Nutrition therapy is the use of nutrition science to treat nutritional symptoms that cause disease. The older term would be diet therapy.

The Medical Nutrition and Nutrition Entrepreneurs dietetic practice groups of the American Dietetic Association provide nutrition therapy based on your diagnosis. If you need nutrition support as tube feedings or IV solutions, then the Dietitians in Nutrition Support would be the best resource and you can also contact the nutrition support team at your local hospital. Dietitians often have their own private practice nutrition counseling services in addition to services provided in a clinic or hospital. You can find a dietitian at the American Dietetic Association. Include your zip code or city / state, the type of service you want (individual consultation) and expertise needed.

The Dietitians in Nutrition Support dietetic practice group of the American Dietetic Association specializes in working with patients who have had organ or stem cell transplants. You can find a dietitian at the American Dietetic Association. Include your zip code or city / state, the type of service you want (individual consultation) and expertise you want.

I would recommend you see a Registered Dietitian who can review your medical record and plan a diet that includes all your health needs as well as your food preferences. Without access to your medical record, I could not plan an appropriate diet for you.

The correct factor for women are 655 and for men 66, but the Harris Benedict formula is much more involved than that. This calorie calculation includes weight, height and age.

The Harris Benedict formula can be found in most clinical nutrition textbooks. Also, the Harris Benedict formula doesn't include activity calories or stress / fever factors due to illness which can range from 10 to 100% over basal energy expenditure (Harris Benedict).

So if you want to correctly calculate the required calories for this ventilator patient, I would suggest that if you have a clinical dietitian working in your hospital, that you get her / him involved in this patient's care even if you need a doctor's referral. There are some formulas /diets that stress patients on ventilators because of the high carbohydrate content. High carbohydrate intakes increase oxygen consumption and the patient take a longer time getting weaned off the ventilator if his / her diet is wrong. This patient needs nutrition therapy from a Registered Dietitian.

In case you haven't tried the Healthy Body Calculator,you can use it to calculate calories and nutrients for your patients. It does not however include a stress factor, which you will have to add calories and other nutrients due to disease or metabolic processes. But it does most of the basic calculations for you.