As you may know, keeping a healthy weight and proper nutrition is essential to living a healthy lifestyle. This doesn’t just apply to losing excess weight, but it also applies to avoiding malnutrition and making sure you don’t lose too much weight. However, getting proper nutrition can be one of the most challenging parts of battling oral cancer.
Weight loss can start during the early days of oral cancer, as dramatic weight loss is one of the symptoms doctors should watch out for to identify oral cancer. The weight loss can continue during cancer treatment, because studies show that oral cancer can make it difficult to chew and swallow after surgery or radiotherapy. During cancer treatment, your body also needs extra nutrition to strengthen its damaged cells and to preserve regular functions. In fact, oral cancer’s mortality rate is higher when patients fail to get proper nutrition.
The unfortunate truth is that oral cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancer, not because it is difficult to treat, but because it is often diagnosed too late. It is a dentist’s responsibility to recognize the warning signs of oral cancer and examine their patients if they are at risk for the disease.
Oral cancer patients can do a couple of things to help them in their battle with the disease. First, they should undertake a diet of foods rich in vitamins and nutrients. The Oral Cancer Foundation suggests fruits, grains, lean meat, and low-fat dairy. Second, they can also seek compensation if they are victims of dental malpractice.
Failure to recognize oral cancer can be a form of dental negligence that you can receive compensation for. Attorney Dane Levy has had experience with dental malpractice cases involving oral cancer, dental implant nerve injury, infections, and more. Contact him at the Levy Law Firm today for more information.