DR MAXWELL ADEYEMI
Unexplained weight loss can be a cause for concern and may be an indication of an underlying condition. Although not all weight loss is serious, as it can happen after a life-changing or stressful event, if you have lost more than five per cent of your weight unintentionally within a six-month-period, you should check your doctor.
Causes of weight loss
1: Muscle loss, or muscle wasting, can lead to unexpected weight loss, and the major symptom is muscle weakness. Your body is made of fat mass and fat-free mass, which includes muscle, bone, and water. If you lose muscle, you'll lose weight. This can happen if you don't use muscles for a while and is most common in people who don't exercise, work desk jobs, or are bedridden. Other possible causes of muscle loss include injuries such as broken bones, ageing, burns, a stroke, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, multiple sclerosis and nerve damage.
2: Hyperthyroidism, or overactive thyroid, develops when your thyroid gland makes too much thyroid hormone. These hormones control many functions in the body, including metabolism. If your thyroid is overactive, you'll quickly burn calories even if you have a good appetite and lose weight. Other symptoms of overactive thyroid include fast and irregular heart rate, anxiety, fatigue, heat intolerance, sleep troubles, hand tremors, light periods in women.
3: Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that makes your immune system attack the lining of your joints, leading to inflammation. Chronic inflammation can speed up metabolism and reduce overall weight. It usually affects the same joints on both sides of the body and symptoms include joint swelling and pain. The exact cause is unknown, but researchers believe it may be linked to age, genes, hormonal changes, smoking, secondhand smoking and obesity.
4: When you are diabetic your pancreas does not make insulin at all or it does not make enough insulin. Without insulin, your body can't use glucose for energy, causing high blood glucose. Your kidneys remove unused glucose through urine, and as the sugar leaves your body, so do calories, resulting in weight loss. Diabetes also causes frequent urination, dehydration, fatigue, blurry vision, excessive thirst and excessive hunger.
5: Weight loss may be a side effect of depression, which is defined as feeling sad, lost, or empty for at least two weeks. These emotions interfere with daily activities, such as going to work or school. Depression affects the same parts of the brain that control appetite, and can lead to poor appetite and eventually weight loss. In some cases, however, depression may increase appetite. The symptoms vary from person to person.
6: Unexpected weight loss may be a symptom of inflammatory bowel disease - a condition that encompasses several chronic inflammatory disorders of the digestive tract. The two most common types are Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. The chronic inflammation puts the body in a catabolic state, which
