What are the things you need to note about cachexia?
Cachexia is the syndrome that gets characterized by a loss of appetite, continuous muscle wasting, and unintentional weight loss. Nearly twenty percent of cancer deaths in America take place due to cachexia. In fact, almost fifty percent of people who suffer from advanced stages of cancer show symptoms of this condition. Besides muscle wasting and weight loss, the symptoms of cachexia also include a low life quality. The other names of this syndrome are cancer anorexia and cancer cachexia.
A detailed explanation of cachexia
Cachexia gets diagnosed by taking a look at the combination of blood tests, lean muscle mass, and body mass index. Since you now know the cachexia definition, it will be easier for you to understand the rest of it. Cachexia usually occurs before weight loss even starts, and there needs to be high suspicion to even recognize the condition. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
The treatment approaches for the syndrome range from a change in diet, introducing dietary supplements, to having medications. However, tackling cachexia is difficult because it entails more than just counting calories. Recent studies suggest that even exercise can help in tackling the syndrome. Certain kinds of fish oil (rich in omega-three fatty acids) can also bring the complications of cachexia under control. Clinical trials are also trying out androgen receptor modulators, and so on
Risk factors and causes of cachexia
Tumor factors are often the cause of cachexia. It might be a host response to the substances that a tumor manufactures and secretes. The host response is basically the response of the body to the tumors. Researchers are trying to understand the exact causes of cachexia by understanding the responses of immune systems to cancer, along with a couple of other factors.
Catabolic metabolism leads to cachexia. Think of usual metabolism to be the building of muscle and tissue, which gets termed as anabolic metabolism. The opposite happens in case of cachexia, which you already know by understanding the cachexia definition. It leads a breakdown of the normal body processes.
Though cachexia usually occurs when an individual has cancer, it is also seen in other cases of HIV, AIDS, kidney failure, emphysema, and heart failure. In the case of cancer, it is most commonly seen in the cases of stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, and other such types of advanced cancer
The signs of symptoms of cachexia might become prominent later on, but its onset starts the moment cancer gets diagnosed. Muscle wasting begins early and starts slowly. Thus, cachexia remains present even before actual weight loss gets noticed in the person. Body mass index, lean muscle mass, and blood tests are the surest ways of knowing if the patient has cachexia.