Unintentional or Natural Weight Loss – due to Poor Health or Malnutrition
Unintentional weight loss, also known as natural weight loss, is the involuntary reduction in the body mass and weight over time. It is usually experienced in about 8% of adults and children. Unintentional weight loss is caused by two main factors including malnutrition and poor health. Once experienced by a patient, the weight loss causes a variety of complications including poor quality of life, cancer and reduced life spans. It can even cause death in extreme cases.
Unintentional weight loss is not fatal as there are a variety of ways through which it can be treated and controlled once detected in a patient.
Underlying causes
The first way is by addressing its underlying causes. Some of the causes of unintentional weight loss include stress, mouth ulcers and poor eating habits. Once the causes have been adequately ascertained and treated, the next step usually involves providing the patient with adequate nutrition. This helps to replace essential nutrients such as glucose and vitamins that may be missing in the patient’s body.
Exercise to boost appetite
Treatment of unintentional weight loss also involves exercise. Research has shown that exercise helps to stimulate the patient’s appetite while at the same time helping to increase the amount of energy through regulating the rate of metabolism in the patient’s body.
Synthetic and anabolic agents
Management of unintentional weight loss can also be achieved through the use of synthetic and anabolic agents. Research has shown that use of agents such as progestational, cyproheptadine and dronabinol can help promote faster weight gain in patients that suffer from natural weight loss. Other pharmacological substances such as anticytokine have also registered dramatic positive effects after being by such patients.
Nutritional substances
Unintentional weight loss can also be managed through the use of oral nutritional supplements and herbal drugs. Since weight gain is defined by the amount of energy intake, nutritional supplements such as high energy drinks can help a patient that is suffering from unintentional weight loss to increase weight.
Energy drinks
The oral supplements and high energy drinks are used together with food in order to help the patients to increase their overall energy. In addition, this helps improve the patients’ quality of life thus ensuring remarkable improvement and reduced mortality in their long term health. Other oral supplements that are used besides high energy drinks include vitamin and mineral supplements. Since malnutrition puts the patients that are suffering from unintentional weight loss at a high risk of mineral and vitamin deficiency, providing them with vitamin and mineral supplements helps them replace these broad spectrums of supplements in their bodies.
Calories and protein packed diet
Treatment of unintentional weight loss also involves increasing calorie and protein intake in the patient’s diet. Calories and proteins are essential in helping improve the body mass of a patient. They also help prevent malnutrition that is caused due to protein-calorie deficiency. Since all patients have varying nutritional requirements, the recommended amount for each should be calculated by a dietician who will help determine the best amount of calorie or proteins for the patient. With the above tips in mind, management of involuntary weight loss that has been caused by poor eating habits, malnutrition or poor health should not be difficult after all.
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