenly decide to give up food completely, then in 90% of cases you will fail. Only a few have such willpower to resist severe attacks of hunger and terrible health.

Indeed, how to lose weight if you want to eat all the time and can’t think about anything else? Daily fasting can be done at home, but for three or more days you will still have to go outside, go to work, and there are a lot of temptations there. Therefore, nutritionists recommend switching to long-term fasting only after you have completed at least 2-3 short ones.

To prevent the body from experiencing extreme stress, it must be prepared to refuse food. If you eat less, starting 2-3 days before a long fast, the transition will be smoother and less painful. Although the majority do exactly the opposite - they try to eat enough for the future, so that at least on the first day they do not suffer from hunger.

Don't try to complete all three days on the first try. If your health worsens sharply, switch to juices and gradually come out of fasting. Slowly things will get better, and next time you will last longer without food.

In general, it is very important not to force the body. Fasting should be a pleasant relief, not mental and physical torture.

Dry

Dry fasting is the most effective, but most severe way of cleansing and unloading the body. During it, it is forbidden not only to eat, but also to drink. Therefore, it is strictly not recommended to carry it out in the hot season - this can cause severe dehydration and overload the heart.

During dry fasting, the process of switching to internal nutrition occurs much faster and begins already on day 2-3. Therefore, burning fat in this way is quite possible.

But it cannot be carried out often - it is too much stress for the body. The way out of dry fasting should be a day on liquid food (juices or pureed soups). It is strictly prohibited for people with gastrointestinal diseases.

Strict diets

A more common way to lose weight if you constantly want to eat is to limit the amount you eat or involve an extremely meager set of foods. Sugar is first on the forbidden list. And this is not surprising - it breaks down easily and does not contain any useful substances, pure calories only.

Those who want to really lose weight will have to give up:

meat sausages and semi-finished products;
preserves, pickles and marinades;
baking and confectionery products;
fatty meats and fish;
anything that is fried in oil;
any alcoholic beverages;
sweet soda and packaged juices.

Even if you introduce only these restrictions into your diet, and eat other foods in small portions 5-6 times a day, it is possible to lose up to 3-4 kilograms per month without any hunger strikes.

But everyone wants it faster! That's why most resort to help different types strict diets. We will tell you about the features of the most popular ones to make it easier for you to decide whether to lose weight this way.

Low calorie

On the one hand, this is the most enjoyable diet, since there is a lot allowed in it. In the mildest version, you can eat everything (even harmful things), but you will have to scrupulously calculate what you eat. But a person who is far from dietetics is not always able to do this correctly. Of course, detailed tables of calorie content of foods and ready-made meals from the Internet will come to the rescue. But food must be weighed, everything carefully recorded and constantly counted.

Given that the basal metabolic rate of an adult is approximately 1200 kcal (resting energy expenditure), low-calorie diets limit the daily intake to 900, and sometimes 600 kcal.

If you eat little, this is also fasting, which does not give rest to the digestive system and does not trigger the process of transition to internal nutrition, since food still comes from outside. Whether it is worth torturing yourself in this way - decide for yourself.

No carbohydrates

The question of whether it is possible to lose weight if you don’t eat sweets is purely rhetorical. Those who want to lose excess fat should give up sweets first of all. Sugar is pure carbohydrates that charge the batteries in our body. But fast carbohydrates are found not only in sugar. Their main sources are:

There are also slow carbohydrates, which are gradually consumed by our body and do not lead to rapid weight gain. Strict prohibits the consumption of any carbohydrates. And this is bad - the body is left without the main source of energy. And since it does not immediately reach fat reserves, protein is used.

On such diets it goes away muscle mass, not fat. But if you exclude only sugar and fast carbohydrates from your diet, weight loss will be quite active.

Vegetarianism: yes or no?

People often ask whether it is possible to lose weight if you don’t eat meat. And as an example they cite adherents of a vegetarian diet, among whom fat people are extremely rare. A complete abstinence from meat deprives the body of essential amino acids necessary for building muscle fibers. Once again, it is the muscles that suffer, not the fat.

