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Loss of appetite: Causes and Treatment
Loss of appetite, also known as anorexia, simply means lack of hunger in an individual. Nothing in the universe can trigger your desire to eat a lot if you suffer from anorexia. As a result, this lack of hunger can have many side effects in a person. Like weight loss being the most common one, vomiting, weakness, chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness and passiveness in daily activities can also be noticed. The big question is “what causes loss of appetite?”
In some of the cases of anorexia, the person may experience this problem for a small amount of time or you can call it temporary anorexia. This may be because of minor events like job stress, family problems, examinations and other day to day problems. Another reason would be intake of some of the medicines that causes loss of appetite. As soon as you get rid of the events or medicines, loss of appetite won’t last. However, this is not the only case. Many suffer from loss of appetite for months and even years. This is what you need to worry about if you are one of the sufferers.
So what causes loss of appetite the most? Mood swings and depression is what causes loss of appetite the most. As a whole, diseases are the major cause of anorexia. During depression, you won’t have the mood to deal with any activity you need to. Even the basic needs to survive won’t be worth it. Need to eat being one of the needs, a depressed person won’t find it a necessary task. This results in loss of appetite.
Some of the diseases and conditions causing loss of appetite include:
• Kidney disease
• Liver disease
• Use of antibiotics
• HIV
• COPD
• Hepatitis
• Dementia
• Heart disease
• Fatigue
• Pregnancy
• Cancer (Stomach, Pancreatic, Colon, Ovarian)
• Use of drugs
• Diabetes
Some of the diseases even have loss of appetite as their side effects
Loss of appetite as a symptom
Most of the times, loss of appetite can be a symptom of any other disease.
Most of the times, fatigue and loss of appetite are seen together. Fatigue is the case when you feel tired even after a small physical activity or without any physical activity. Sleep more or sleep less, you will experience pain all over your body. With loss of appetite and lack of protein and enough carbohydrates, fatigue will be experienced.
This being the secondary relation, the above diseases simply invites fatigue along with loss of appetite. Certain medications also cause both fatigue and loss of appetite.
How can loss of appetite be treated and prevented?
Medications being the primary treatment for loss of appetite, preventing the causes can also be considered as a simple remedy to get rid of anorexia. Treating various diseases which invites loss of appetite as their side effect will simply make you eat more. Trying and reducing diseases that most trigger loss of appetite like depression, anxiety, phobias and maniacs can be very effective in treatment of anorexia. Consulting your doctor, finding out the cause and using proper medications can make you get rid of anorexia to some extent.
Prevention for loss of appetite means prevention of the cause of loss of appetite. Caused by diseases most of the times, loss of appetite can be prevented by preventing the diseases or factors causing it. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle, eating foods you like, preparing a diet plan and sticking with it can be some of the preventive measures of the problem.
Is there any of the home remedies?
Not particularly but preparing a diet plan during the phase is what you can do at home. Green vegetables, fruits and similar other foods rich in protein and lacking sugar can help in boosting your immune system and thus make loss of appetite go away. Eating foods you like is another tricky method to get you eating. Loss of appetite won’t last forever. Eating foods you prefer during the phase can make you reduce the problem to some degree. Sometimes, laziness and inactivity is what causes loss of appetite. Exercising and having quality sleep can make you healthy and boost your desire to eat.
