Yes, eating lots and lots of protein. Bedsores, also known as pressure ulcers, occur when people lie or sit without moving in bed or in a wheelchair for hours on end, said Joyce Black, president of the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel, an advocacy group based in Washington, D.C.
Once a pressure ulcer develops and the protective skin barrier is broken, bacteria can get into the body, triggering potentially fatal infections like the one that killed actor Christopher Reeve in October, 2004.
“Bedsores can come on in hours, and they can get really huge,” said Black, who is also an associate professor of nursing at the University of Nebraska College of Nursing.
An estimated 11 percent of patients in hospitals and 23 percent of those in nursing homes have pressure ulcers, as do many people who are paralyzed. Pressure ulcers also lead to countless lawsuits and have become such a serious problem that the US government has set a goal of reducing the incidence by 50 percent by 2010.
To get a pressure ulcer to heal, patients must frequently move – or be turned over – so that blood can reach all areas of the skin to rebuild damaged tissue. But eating is essential, too.
“We have seen patients have tremendous delays in healing because their protein intake is too low,” said Black. “You need more protein, and more calories, to fuel the engine to make the cells. You can’t eat tea and toast and think this will get better.” In addition to protein-rich foods, Black recommended nutrient drinks like Ensure and Boost.
An 8-week, randomized, controlled study of 89 patients by Dr. S. Kwon Lee, a certified wound specialist in Cleveland, published in March in the journal Skin and Wound Care showed that a protein supplement called Pro-Stat improved the healing rate of pressure ulcers by 96 percent.
Lee, who said he had no financial connections to the manufacturer of Pro-Stat, attributed the success of the protein drink to the fact that its protein is “pre-digested,” that is, already broken down into the amino acids the body can use immediately, but he added that even protein from other types of drinks or food “does help improve the healing of wounds if the body has the energy reserves to utilize them.”