If you are serious about becoming a vegetarian, you simply need to learn the basics of nutrition. Then you can create a diet that will completely compensate for the lack of animal protein and vitamin B12, which is also mainly obtained from animal food.

For those who do not want to delve too deeply into studying the principles healthy eating, we advise you not to go to extremes, but leave it on the menu at least 2-3 times a week:

beef and veal;
a rabbit;
poultry breast without skin;
any seafood;
sea fish.

This diet will allow you to eat well and lose weight by 3-4 kilograms per month. Of course, provided that the portions are moderate.

What to do?

As you can see, the question of how to stop eating completely is extremely incorrect. An unreasonable refusal to eat will not add beauty to either your skin or your figure. And if you want to include fasting in your weight loss program as a way to effectively cleanse the body, you need to do this correctly and after competent psychological preparation.

Many people are concerned about another problem - how to give up sweets. This is quite easy to do, using the principle of substitution popular among nutritionists: sugar with honey, sweets with dried fruits, etc. Gradually, the body will get used to it, and the sight of the cake will no longer be so attractive.

Remember also that if you eat too little, the weight will come off very slowly. Therefore, the calorie content of the diet should be thoughtful. Reviews from those who have lost 20 kg or more confirm the correctness of the statement that there is no more correct way than healthy image life and good quality nutrition. So maybe that's enough experimentation?

Here are a few phrases that you can use to divert attention from yourself and not provoke the anger of your owners:

No thanks, I'm saving room for another dish.
I can't wait to try another dish!
I feel bad about such and such an ingredient, so I’d better abstain.
It looks very tasty, but I still want to eat what's on my plate.
I'm so full that I can't fit another bite! Thanks for a great lunch!
I'll leave that for a second pass! (And then “forget” to serve yourself this dish or say that you are too full.)

Speak in a cheerful, cheerful tone and smile. And try to quickly pass the plate with the unpleasant dish to your neighbor.

Try just a little

If the hosts won't give in or you feel obligated, try taking a small portion of the unpleasant dish. Instead of saying “no,” put just a little on your plate. This way you will show respect to the one who prepared it. Of course, taking one piece or one drop of sauce would be strange, but you can take one or two spoons.

If you don’t like the dish at all, but still want to finish the portion, try to eat it with something tasty. Or season it generously with sauce.

Be kind at the end.

Don't be rude, even if you don't like some dishes at all. When your hosts ask how you liked that particular (disliked) dish, focus on the positive side and shift the conversation to what you liked. For example:

Dinner was excellent! Thank you for inviting me.
Oh, I liked it best... It was very tasty. But I never succeed.
I'm impressed with how carefully you planned dinner. Above all praise!

Just don't mention the dish you didn't like and say you liked it, thanking the owners for their efforts.

she hasn't eaten for days

I don’t know what to do in this situation.

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A patient with dementia refuses to eat... What to do?

Often, those caring for relatives with dementia complain about their lack of appetite, and the reason for this phenomenon is the nature of the disease. However, you can use some tricks to feed an elderly person.

First of all, it is necessary to remember that often, due to disorders in the brain, a person loses the ability to smell, while losing interest in food. In this case, the solution may be the presence of a sick person in the kitchen while preparing food. After all, the smells during cooking are much richer than the food on the plate, which may well become a convincing motive to eat something, even just a little.

If the patient agrees to try, then he needs to be offered food in small portions, because large portions can cause fear and rejection in a person with no appetite.

The choice of food also needs to be approached with some caution. In our case, the favorite dishes of the sick person or those that are similar in taste and smell are best suited. Simple food, without frills and frills, as well as food eaten with your hands, will also serve as a good solution.

As a rule, a person with a poor appetite rarely comes to dessert. Then you can serve it first, while “hiding” some healthy food in it. For example, you could offer a pie with a slice of avocado, an excellent source of healthy fats and fiber, or beans.

