Table of contents:
- What is cancer cachexia?
- What are the symptoms of cancer cachexia (cachexia)?
- Does every cancer patient have cachexia?
- What causes cancer cachexia?
- How do you deal with this cancer cachexia?
The drastic loss of weight in cancer patients can be a side effect of both the treatment and the disease itself. Cachexia or cachexia is the official term in the medical world to describe this complication of cancer. It is estimated that half of all cancer patients eventually develop cachexia syndrome, which is accompanied by symptoms of anorexia and continuous and involuntary loss of energy, fat tissue and skeletal muscle mass.
If a person experiences this health condition, then he may experience many obstacles in his treatment and the cure rate will be smaller. Actually, what is cancer cachexia? Can it be prevented?
What is cancer cachexia?
Cachexia cancer is a term used to describe a group of symptoms (syndromes) that arise from the cancer itself and its treatment. Cakesia is characterized by weight loss, symptoms of anorexia, and the continuous loss of fat cells and muscle mass over time in response to the growth of malignant cancer cells.
In addition, cancer patients who experience cachexia usually do not feel hungry and have no appetite at all. Therefore, this problem is not just weight loss which can be treated by eating enough food. The problems faced by cancer patients with cachexia are much more complex. The reason is, this condition is also characterized by systemic inflammation, loss of body protein, and energy balance.
What are the symptoms of cancer cachexia (cachexia)?
Some of the common symptoms of cachexia are:
- Have lost more than 5% of their body weight
- Have a body fat percentage of less than 10%
- Feel nauseous
- Feel full even though you have just eaten a small portion
- Have anemia
- Feeling very tired and weak
- No appetite
Treatment of cancer cachexia must be done appropriately. If not, this will endanger the patient's life.
Does every cancer patient have cachexia?
One study states that 15-40% of cases of weight loss in cancer patients are caused by cachexia. Usually this cachexia cancer syndrome affects patients with advanced cancer. Six out of 10 people who experience cachexia are people whose cancer has entered an advanced stage. Quite rarely found in patients with early stage cancer.
What causes cancer cachexia?
Until now, it is not certain what causes cachexia as a complication of cancer. However, experts argue that cancer cells that grow in the body also produce chemicals called cytokines.
These cytokines then damage organs in the body. When the organs of the body are damaged, the energy demand increases, but as a result of the patient not having an appetite and no food coming in, the body will take food from the remaining reserves. The longer this reserve is depleted, so that muscle mass and fat tissue are reduced as a substitute for emergency energy. In some cases, this drastic weight loss and loss of body fat and muscle mass causes the cancer patient to look like a skeleton clad in skin alone.
How do you deal with this cancer cachexia?
Because this condition is quite complex and caused by a variety of reasons, changing your diet alone is not enough to overcome cachexia. Therefore, cancer cachexia is usually treated by giving drugs to reduce levels of cytokines in the body, increase appetite, and keep hormone levels normal, so as not to cause weight loss. Some types of drugs that may be given to patients with cachexia cancer are:
- Dexamethasone
- Methylprednisolone
- Prednisone
- Dronabinol
Doing regular exercise can also help patients to regain muscle mass. If you want to do physical activity, usually the patient will be helped by a physiotherapist.
