The role and importance of nutritional counselling in stroke patients

Abstract

Stroke is a condition that can be caused by a number of modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors. Modifiable risk factors include a range of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, hyperlipidemia, hypertension and poor diet. In all these cases, nutritional counselling would be that related medical act that not only has the potential to improve the patient’s quality of life but can be a prophylactic medical act for stroke. As for the patient who has already suffered a stroke, for him, the appropriate nutritional counselling adapted to the degree of neurological deficit monitored post-stroke may represent the patient’s chance for a good prognosis in terms of not only quality of life but also survival rate. In view of this, including nutritional counselling in the list of medical services supported by the national health insurance system should be a natural decision, similar to the way medical rehabilitation through physiotherapy, or home health care, is funded. Personalized nutritional counselling for patients is a patient’s right to be provided in an assisted way, both to maintain and improve their health and to reduce healthcare expenditure.