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Don't Ignore Unexplained Weight Loss: It Could Indicate A Serious Problem

Don't Ignore Unexplained Weight Loss: It Could Indicate A Serious Problem

Unexplained weight loss and fatigue are two of the most common symptoms you will experience with a progressive illness.

Written by Mita Majumdar |Updated : May 11, 2022 11:11 PM IST

Are you someone trying to get rid of stubborn fat? While it will be so easy if weight loss were a piece of cake and wouldn't have to work hard to shed it. Sounds impossible, right? But it is true for some people. Despite not doing anything, some people lose a lot of weight without dieting or working out. Well, it could feel like good news for someone trying to lose weight, but it isn't. Unexplained weight loss and fatigue are two of the most common symptoms that people experience with a progressive illness. There are many possible causes of sudden weight loss and some of which might be caused due to a serious illness.

Common Causes Of Unexplained Weight Loss

Here are 10 common conditions that cause unexplained weight loss.

Diabetes

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder in which you may have high blood glucose levels (blood sugar) either because sufficient insulin is not produced in your body or because your body does not respond properly to insulin or even both.

Symptoms of diabetes: Frequent urination, excessive thirst, intense hunger, weight gain (type-2 diabetes), significant and sudden weight loss (especially in type-1 diabetes), fatigue, cuts and bruises not healing properly, numbness or tingling in feet and hands.

Depression

Depression is a mood disorder in which feelings of sadness, loss, anger, or frustration interfere with everyday life for weeks or longer.

Symptoms of depression: Not sleeping or sleeping too much, difficulty concentrating, negative thoughts, feelings of hopelessness and /or helplessness, irritability, suicide, and sudden weight loss.

Overactive thyroid

The thyroid gland produces the hormones thyroid which regulate your body s metabolism, for example, your heart rate, how quickly you burn calories, and digestion. The thyroid gland also produces the hormone calcitonin which regulates the level of calcium in your blood. When the thyroid gland produces too much thyroid hormone (overactive), the condition is called hyperthyroidism.

Symptoms of an overactive thyroid: Palpitations, fast and irregular heartbeat, hot flashes and increased sweating, sudden weight loss, shortness of breath, panic attacks, gritty and bulging eyes, fatigue, mood swings, infertility or decreased libido. However, not everyone has all these symptoms. You may relate to just a few of them. You may relate to many of them, too.

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious infectious disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It mainly affects the lungs. Tuberculosis can also affect the kidneys, spine or brain. The disease can be treated with a six-month course of antibiotics.

Symptoms of tuberculosis: Coughing, sometimes with sputum or blood, chest pains, fatigue, unexplained weight loss, fever and night sweats.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a group of lung diseases that block airflow and make breathing difficult. The airflow can be blocked by an inflammation of the lining of bronchial tubes that carry air to and from the lungs, which is called chronic bronchitis. When the air sacs in the lungs are gradually destroyed making breathing difficult it is called emphysema.

Symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Symptoms often don t appear until significant lung damage has occurred. The symptoms are mainly wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, frequent respiratory infections, lips or fingernail beds becoming blue, tiredness and unexplained weight loss in the later stages.

Crohn s disease

Crohn s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It causes inflammation of the lining of your digestive tract, which can lead to abdominal pain, severe diarrhoea and even malnutrition.

Symptoms of Crohn's disease: Diarrhoea, abdominal pain, cramps, reduced appetite and weight loss, fatigue, blood in the stool and ulcers.

Addison's disease

Addison s disease is a hormonal disorder in which the adrenal glands produce insufficient amounts of hormones, cortisol and, in some cases, aldosterone. It can affect all age groups and both genders.

Symptoms of Addison's disease: Weight loss, fatigue, low blood pressure and muscle weakness.

Cancer

Cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells anywhere in a body. Cancer can begin in the skin or in tissues that line or cover internal organs (carcinoma) or in bone, cartilage, fat, muscle, blood vessels, or other connective or supportive tissue (sarcoma), or in blood-forming tissue such as the bone marrow (leukaemia) or in the immune cells (lymphoma and myeloma). When cancer begins in the brain and spinal cord it is called central nervous system cancer. Sometimes the cancer cells break away from the original cells and attack other organs or tissues; it is then termed metastatic. Are you aware of these 8 cancer causes in your daily life?

Symptoms of cancer: Signs and symptoms vary according to the type of cancer. Some of the common symptoms are sudden weight loss, fatigue, unexplained muscle or joint pain, night sweats, lump or thickening under the skin (for example, breast cancer), changes in bowel or bladder habits (bowel cancer), skin changes or changes in the size and colour of moles (skin cancer), hoarseness and difficulty swallowing (lung cancer).

HIV/AIDS

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is just like other viruses, except for one important difference while the human immune system can destroy other viruses, it can t flush out this virus. Rather, HIV destroys the immune system so that your body can t fight infections and diseases anymore and AIDS is the final stage of HIV infection.

Symptoms of HIV/AIDS: HIV infection as such may or may not show symptoms of fever, rash, sore throat, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, ulcer in the mouth and fatigue, but when the HIV infection progresses to AIDS, all these symptoms are prominent. In addition, there is sudden weight loss due to wasting, cough and shortness of breath, chronic diarrhoea and blurred and distorted vision.

Parkinson's disease

Parkinson s disease is a progressive disorder of the nervous system that causes stiffness in the body and face or slowing of movement. This disease cannot be cured but medication can improve the symptoms. Read more about yoga to help you live with Parkinson's disease.

Symptoms of Parkinson's disease: Impaired posture and balance, loss of automatic movements such as blinking, smiling or swinging arms when walking, stiff muscles, speech and writing changes, and sudden weight loss. However, weight loss is NOT one of the main symptoms of this disease as is evident from Dr Melissa Nirenberg s statement People with PD often lose weight prior to the diagnosis of PD, for a variety of reasons such as loss of smell and taste. The weight loss usually levels off once people are on appropriate PD medications. For this reason, ongoing, unexplained weight loss in PD should never be attributed to PD until more serious medical issues such as cancer and depression have been excluded.

When to see a doctor

If you are losing 4.5 5 kg or 5 per cent of your normal body weight over 6-12 months or less, and you don t know the reason, you may be having a problem called sudden weight loss or unintentional weight loss. See a doctor. It is important to recognize the warning signs. The earlier the disease is discovered, the more successful treatment is likely to be.