Most importantly, despite being overly busy, and caregivers of patients with dementia always have enough to worry about, keep them company to a loved one during meals, because many older people, even healthy ones, do not like to eat alone.

By the way, poor appetite may be explained by the presence pain or other health problems. Perhaps consulting a doctor will solve this problem.

From my experience, I concluded that my father was refusing to eat: 1) psychosis (after increasing and adjusting the antipsychotic medication, he began to eat) 2) something hurts (after identifying the cause and starting to treat, he gradually began to eat). We had no other reasons. , because I cook in front of him and after 5 minutes he forgot that he was in the kitchen and we all eat together. Everyone has their own conclusions - it will be interesting to know

The mother-in-law does not like the smell of cooking, and even though she is already lying down, she still recognizes smells. When I offer it to eat, my nose wrinkles from the food. I like the smell of a milkshake with cocoa and drink it with pleasure. And in general, she loves very sweet things and it’s easier to feed her sweets; she opens her mouth on her own, no need to ask. Well, if you have an attack of psychosis, it doesn’t matter, your mouth closes tightly, medications help. And I have long noticed that immediately after sleep it is easier to feed, but as soon as she is fully awake, the whim begins.

My mother practically didn’t eat for a week and a half and drank little, but now she’s turned on, eats normally, and if she continues to feed, there’s no brake. I feed little by little, otherwise oh.

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What to do if older people flatly refuse medical care?

What to do if they flatly refuse medical help?

You need to think not about your own, but about their comfort. They will leave anyway, the question is how? And will they be comfortable?

In general, to begin with, I advise you to talk to your doctor yourself, without mom or dad. Describe your symptoms and problems to him and listen to what he has to say. For what? In order to correctly assess the situation. Because you still have to make the decision.

There are only two options - either force them by hook or by crook, or let the situation go. To understand, you need to talk to your doctor. And only then act.

Here are two simple postulates.

First. We want them to live COMFORTably during the time they are destined to live.

And secondly, we want our parents to be with us LONGER.

Unfortunately, sometimes these two postulates, to put it more accurately, come into conflict with one another. Well, that is, longer means that this time will not be comfortable. And comfort and the absence of suffering often means that it won’t work out longer.

Actually, this is what you need to think about after you have talked with your doctor.

If, for example, old man If he is of sound mind and consciously decides to refuse doctors, and you know that he will spend the remaining time, no matter how much, in relative comfort, then it is better not to argue.

But if refusal from doctors leads to the fact that a person will suffer for the rest of his time, then he needs to be persuaded by hook or by crook to get treatment.

The opposite is true, by the way. One of my friends had a very elderly father who was tired of living. Really, I'm tired of it and that's it. He drank heavily. Well, he began to die. My friend took him to the hospital, to the best doctors. As a result, my father spent a month and a half in intensive care; they tormented him terribly, trying to save him. As a result, the person left anyway, but through such torment that I don’t even want to talk about.

It seems to me that when deciding whether to force old people to undergo treatment or not, we often think about our own comfort, about not blaming ourselves later and so that we can definitely say - we did everything we could, but what can you do!

And you need to think not about your own, but about their comfort. They will leave anyway, the question is how? And will they be comfortable? It is precisely on this basis that the issue needs to be resolved.

I can tell you about cases of this and that.

Aviva, for example, told me: “I have melanoma. I don’t want to treat her, I don’t take pills, I don’t want doctors. They also prescribed some kind of analysis for me, but I’m telling you that I know it myself. I have lived a wonderful life in all its senses, I know how and where it ends and I don’t want to spoil it at the end.”

So she left as she wanted. Well, almost as I wanted.

Here's another, opposite example. Miriam. And she's a former nurse. She didn’t see a doctor in time, at first she developed seemingly insignificant symptoms, and due to her own sloppiness, she’s still been living with a tube in her trachea for almost a year now. It hurts a lot.

