Cachexia is loss of weight, muscle wasting, fatigue, weakness and anorexia (not anorexia nervosa) in someone who is not actively trying to lose weight. It can be a sign of various underlying disorders; when a patient presents with cachexia, a doctor will generally consider the possibility of cancer, certain infectious diseases (e.g. tuberculosis) and some autoimmune disorders. The term symptom (from the Greek syn = con/plus and pipto = fall, together meaning co-exist) has two similar meanings in the context of physical and mental health: A symptom may loosely be said to be a physical condition which shows that one has a particular illness or disorder (see... In medicine, a sign is a feature of disease as detected by the doctor during physical examination of a patient. ... The following codes are used with International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems. ... The International Classification of Diseases for Oncology (ICD-O) is a domain specific extension of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems for tumor diseases. ... The following is a list of codes for International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems. ... The Mendelian Inheritance in Man project is a database that catalogues all the known diseases with a genetic component, and - when possible - links them to the relevant genes in the human genome. ... MedlinePlus (medlineplus. ... eMedicine is an online clinical medical knowledge base that was founded in 1996. ... The Diseases Database is a free website that provides information about the relationships between medical conditions, symptoms, and medications. ... In the context of physical health, weight loss is the process of losing body weight, typically by losing fat. ... A top-down view of skeletal muscle Muscle is a contractile form of tissue. ... Anorexia (deriving from the Greek όρεξη (orexe) = appetite) is the decreased sensation of appetite. ... Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by voluntary starvation and exercise stress. ... In medicine, a sign is a feature of disease as detected by the doctor. ... When normal cells are damaged beyond repair, they are eliminated by apoptosis. ... In medicine, infectious disease or communicable disease is disease caused by a biological agent (e. ... Tuberculosis (commonly shortened to TB) is an infection caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which most commonly affects the lungs (pulmonary TB) but can also affect the central nervous system (meningitis), lymphatic system, circulatory system (Miliary tuberculosis), genitourinary system, bones and joints. ... Autoimmune diseases arise from an overactive immune response of the body against substances and tissues normally present in the body. ...

Mechanism

The exact mechanism in which these diseases cause cachexia is poorly understood, but there is probably a role for inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), which is also nicknamed cachectin for this reason. Inflammation is the first response of the immune system to infection or irritation and may be referred to as the innate cascade. ... Cytokines are small protein molecules that are the core of communication between immune system cells, and even between these cells and cells belonging to other tissue types. ... In medicine, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα, cachexin or cachectin) is an important cytokine involved in systemic inflammation and the acute phase response. ...

Related malnutrition syndromes are kwashiorkor and marasmus, although these do not always have an underlying causative illness; they are most often symptomatic of severe malnutrition. Marasmus is a childhood nutritional disorder characterised by calorie deficiency and energy deficiency. ...

See also

• protein-energy malnutrition