Cancer cachexia: forms, causes, symptoms, treatment, degree, photo and duration of life

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Malignant development of tumors in two third cases is accompanied by weight loss, which causes exhaustion of the body. This serious disease requires special attention, because it can create a threat to life.

The concept of

Depletion of the body with a significant loss of fat and muscle mass is called cachexia.

The disease can be caused by many reasons.

  • If the patient has very low weight values ​​due to malnutrition due, for example, to poverty or abuse of diets, then such a cachexia is called primary.
  • The manifestation of pathology as a consequence of other diseases indicates the secondary nature of cachexia. Usually, exhaustion occurs as a result of severe disorders in the body, chronic or acute manifestations of diseases.

Causes of malignant cachexia

Why oncology causes exhaustion, there is no clear opinion among specialists. More recently, the priority was the judgment that cancer cells affect the functioning of the body so that energy resources are directed to meet the needs of tumor cells, and healthy cells as a result of this phenomenon are inadequate to receive the necessary substances.

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Now researchers are inclined to the conclusion that cachexia is a reaction of the body to an aggressive manifestation of cancer. It was found that the genome responsible for fat metabolism is blocked by the development of oncology.

Scientists managed to identify a genome, which can be the initiator of depletion of a cancer patient, this is TSC22D4. Experiments have shown that after its blocking, the energy balance came back to normal.

Some features of cells lead to weight loss:

  • Cells of different tissues have their own specific differences. The loss of differences between cells, the erasure of facets, which make them different, contributes to the oncology in the body.
  • The vital activity of cancer cells produces substances that are toxins. A tumor through a negative effect on the metabolism causes a violation of the processes of self-regulation.

Symptoms of

If cachexia caused an oncological pathology, then there may be such symptoms:

  • significant emaciation,
  • lethargy,
  • nervous exhaustion,
  • there are feverish conditions,
  • muscles look exhausted,
  • drowsiness,
  • the patient becomes disabled,
  • appearance of wrinkles,
  • the structure of the hair and nails have signs of unhealthy changes,
  • subcutaneous fat is sharply thinned,
  • swelling of the subcutaneous tissue,
  • skin flabbiness,
  • kozhnyth cover has an unhealthy color( earthy-gray hue),
  • the volume of blood that circulates in the body decreases;
  • there is a build-up of edematous fluid in some parts of the body,
  • develops a vomiting reflex,
  • anemia,
  • decreases libido,
  • arterial pressure is prone to depression,
  • signs of dehydration,
  • bowel disturbance: constipation or diarrhea;
  • there are dental problems: stomatitis, possibly a loss of teeth.

Forms and types of

The disease is classified by the disorders that have caused exhaustion:

  • Cancer cachexia as a result of the development of the tumor process.
  • Pituitary cachexia is caused by a disorder in the pituitary gland.
  • Cardiac cachexia - heart disease can provoke depletion of the body, a diagnosis of cachexia can be established after laboratory and other studies.
  • Cerebral cachexia is a type of pathology caused by impaired brain activity.
  • Alimentary cachexia is a disease of a lack of nutrients through hunger or a poor diet. This type of disorder includes anorexia nervosa.
  • Amyloid cachexia - the disease is associated with a violation of metabolic processes.
  • One of the varieties of cachexia is caused by disorders of the functions of the digestive organs , as a result of which sufficient absorption of the necessary substances does not occur.

The international classification distinguishes between the following forms of cachexia:

  • Marasm - with the violation of the functions of the organs are retained, and atrophy affects the subcutaneous fat and muscles of the skeleton.
  • Kwashiorkor is a pathology by type of alimentary depletion of severe form. Patients with this diagnosis experience protein starvation for a long period.
  • Marasmus-kwashiorkor - the signs of the first two disorders manifest simultaneously.

Complications of

Severe weight loss can have negative consequences:

  • dehydration,
  • to whom,
  • bleeding in ulcerative bowel or stomach disease,
  • blood infection,
  • renal and heart failure,
  • vitamin deficiency,
  • mental disorders.

Degrees

Depletion affects the tolerability of procedures in oncology and the possibility of positive results from their use. With significant weight loss, the patient may not have enough strength to make positive changes.

There are three degrees of cachexia:

  • The initial period is called precahexia. It is determined by the signs:
    • lack of appetite,
    • violation:
      • temperature regime,
      • respiratory rate,
      • the number of leukocytes in the blood;
      • weight change to 5% for six months.
    Competently selected events at this stage can stop the process associated with weight loss.
  • For the initial period there comes a state called cachexia. The main feature is weight reduction beyond five percent of the total weight. Progression of pathology puts the patient in the absence of forces in bed.

Photo of cancerous cachexia in a male

  • When the body stops responding to treatment, the last degree of pathology develops-refractory cachexia. This step leads to death.

Diagnostics of

To confirm the presence of cachexia syndrome in a patient, a survey is performed that includes:

  • patient complaint analysis,
  • physical examination:
    • is checked whether there is a consciousness disorder,
    • is determined by:
      • body mass index,
      • how much the skin covers retain elasticity,
      • the thickness of the fat layer located under the skin.
  • analysis:
    • blood testing( if necessary) for testing for sepsis,
    • blood tests: general and biochemical,
    • general urine test,
  • patient is referred for specialist consultation:
    • neurologist,
    • gastroenterologist,
    • psychiatrist,
    • endocrinologist,
    • oncologist,
    • Surgeon,
  • Diagnosis is performed with the help of equipment:
    • Magnetic Resonance Imaging,
    • Esophagogastroduodenoscopy,
    • Ultrasound,
    • Computed Tomography,
    • Renthroatological study.

Treatment of cancer cachexia

The normalization of the process, which prompted the body to lose weight, is carried out in the hospital. Basically, these methods are used:

  • hormone therapy,
  • enzyme application for complete digestion,
  • selection of a balanced diet,
  • application of stimulants of appetite,
  • vitamin therapy,
  • antibacterial treatment.

Lifespan

The processes accompanying cancerous cachexia significantly impair the patient's overall condition. These consequences include:

  • skeletal muscle atrophy,
  • thinning of fat layer
  • and other negative phenomena.

If the metabolism is strongly depressed, then we can say that the body does not have the strength to resist pathology. The patient lives in this situation for three months at best.

The timely medical measures to prevent a complex degree of cachexia, make its impact on life expectancy insignificant.

Video about anorexia-cachexia syndrome:

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