Cachexia

Cachexia disease. “Cachexia” is translated from Greek as “evil eye.” This disease is characterized by a complete refusal to eat and weight approaching zero. Scientists distinguish several types of illness: • nervous, having a nervous and endocrine nature; • endogenous with characteristic symptoms of the disorder

Cachexia is a pathological emaciation accompanied by a significant decrease in muscle mass and changes in metabolic processes in the body. The disease was first described in 1916 by the French surgeon Belleman while analyzing 323 cases of malignant stomach tumors. His classmate and colleague Voisin was convinced that cachexia was caused not by the tumor itself, but by tumor decay products and toxins. In fact, this theory was refuted, since similar clinical signs were observed in other diseases and, conversely, with a malignant tumor, there were no symptoms of anorexia.

Cachexia is characteristic only of tumor diseases of the colon and mammary gland; in other cases, the pathogenesis remains unknown. Patients experience wasting, muscle wasting and atrophy, usually anemia due to loss of iron from gastrointestinal bleeding, severe malnutrition and impaired mineral metabolism as increased excretion occurs.