Excerpt from Clinical Treatises on the Pathology and Therapy of Disorders of Metabolism and Nutrition, Vol. 8: Inanition and Fattening Cures The phenomena of undernutrition occurring either independently or as a complication of a variety of diseases are often overlooked, or if discovered at all, are commonly misinterpreted. Hence chronic undernutrition is frequently allowed to persist to the great detriment of the organism. Three fundamental rules must be fulfilled in feeding patients, especially individuals afflicted with chronic disorders, viz.: 1. The diet must incorporate a caloric value sufficient to maintain adequate nutrition, for otherwise the body cannot put forward its best endeavors to combat the disease. 2. The diet must be so composed that it spares the diseased organ, i.e., imposes no excessive tasks upon parts that are already functionally or organically impaired. 3. The diet must neither directly nor indirectly injure or overtax any portion of the body. Regulations both of a qualitative and a quantitative character, must therefore, be formulated; and these rules should be based upon physiologic reasoning, and only when this fails upon empiricism. Routine of any sort is to be condemned. The peculiar nutritional demands of each patient should be carefully studied. Accordingly, "not only must the patient be instructed by the physician, but the physician must also learn from each patient." About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.