One wonders where her many children and now adult grandchildren were looking.

How is Oleg Grigoriev doing? “The goal of life is to die without suffering / The formula is very capacious / And at the same time simple.” Remember? What should we hide from ourselves and hide our sins, these are such golden words. Especially at a very mature age.

For example, I recently overheard the following conversation between two old women on a bench:

I am not afraid of death, but I am afraid of torment before it!

What are you saying, do you think you’re the only one here?!

Look, in our house for Lately five died in their sleep!

At this point I couldn’t resist and jumped in:

Yes, there would be no lights out,” my interlocutors immediately agreed with me.

What to do if an elderly person refuses to eat?

And persuasion practically does not help.

First of all, you need to show your relative to the doctor, establish the reason for refusing food. With many diseases, there is no appetite. Give him what he liked to eat most before, I did this with my grandfather, at first he ate, then when he refused completely food. They invited a doctor, she gave injections and drips, this extended my grandfather’s life for some time (my grandfather had oncology).

If an elderly person has eaten a few spoons of porridge and then refuses to eat, this is even more or less the norm. If he completely refuses to eat food, this is already serious problem. On the one hand, older people eat less than an average healthy person. However, even an elderly person was and remains a person and he needs to maintain strength (at his age).

You can talk to your doctor and administer nutrient solutions through an IV, but this is not a solution. An elderly person must voluntarily eat food. But feeding by force is not an option. In general, it’s good that you are (have) asked this question - it means the health of an elderly person is important to you (And you are not one of those who will leave an elderly person to die alone on a bed).

P.S: Perhaps you have run out of energy, you want to “leave” quickly - your grandfather or grandmother is not eating. Which is sad.

P.S.S: There are several here and here useful tips regarding your question.

If an elderly person is relatively healthy, then you should not force anything on him, let him not eat, sooner or later he will ask for it. In general, it is difficult to give advice when you do not know the situation and age. Elderly people can refuse food for the most various reasons. Some people develop dementia with mental disorders with age; such old people are very suspicious and may refuse food for fear of poisoning. Another option is other diseases, ranging from the gastrointestinal tract to more severe ones, in which there is no appetite at all. Here it is necessary to treat the underlying disease. Or maybe this elderly person is offended or upset about something and that’s why he doesn’t eat? In any case, I can only advise you to cook and serve what he likes most. My mother (89 years old) had dementia, once she didn’t eat at all for 4 days, at least she drank compote. I was very worried and didn’t know what to do, but then she herself asked for food.

I agree with the majority about going to the doctor and offering something tasty. But what if even then the elderly person refuses to eat? This means that his Soul is preparing to meet Eternity. And he needs help preparing for this meeting. For this purpose, three Sacraments are used: Confession, Communion and Unction. The Sacrament of Confession cleanses the soul from sins and the Sacrament of Unction from forgotten sins. You invite a priest, he confesses or conducts unction, and then gives communion to your elderly person. You can receive communion in this state once a month or so, you can discuss this with the priest. Invite a conscientious priest, now there is a choice. And this is the most important and important thing that can be done for a person and his soul. By the way, after the Sacrament of Unction a person can recover in an unexpected way.

There are several options. 1. something hurts him, he doesn’t want to talk (possibly for various reasons). 2. He doesn't trust you. This is possible, a person is physically decrepit, which means he won’t be able to hit him in the neck for an insult, and he can no longer cook food for himself. There is a feeling of uselessness in this society (the term senile depression). To understand and accept this, try to imagine yourself in his place. Perhaps you once, due to fatigue, somehow responded sharply, or did something else that was not quite right. For a person “in power” this will not matter, but for a helpless person everything turns black.

This is apathy or simply no appetite due to poor health. For example, with acute pancreatitis you don’t feel like eating at all.

If you refuse once, let him not eat. Offer some water.

