Cachexia - Disease Settings

Disease Settings

Cachexia is often seen in end-stage cancer, and in that context is called "cancer cachexia".

Patients with congestive heart failure can have a cachectic syndrome. Also, a cachexia comorbidity is seen in patients who have any of the range of illnesses classified as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, particularly emphysema.

In each of these settings, full-body wasting occurs, which affects especially the skeletal muscle, resulting in muscle atrophy. However, when presenting comorbidly with malabsorption syndrome, (as seen, for example, in Crohn's disease or celiac disease), simply consuming more food is not sufficient to reverse wasting and the malabsorption must be treated before the patient will be able to stabilize body mass.