What is the cause of unexplained weight loss?

Many medical problems can cause you to lose weight without trying. These include an overactive thyroid, long-term infections, problems in the mouth or throat that make it difficult for you to eat, digestive problems, depression, diabetes, COPD, and cancer. Other causes of unexplained weight loss include prescription and over-the-counter medications, excessive alcohol or drug use, and emotional stress and anxiety. In older adults, memory problems like dementia can lead to weight loss.

How is it treated?

If another problem is causing your weight loss, your doctor will treat that problem. Your doctor may also suggest a change in what you eat. In some cases, your doctor may prescribe medications to help you gain weight.

What can you do to gain weight?

Talk to your doctor about what you can do to gain weight. Your doctor may suggest that you see a dietitian, who can help you develop a meal plan that is appropriate for your lifestyle. Avoid using expensive supplements to gain weight fast.

If your doctor says it's okay, find ways to eat more nutritious, high-calorie foods. These foods include:

• Cheese. Put cheese on crackers or sandwiches, or add it to soups and salads. Eat cheese sticks as a snack.
• Dried fruits or nuts. Put dried fruit on cereal or in salads or yogurt. Put walnuts in mashed potatoes or ice cream or thickened meat juice.
• Granola bars. Take them with you as a snack.
• Peanut butter. Use it on a sandwich or spread on bread, bagels, bananas, or celery.

When should I call the doctor?

Talk to your doctor if:

• You have been losing weight and don't know why. If you lose 10 pounds (5 kg) or 5% of your weight over a period of 6 to 12 months without trying, it could be a sign of another problem.
• You see a change in your evacuation habits. These may include changes in the frequency of your bowel movements, the color, size, and strength of your stool.

Weightloss

Bodyweight loss is a clinical manifestation of numerous pathological processes that can lead to a decrease in weight mass through various mechanisms. Weight loss of more than 10 kilograms is generally associated with marked changes in physical appearance and can lead to manifestations of malnutrition. keto fuel  Cachexia is defined as a weight decrease greater than 40% below normal in relation to sex, age, and height. Secondary weight loss, unlike constitutional thinness, can be accompanied by asthenia and fatigability, low blood pressure, insomnia or drowsiness, depression, menstrual disturbances, reduction of subcutaneous cell tissue and muscular atrophy. In cachexia, these manifestations acquire greater magnitude,

Physiology and pathophysiology. In normal people, weight stability is maintained because intake is balanced with caloric expenditure by the coordinated action of feeding centers and satiety, located in the central nervous system. Energy expenditure is divided into three categories: 1) calories necessary to maintain basal metabolism, defining as such the total caloric requirement with the body in a supine and immobile position. In other words, it is the energy required to maintain the functional and structural integrity of the organism in the absence of physical activity. Approximately 50% of daily calories are consumed in this process; 2) calories necessary for the absorption of food, the so-called specific dynamic action, which involves 10% of the total intake in non-obese and active individuals,

The organism is made up of four main compartments: the protoplasm, which represents 30 to 35 kg, the extracellular fluid with 15 to 16 kg, the bone tissue with 4 to 5 kg, and the adipose tissue, which comprises from 14 to 18 kg . The first three compartments represent lean mass, which constitutes 75 to 80% of body weight. The rest corresponds to fatty tissue, which performs important energetic, endocrine, metabolic and thermal functions.

Weight loss is determined by a negative balance between intake and caloric expenditure. Weight loss may reflect a decrease in tissue mass or in the body's liquid content. A rapid decline more likely indicates the latter. In this sense, three circumstances can be distinguished: 1) decrease in food and liquid intake; 2) increased caloric expenditure, and 3) excess loss of nutrients and liquids.

Weight loss can be, in multiple circumstances, the result of the combination of two or more of these mechanisms. Sometimes weight loss due to decreased tissue mass is disguised by simultaneous fluid retention, as occurs in the patient with cirrhosis who develops ascites or in anorexia nervosa due to concomitant edema.