cachexia
Noun: A state of severe physical wasting, weakness, and loss of weight, typically caused by a serious underlying chronic illness. It involves a general reduction in vitality and strength affecting both the body and the mind.
"Cachexia" is a medical term used to describe the profound and complex metabolic syndrome associated with an underlying illness. It is not simply weight loss from poor nutrition, but a specific condition where the body breaks down muscle and fat tissue even with adequate calorie intake. It is commonly seen in advanced stages of diseases like cancer, chronic heart failure, HIV/AIDS, and other chronic conditions.
- The patient's advanced cancer was accompanied by severe cachexia, making rehabilitation very difficult.
- Cachexia is a serious complication of congestive heart failure, contributing to poorer outcomes.
- Managing cachexia requires addressing both the underlying disease and the metabolic imbalances it causes.
- Cancer cachexia: A specific syndrome in cancer patients characterized by loss of skeletal muscle mass, with or without loss of fat mass, that cannot be fully reversed by conventional nutritional support.
- Cardiac cachexia: The wasting condition associated with chronic heart failure.
- Cachectic (adjective): Describing someone suffering from or related to cachexia.
- The cachectic patient was referred to a specialized nutrition support team.
- Wasting syndrome
- Wasting
- Emaciation (specifically refers to the state of being abnormally thin or weak, often a result of cachexia)
Cachexia is distinct from simple starvation or anorexia. It is driven by inflammatory cytokines and metabolic changes from the disease itself, leading to a catabolic state where the body consumes its own tissues.
- any general reduction in vitality and strength of body and mind resulting from a debilitating chronic disease