Cachexia
| Cachexia | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Wasting syndrome |
| Person with cancer-associated cachexia | |
| Specialty | Oncology, internal medicine, physical medicine and rehabilitation |
| Symptoms | Sudden weight loss, altered eating signals |
| Prognosis | Very poor |
| Frequency | 1% |
| Deaths | 1.5 to 2 million people a year |
Cachexia (/kəˈkɛksiə/ ⓘ) is a syndrome that happens when people have certain illnesses, causing muscle loss that cannot be fully reversed with improved nutrition. It is most common in diseases like cancer, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney disease, and AIDS. These conditions change how the body handles inflammation, metabolism, and brain signaling, leading to muscle loss and other harmful changes to body composition over time. Unlike weight loss from not eating enough, cachexia mainly affects muscle and can happen with or without fat loss. Diagnosis of cachexia is difficult because there are no clear guidelines, and its occurrence varies from one affected person to the next.
Like malnutrition, cachexia can lead to worse health outcomes and lower quality of life.