Unintentional Weight Loss Questionnaire
Often a combination of things results in a general decline in your health and a related weight loss.
Unintentional weight loss questionnaire. Unintentional weight loss refers to an inadvertent decrease in body weight. The leading causes of involuntary weight loss are depression especially in residents of long term care facilities cancer lung and gastrointestinal malignancies cardiac disorders and benign gastrointestinal diseases. Elderly patients with unintentional weight loss are at higher risk for infection depression and death.
1 if measured weights are not available the physician may use indirect means of assessment e g patient s self reported estimate of weight loss change in clothing size a. Usually an unrecognized cancer will have other symptoms or abnormalities of laboratory tests in addition to unexplained weight loss. Unexplained weight loss or losing weight without trying can be a cause for concern.
See detailed information below for a list of 47 causes of unintentional weight loss symptom checker including diseases and drug side effect causes. List of 46 causes of unintentional weight loss alternative diagnoses rare causes misdiagnoses patient stories and much more. However short term illnesses such as influenza or the common cold can also cause weight loss due to.
Unintentional weight loss i e more than a 5 reduction in body weight within six to 12 months occurs in 15 to 20 of older adults and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality 1 in. A reasonable starting point to initiate a workup is unintentional weight loss of 5 or more of the patient s usual body weight within the preceding 6 to 12 months. Sometimes a specific cause isn t found.
It is a diagnostic challenge because while an underlying illness. Unintentional weight loss is often the result of an underlying chronic medical condition. It might indicate an underlying condition.
Unintentional weight loss is often defined as weight loss of at least 5 of the patient s usual body weight that occurs within the preceding 6 to 12 months and that is not the expected consequence of treatment of a known illness.