What is unexplained weight loss?

Your weight sometimes changes, depending on how much you eat and exercise. However, drastic weight loss, losing more than 5 to 10 pounds when you’re not trying to, requires medical attention because it may be a sign of illness.

Unexplained weight loss is a common problem posing diagnostic and management dilemmas in the geriatric population. Without accurate data on outcomes of ambulatory geriatric patients with significant weight loss, physicians may have difficulty in appropriately selecting diagnostic evaluations. Also, families of these patients often fear that these patients may have a hidden malignancy. Thompson and Morris performed a case series review study to identify the most common clinical outcomes of unexplained weight loss in the elderly.

Forty-five elderly ambulatory patients with significant unexplained weight loss were identified by computer search of the billing diagnoses of seven family practice centers and entered into the study. Significant weight loss was defined as a loss of at least 7.5 percent of baseline body weight over a six-month period. The average age of the patients was 71.9 years. The medical records were reviewed at study entry, three months, six months, nine months and finally at 24 months or until a definitive cause of the weight loss was determined.

The cause of weight loss remained unknown in 24 percent of patients, even after at least two years of investigation. A specific cause of the weight loss was eventually determined in 76 percent of the cases. Depression was the most common identificable cause (18 percent), followed by cancer (16 percent) and gastrointestinal problems other than cancer (11 percent).

What Causes of Unexplained Weight loss?

Unexplained weight loss can be caused by:

* decreased appetite
* decreased absorption, which means that food can’t be digested properly
* excess demand by the body for energy.

Unexplained weight loss can be caused by many different health problems. It will possibly take a doctor and some tests to diagnose some reasons for unexplained weight loss. If you have diarrhea, flu, or other short term illness you might be able to diagnose it yourself. If you have no idea what the cause of it is you need to contact your doctor. There are some very serious illnesses that can cause sudden weight loss and if you are not dieting, you need to find out what the problem is. In some cases it can be life threatening. Even if you have the flu or other problem and experience diarrhea for more than 3 or 4 days, you should seek medical help. Other medical problems which can cause unexpected weight loss are gallbladder problems, small intestine problems, hyperthyroidism, fever, cancer, amphetamine or drug abuse, digestive enzyme problems, viral hepatitis, congestive heart failure, hyperglycemia (too much calcium), hypokalemia (too much potassium in the blood), depression, anorexia, and some medications. Unexplained weight loss is not something to ignore. Seek medical advice as soon as possible.