Uncle Wu is 72 years old this year, his body looks quite tough, and he goes to the downstairs of the community every day for a walk, and his life is very leisurely. But in recent months, everyone who saw him without exception said that he had lost a lot of weight, and he himself was quite happy, thinking that it was "difficult to buy old and thin".
Until last month, when his granddaughter, who was studying medicine, came home from vacation and saw him, she felt that something was wrong and took her to the hospital for a check-up. In this investigation, it was found that advanced bowel cancer had metastasized to the liver. His sudden weight loss is not because "it is hard to buy old and thin", but a signal from cancer!
1. Harvard study: weight loss of more than 10% in two years, 95% increase in cancer risk
Most middle-aged and elderly people think that it is difficult to buy old and thin, and that they will be healthier when they are older, and the risk of cardiovascular disease in clinically obese people is indeed higher, but thinness and health cannot be directly equated, especially the sudden weight loss of the elderly for no reason, and it may also be a signal of tumor.
Researchers from Harvard University have analyzed the data of nearly 160,000 middle-aged and elderly people with an average age of 62 years old, collected the weight data of the subjects in the form of questionnaires, and divided everyone into three groups of high, medium and low weight loss intentions according to whether they deliberately lost weight, and a total of 15,809 new cancers were reported during the follow-up period.
The analysis found that those who did not intend to lose weight had a higher risk of cancer if they experienced an inexplicable weight loss. Among participants with no intention of losing weight, weight loss of more than 5.1% to 10% over two years was associated with a 26% increased risk of cancer, and weight loss of more than 10% was associated with a 95% increased risk of cancer.
Losing more than 10% of body weight in two years is associated with a higher risk of developing gastrointestinal cancers, followed by hematologic cancers. Specifically, the risk of esophageal cancer, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, gastric cancer, and biliary tract cancer was increased by 643%, 516%, 228%, 218%, and 210%, respectively.
In addition, for subjects over 60 years of age, who had no intention of losing weight and lost more than 10% of their body weight in two years, the absolute risk of developing cancer in the next year was 3.2%.
The researchers cautioned that if there is unexplained weight loss in the near future, you should see a doctor as soon as possible to rule out cancer risk.
Under normal circumstances, weight < 10% of the standard body weight is emaciation, and the weight is generally measured by calculating the body mass index (BMI), the calculation formula is: weight (kg) / height (m) squared, the standard for adults is 18.5~23.9, and the result is < 18.5 is emaciation.
For example, a woman with a height of 168, weighs only 50kg, and her BMI is 17.7, which belongs to the emaciated group. If you lose another 5% of your body weight in a short period of time on this basis, you need to be even more vigilant.
Second, the elderly lose weight for no reason, and attention is a signal of 4 diseases
A person's weight will remain at a stable level without deliberate dieting or exercise to lose weight, and if you have lost weight inexplicably recently, it may be a warning sign from the body. Especially in the short term, weight loss for no reason should be beware of the following signs.
1. Hyperthyroidism
Hyperthyroidism is what we often call hyperthyroidism, a disease caused by the thyroid gland that continues to synthesize and secrete too much thyroid gland. Patients with this disease will have symptoms such as fatigue, heat intolerance, excessive sweating, and weight loss, in which weight loss is caused by increased body consumption and accelerated metabolism due to increased thyroid hormone secretion. This type of person eats a lot every day, but the weight will be lost all the time.
2. Diabetes
The most typical symptoms of diabetic patients are three more and one less, polydipsia, polyuria, polyphagia, and weight loss. Weight loss is due to insufficient insulin secretion, which causes the body to not make full use of glucose for energy, and can only consume protein and fat in the body, which naturally leads to weight loss.
3. Chronic digestive tract diseases
Patients suffering from chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer, ulcerative colitis and other digestive tract diseases have gastrointestinal dysfunction and digestive absorption disorders, and the gastrointestinal tract cannot normally decompose and absorb nutrients in food, which will cause dystrophy.
4. Cancer
Cancer cells in the body will constantly compete with normal cells for nutrients, causing the body to lose a lot of weight in a short period of time. In addition, cancer can cause chronic bleeding in the body, which can also lead to weight loss.
3. Reminder: If there are 6 manifestations in the body, cancer may have occurred
Cancer is a very complex disease that occurs over time. Many patients are unwell before they are diagnosed, but they do not pay attention to it in time, so that the best time for treatment is delayed. When the body has these symptoms, it must be highly vigilant that cancer is coming.
1. Unexplained lumps and nodules
If there is an abnormal lump or nodule on the body, it can be preliminarily judged to be benign or malignant according to its size, texture, border, and activity. If the nodule is 1 cm >, hard/fixed in texture, and has ill-defined borders and adhesions to surrounding tissues, it is likely to be malignant.
2. Unexplained persistent pain
If you have unexplained persistent pain in a part of your body that is not caused by trauma, do not blindly take painkillers, otherwise it is easy to cover up the condition, and it is recommended to go to the hospital for relevant examinations in time.
3. Weight loss and fatigue for no reason
In the absence of deliberate weight loss or dieting, significant weight loss and obvious fatigue may also be an early sign of cancer.
4. Unprovoked bleeding
Unexplained bleeding may also be associated with cancer, such as nosebleeds that may be caused by nasopharyngeal cancer, blood in the stool may be associated with bowel cancer, and blood in the urine may be associated with bladder cancer.
5. Persistent digestive abnormalities
Inexplicable symptoms such as indigestion, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting may be related to stomach cancer, liver cancer and other digestive cancers. In particular, if it lasts for a long time and cannot be relieved by adjusting the diet, it is more necessary to seek medical attention in time.
6. Persistent low-grade fever
The fever caused by cancer is mostly long-term low-grade fever, with a body temperature of 37.3~38 °C, generally no fever in the morning, and fever in the afternoon and evening.
When cancer occurs, there will be a lot of signals in the body, so you should pay more attention to observation every day, and seek medical attention in time if you find any abnormalities.
Resources:
[1] "JAMA: Beware of Cancer!" The Harvard team analyzed the data of nearly 160,000 people and found that more than 10% unwarranted weight loss in middle-aged and elderly people within two years was associated with a 95% increase in the risk of cancer. Singularity.com 2024-02-25
[2] "Parents suddenly lose weight, we must be vigilant against these 6 diseases". The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2024-08-21
[3] "Before cancer comes, we must be alert to these eight signals of the body, and we must not ignore them!" 》. International Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Center, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, October 9, 2024
Reproduction without the author's permission is prohibited