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Despite knowing that even a single vitamin deficiency can affect the immune
system compromised by surgery, a recent study has found that many patients
are still facing unnecessarily higher risks – because of their poor diets.
Unfortunately, most of us are deluded into thinking The study included a careful survey of surgical
our bodies look alright and that a malnourished patients admitted to the hospital and found that
person would look more like an Ethiopian refugee. 44% of the patients had general malnutrition
But the true fact is that you can be malnourished on admission. This means that the patients were
and obese at the same time. under-nutritioned long before needing surgery
and coming to the hospital.
Taking a cue from the word “undernourished”, a new
term has been coined to describe this syndrome – Even worse, 75% of the patients admitted to
“under-nutritioned”. It is an important term that an intensive care unit were found to be under-
has begun to gain medical attention because it has nutritioned. This put the patients in even greater
been shown that people with even a single vitamin danger because their bodies and immune systems
deficiency can have a poorly functioning immune were placed under much greater stress.
system. Looks, indeed, can be deceiving.
The sad irony is that such stress is a tremendous
drain on nutrition at a time when the patient’s
nutritional status needs to be better – to improve
the odds for survival and post-surgical recovery.
Deficiency effects
Another study involving a number of hospitals
found that 38% of patients had obvious vitamin
deficiencies and even a larger percentage was
marginally deficient.
I have used magnesium in my neurosurgical Magnesium is also essential for normal immune
patients for more than 15 years and I have never function. The bottom line is that the better your
had a patient develop post-operative blood clots nutrition is before surgery, the less likely it is that you
in the legs or lungs. In most cases, the blood clot will have a major complication and the faster, and
forms in the veins of the legs or pelvis – where it can more completely, you will recover from surgery.
suddenly enter the bloodstream, producing a fatal
clot in the lungs called a pulmonary embolism. Detection fallacies
Over the years, I have noticed that patients who
Sudden cardiac arrest can be another catastrophic take these supplements regularly have significantly
event during surgery, leaving the patient with less pain and fatigue after surgery as well. Post-
operative fatigue has always been a problem for When they measured the conventional vitamin
patients and one for which surgeons usually have levels in a group of healthy elderly, they found
little to offer. that approximately 19% of the study subjects had
deficiencies. Yet, when they used the more accurate
We are becoming increasingly aware of the fact that biochemical method, they found that 63% of these
even nutrient deficiencies too small to be recognised same individuals were significantly deficient in one
by clinical examination can impair the body’s or more of these critical vitamins.
functioning. We call these deficiencies subclinical.
A large number of people living in industrialised A similar comparison of sick elderly subjects
countries suffer from these subclinical deficiencies, found that 60% were deficient using conventional
and the number is continuing to grow. measurement and a whopping 83% were deficient
when the biochemical method was used.
When doctors want to know if you have adequate
amounts of a certain vitamin in your body, they This study clearly demonstrates that measuring
usually draw your blood and have it tested for the vitamin blood levels by the conventional method
vitamin in question. When they want to assess can result in a false assurance that all is well –
the adequacy of your nutrition in general, they when in fact, severe deficiencies may exist. This is
frequently have your blood tested for your folate especially true for the chronically ill.
and vitamin B12 levels.
Immunity suppression
Newer studies, however, have shown this method to It is well known that surgery and especially
be very inaccurate. In one study, doctors compared anaesthesia are powerful suppressors of the
the usual blood levels of the vitamins folate, B6, and body’s immunity function. This is especially so for
B12 to the actual levels in the tissues as measured surgeries lasting longer than two hours and in cases
biochemically. What they discovered was quite where more than a unit of blood is lost during the
shocking. procedure.
Cancer patients
Most cancer patients have as their primary treatment
the surgical removal of the tumour(s). Sometimes
this can be a relatively minor procedure, as with
a skin cancer. But it is often more complicated,
entailing the surgical removal of the cancer and any
surrounding lymph nodes. significant immunity suppression and interfere with
wound healing, thereby significantly increasing the
The more complicated and prolonged surgeries risk of infections after surgery.
can be extremely stressful, both physically and
psychologically. For cancer patients, not only is This profound level of immunity suppression can
wound healing and avoiding all the complications give cancer a chance to invade and spread.
associated with surgery important, but so is making
sure the immune system is functioning at peak Several studies have shown that nutritional
activity. immune enhancement can significantly reduce
complications, especially infections, following
The status of a person’s nutrition is critical to the major surgeries. In one study, almost 70% of
immune system. Again, I emphasise that even immunity-deficient cancer patients undergoing
a single nutrient deficiency can severely impair surgery developed post-operative complications
the immune system. For example, a vitamin B6 as compared to 25% with functioning immune
deficiency alone can lower immunity, even when systems. This is a dramatic difference.
the levels of all the other vitamins are perfectly
normal. It should be appreciated that the patients in the
group with a functioning immune system did not
Of special concern are patients who undergo pre- have specific nutritional immune stimulation. My
operative chemotherapy – that is, who receive a experience, as well as that of others, is that immunity
dose of chemotherapy before surgery. It is well not only can be restored in patients, but can also be
recognised that most chemotherapy drugs cause maximised with special supplements. OH!