If it’s constant, it’s better to act in several directions at once:

show to the doctor
choose something tasty that will be difficult to refuse
and after eating something delicious, offer something light and gentle that won’t cause any pain. Bouillon, mashed potatoes. Appetite comes with eating, and the chances of getting fed increase.

These may be signs of illness, when you don’t want to eat anything, lethargy and weakness sets in. It could be apathy, a bad mood, perhaps an elderly person was offended in some way; at that age people get offended very quickly. This could also be an exacerbation of gastritis or ulcers, then food can cause an attack of pain. In this case, it is best to eat crackers with tea or chicken broth.

The only thing I can suggest is to simply put the food in front of the person. It is better to make chicken soup, it is very good for the stomach. Maybe a person has a favorite dish, then you need to prepare it and offer it to him. Invite a doctor, I think that the doctor is an authority for him. If a person can walk, then he needs walks and Fresh air, because he will get hungry.

It is difficult to do something here - people in old age very often refuse to eat, drink, and lose weight. We have to give them what they ask for. You always have to convince them, find a reason for them to eat. I think that there is no universal method for all people; there should be an individual approach to everyone.

When our grandmother refused to eat, we persuaded her to at least drink milk. And some liquid vitamins were added to the milk. I don't remember the name anymore.

You can also try feeding him something without a strong smell. Often, when a person is sick, he becomes very sensitive to smell.

You should not force an old person to eat. Perhaps he has stomach pain from eating or, if he is lying down, he is afraid that he will need to go to the toilet in a big way, and he does not want to ask you for help again to change his diapers.

Refusal to eat in old age

1) temporary (as a kind of pause)

2) I don’t want to upset you, but maybe the person is already getting ready. another world. Understand that 86 years is a considerable age. Alas, it happens that an old person, to a large extent, completes earthly affairs as planned.

Sorry, of course, but it's true. It happens

And understand that this is better than a person being seriously ill in more early age, suffers for many years, and barely lives to be 86 or 68 years old

Refusal to eat (elderly)

Or rather, he can’t eat anything. Who came across it? He can't eat for a month, even more. After the operation, we thought he would get better and have an appetite, but unfortunately no. She seems to want to eat, I bring her what she wants and she seems to eat the spoon and then she can’t. They put in IVs, a bunch of medications, injections. Well, the yellowness is going away, gradually... and it’s good that it’s going away. It was like a lemon. They look at the ultrasound every day. In addition to the stones in gallbladder and there are problems with the intestines... He lives on IV drips. What else could it be? due to bile in the body? or inflammation... Grandma doesn’t want to talk, probably doesn’t want to upset... The doctor says get ready for anything... that there may be complications..

Doesn't she have cancer?

No. There were gallstones in large quantities. The bile then apparently went further and she was yellow, her eyes were yellow. The chair is a completely different color, I don’t want to go into details. And my intestines are bad, but they are silent, they don’t tell me. They prescribe large quantities of droppers and medications... They've been dripping it for the third week... and she's been walking around with a tube after the operation. But apparently there's something else in the intestines.

Well, a friend of ours also had gallstones in her gall bladder for a long time after the operation, she was treated and recovered, I didn’t remember much about eating and lost a lot of weight, now you can’t tell from her how the hog has become and is running around. Get treatment, get better and get stronger. Good luck and patience to you

So everything will be fine). I also assumed that the treatment would take a long time. Thank you.

We bought these cocktails for my grandmother for post-operative patients. They are rich and good for a drinker.

So she couldn’t eat before the operation.

You will buy her such cocktails. They are for weakened patients, for those after surgery and who are fed through a tube. Take a couple to try.

She basically can’t eat, she vomits from eating..

Like there are special baby formulas for such patients, they gave us grandfather in the hospital... you can buy them yourself.

I don’t know if we have it. I'll ask.

depending on the exact diagnosis, unfortunately, my mother was unable to eat before leaving and could barely swallow water, but she had an oncological operation before that. If you just have something different in your health, then it’s just post-operative waste and, especially, bile It's still a serious disease.

