Causes Of Weight Loss In Elderly
Muscle loss or muscle wasting can lead to unexpected weight loss the major symptom is muscle weakness.
Causes of weight loss in elderly. One of your limbs may even look smaller than the other. When chronic health conditions set in the risk of weight loss increases. In addition to illness related depression and lack of appetite medications that list weight loss as a side effect play a role.
It can be a by product of a more serious medical ailment. What are some of the causes of unintentional weight loss in the elderly. Unintentional weight loss i e more than a 5 reduction in body weight within six to 12 months occurs in 15 to 20 of older adults and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality 1 in.
Sometimes a specific cause isn t found. The leading causes of involuntary weight loss are depression especially in residents of. A simple initial assessment tool that many clinics will use is the mini nutritional assessment.
Often a combination of things results in a general decline in your health and a related weight loss. The causes and risk factors for unintentional weight loss in the elderly can be quite varied. 1 elders are disproportionately impacted.
Common causes of weight loss and malnutrition it s important for an older person to get a clinical evaluation once you ve noticed weight loss or other signs of possible malnutrition. When an older adult loses five percent or more of their weight over a period of six months and they are not specifically working on weight loss this could be cause for alarm. It can be a by product of a more serious medical ailment.
Your body is made of fat mass and. 2 most practitioners and researchers define unintentional weight loss as a. Many older adults lose weight as they age which is not necessarily a good thing.