Causes of unintentional weight loss It might be caused by a stressful event like a divorce, losing a job, or the death of a loved one. It can also be caused by malnutrition, a health condition or a combination of things.
If you're losing weight without trying and you're concerned about it, consult your health care provider. As a rule of thumb, losing more than 5% of your weight over 6 to 12 months may indicate a problem.
Unexplained weight loss is a noticeable drop in body weight that occurs even if the person is not trying to lose weight. Unexplained weight loss can be a symptom of a serious illness, including cancer or diabetes. Treatment involves identifying the underlying cause of the weight loss.
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. The result can be unintentional weight loss.
Rapid weight loss diet is a type of diet in which you lose more than 2 pounds (1 kilogram, kg) a week over several weeks.
According to the American Cancer Society, significant weight loss happens most often with cancers that affect the stomach, pancreas, esophagus and lung.
According to many experts, losing 1–2 pounds (0.45–0.9 kg) per week is a healthy and safe rate (1, 2, 3 ). Losing more than that is considered too fast and could put you at risk of many health problems, including muscle loss, gallstones, nutritional deficiencies and a drop in metabolism ( 4 , 6 , 7 , 8 ).
The thyroid produces certain hormones that regulate the body's metabolism, so an excess of these hormones often causes the body to burn more energy than usual. Burning more energy and calories can lead to unintentional or unexplained weight loss. Other symptoms of hyperthyroidism include: fatigue.
Unexplained Weight Loss
If you lose more than 5% of your weight in 6 to 12 months, tell your doctor, especially if you're an older adult. That would be about 8 pounds if you weigh 150, or 10 pounds if you weigh 200. Sudden weight loss without a reason can be a sign of a health problem.
Stress and weight loss
What's more, the stress hormones that our bodies release can speed up our metabolism, causing us to burn calories faster. In more extreme cases, prolonged stress may lead to depression, which can also cause weight loss.
Unexplained weight loss is often a red flag that something more serious is happening. Quick or rapid unexpected weight loss needs to be addressed by your doctor. Health conditions and disorders that may cause weight loss include depression, heart failure, and cancer.
On average, it's not uncommon to lose 10 to 15 percent of your overall body weight due to anxiety and the chronic stress it causes. Always talk with your doctor if you've lost a lot of weight in a hurry.
Increase your calorie intake.
One way you can stop losing weight is to increase the amount of calories you eat each day. You should consume at least 1200 calories each day. Try tracking your calorie intake each day using a calorie tracker app, and then add a couple hundred calories each day.
But do you really know what's realistic? Over the long term, it's smart to aim for losing 1 to 2 pounds (0.5 to 1 kilogram) a week. Generally to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week, you need to burn 500 to 1,000 calories more than you consume each day, through a lower calorie diet and regular physical activity.
However, short-term illnesses such as influenza or the common cold can also cause weight loss due to abdominal discomfort. Common causes of unintentional weight loss include depression, diarrhea, oral ulcers, and viral infections, such as the common cold, that can affect appetite.
Your body weight can regularly fluctuate. But the persistent, unintentional loss of more than 5 per cent of your weight over 6 to 12 months is usually a cause for concern. Losing this much weight can be a sign of malnutrition. This is when a person's diet doesn't contain the right amount of nutrients.
Diabetes and sudden weight loss
In people with diabetes, insufficient insulin prevents the body from getting glucose from the blood into the body's cells to use as energy. When this occurs, the body starts burning fat and muscle for energy, causing a reduction in overall body weight.
Extreme weight-loss deprives your body of the essential nutrients that are necessary for healthy function. Furthermore, deficiencies in certain nutrients like vitamin D and calcium can lead to an increased risk of developing certain health conditions or predispose you to injury.
Summary. Weight loss is not a symptom of all types of cancer. It can be caused for a variety of reasons. Sometimes weight loss is directly related to cancer, but other factors such as emotional distress and side effects of treatment can contribute to weight loss.
Not all cancer patients lose a lot of weight. In fact, there are some cancers that result in weight gain during treatment. Certain types of chemotherapy, hormone therapy and medicines, such as steroids, can cause the body to retain fluids or increase a patient's appetite so that they eat more, causing weight gain.
Cardiac cachexia is a condition that can happen to people who have heart failure. It means you lose a serious amount of body fat, muscle, and bone. Doctors often call this “body wasting.” Once it begins, you can't reverse it simply by eating more.
Researchers found that when dieters cut back on sleep over a 14-day period, the amount of weight they lost from fat dropped by 55%, even though their calories stayed equal. They felt hungrier and less satisfied after meals, and their energy was zapped.
Unintentional weight loss is loss of 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) or 5% of your normal body weight over 6 to 12 months or less without knowing the reason.