Damn... Before the operation I couldn’t eat. That's why I insisted on going to the hospital. I'll go ask her again what else she has. Maybe I’ll find some information on the net... With her, even if she can eat more than one spoon, she vomits. He also can’t drink water, two sips at most.

This intoxication is possible

After the operation there is always no appetite and they lose a lot of weight

Yes, into the blood... Before the operation I couldn’t eat either. Well, maybe after the IVs, when everything is cleaned, it will be better.

How long did it take to recover from illness?

Died 2 weeks later

But it turned out he had cancer in his gallbladder

My aunt had this, but she had oncology... She couldn’t eat... She actually died in a month from hunger, because she didn’t take any food, from pain

Wow, it’s good that it’s not oncology. Yes, I heard that many people die from this problem... we have a distant relative or friend, in general, it doesn’t matter, she also died from oncology... but there was cancer and they also did an operation, it didn’t save..

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What to do if an elderly person refuses to eat?

My grandmother recently stopped eating. We all tried to persuade her, but to no avail.

How can I persuade her to eat again?

Alexander Borovitsky, Tomsk.

Refusal to eat in older people is a fairly common situation. Usually older people refuse to eat due to simple mistrust. It all depends on who is offering the food. If the person is not very close, then most likely the person will not accept the food.

In this case, feeding should be entrusted to a closer relative or friend whom the elderly person trusts. In such situations, it is very important to establish contact with the person who refuses and explain the consequences of refusing food and water.

If no amount of persuasion or requests help, then it is worth moving on to more radical measures. You will need to call a doctor in order for the doctor to prescribe psychotropic drugs, neutralizing nervous disorders.

It is likely that if an elderly person refuses to eat, this may be a symptom of a mental disorder or simple depression. Usually, after taking such drugs, patients themselves ask for food the very next day.

If relatives are sure that the lack of appetite is caused by aging of the body, and not mental disorders, then it is recommended to administer 4–8 units of insulin. This drug stimulates appetite.

If after this the elderly person refuses food and water, then it is worth administering 20 to 40 milliliters of glucose intravenously to maintain the person’s vital functions.

Psychologists say that it is impossible to force feed. This main mistake. We need to look for the reason. It is likely that the person is in pain, so he does not want to eat.

The main diseases that are characterized by lack of appetite are:

If the cause is illness, then it is worth taking care of treatment or pain relief for the symptoms of the disease.

If, however, the elderly person does not eat for 2–3 days, then solutions will need to be administered. parenteral nutrition: “Aminoven”, “Glutargin”, “Infezol”, “Nutriflex”.

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How often does it happen that our pets behave strangely? In this article we will list the most common symptoms, the sight of which should show the “tail” to the doctor as soon as possible.

We will provide general recommendations. But remember that each animal is individual. Therefore, you should not accept this advice as the only correct one. If something in your pet's behavior makes you wary, please consult a doctor immediately!

Lethargy

It manifests itself in the refusal active games, reluctance to run to the bowl during feeding or to meet you after work. These signs may indicate that your pet has an illness, which only a veterinarian can determine.

Lethargy may be a sign of:

viral infection;
gastrointestinal disorders;
intestinal obstruction, presence foreign body;
intoxication (food, household chemicals, due to poisoning or other diseases);
limb pain or internal organs.

Refusal to eat

Our pets may not want to eat for various reasons. A one-time refusal to eat may well be due to behavioral reasons. But a long-term refusal is a reason to go to the doctor as soon as possible.

Refusal to eat may indicate...

diseases oral cavity, including those of viral origin;
intoxication caused by other diseases, eating chemical substances or any food products;
intestinal obstruction or the presence of a foreign body.

Distended abdomen, repeated vomiting, excessive gas

If you notice your pet vomiting repeatedly after eating leftover food or vomiting that does not depend on meals, as well as a sharply distended belly like a ball and gas formation, you should immediately show the animal to the doctor. All of these conditions are extremely dangerous and pose a serious threat to health.

These symptoms may indicate...

acute dilatation of the stomach;
acute urinary retention;
poisoning (intoxication);
intestinal obstruction, presence of a foreign body.

Droplets of blood or other substance

The emissions themselves do not pose a danger. Much more dangerous are the processes that lead to the separation of fluid (blood or pus) from the anus or cat or other animal. You should consult a doctor especially quickly if you also experience lethargy, refusal to eat, bowel movements or vomiting.

Signs of what disease this could be:

purulent inflammations, tumors genitourinary system in bitches (vaginitis, endometritis, pyometritis);
internal bleeding, organ ruptures due to injuries;
any inflammation that has space with fluids (pus, lymph, etc.);
blockage of the perianal glands.

Discharges from bad smell should immediately alert you!

The animal hunches over or takes other unnatural poses

Sometimes our pets behave strangely: they lie down, sit down or stand in an unnatural position. A hunched back or vice versa, pressing your stomach to the floor, stretching your neck or the inability to raise it and other body positions that look unusual are a reason to urgently consult a doctor!

All of the above is literally a cry for help, because such pronounced, unnatural postures indicate severe pain!

These symptoms may be caused by:

soreness of the joints, limbs or internal organs;
soreness of the abdomen or other organ.

Increased breathing movements, shortness of breath

A sudden increase in breathing (without prior physical overload) indicates a violation of the lungs. It may also indicate heart failure. In this case, it is especially important to pay attention to the color of the mucous membranes (tongue and lips). If they are pale or have a bluish tint, run to the doctor!

Heart and respiratory failure are extremely dangerous pathologies!

The pet is showing aggression vocalization (shouting)

Animals experiencing pain can express it in this way. If your pet suddenly begins to “raise his voice,” he is most likely in a lot of pain.

This behavior may indicate...

injury;
urinary retention;
neurological disease.

Tension in the toilet

Pets may loudly alert you to go to the toilet or scream while urinating. These are signals that they are experiencing pain. For diseases of the genitourinary system, consulting a doctor as quickly as possible is the best option!

Possible reasons:

acute urinary retention;
urolithiasis disease;
foreign object, obstruction of the gastrointestinal tract.

The animal sits, stands and for a long time looks at the wall, rests his head on it

Such behavior indicates disturbances in the functioning of the nervous system or pain resulting from a traumatic brain injury.

Eye injuries

Often eye injuries are a reason to visit a doctor as soon as possible. The eye quickly loses its functions, and therefore timely intervention by a specialist can literally preserve the pet’s ability to see.

This article is a kind of cheat sheet for animal owners. We ask you to remember that our beloved “tails” are living beings, and their ailments cannot be controlled by any rules. Every pet and every disease is different. However, remember that your delay can aggravate the condition and sometimes lead to the death of your pet. Please watch your pet carefully and do not let him get sick!

Refusal to eat on time. When you need to urgently contact a veterinary clinic

Types of fasting

A short

Long

Dry

Strict diets

Low calorie

No carbohydrates

Vegetarianism: yes or no?

What to do?

Try just a little

Be kind at the end.

A patient with dementia refuses to eat... What to do?

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What to do if older people flatly refuse medical care?

What to do if they flatly refuse medical help?

In general, to begin with, I advise you to talk to your doctor yourself, without mom or dad. Describe your symptoms and problems to him and listen to what he has to say. For what? In order to correctly assess the situation. Because you still have to make the decision.

What to do if an elderly person refuses to eat?

Refusal to eat in old age

Refusal to eat (elderly)

Mom won't miss

What to do if an elderly person refuses to eat?

Lethargy

Refusal to eat

Distended abdomen, repeated vomiting, excessive gas

Droplets of blood or other substance

The animal hunches over or takes other unnatural poses

Increased breathing movements, shortness of breath

The pet is showing aggression vocalization (shouting)

Tension in the toilet

The animal sits, stands and for a long time looks at the wall, rests his head on it

Eye injuries

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