According to one survey, about 49% of American adults tried to lose weight at some point.
While some people may be trying to lose weight, you might not be. If you haven’t been trying and notice that you’ve lost a lot of weight without trying, it may be a sign that you should worry.
Read on to find out the possible causes for your sudden, extreme weight loss.
1. Depression
Depression is one of the most common mental illnesses in the world, and one of the side effects is that it can cause you to lose weight by decreasing your appetite.
Most people with depression won’t even notice that they are losing weight because they have so little energy already. They may be too tired or distracted or irritable to eat.
If you have been in a bad mood lately and notice the weight loss, this may be a bigger cause for concern.
2. Loss of Muscle Mass
Muscle actually weighs more than fat, so if you lose some of your muscle mass, you may end up losing a lot more weight than anticipated.
If you have been losing muscle mass, one of the big symptoms you’ll notice is muscle weakness. You may notice that if you compare your arms or legs, the muscles are unproportionate.
This can happen if you haven’t used your muscles in a while from lack of exercising, working a desk job, or being bedridden.
If you are experiencing muscle loss, try and work out if you can to gain some of it back.
You could also lose muscle mass from other, more serious, issues. These could include aging, stroke, osteoporosis, nerve damage, and even multiple sclerosis.
3. Thyroid Issues
If you have issues with your thyroid, you could also have issues with your weight.
When your thyroid makes too many hormones, you will have hyperthyroidism. Your thyroid helps control your metabolism, which means that you’ll burn more calories than you should be if your thyroid is working overtime.
After a while, this could mean that you will end up losing a noticeable amount of weight just because your body is burning more calories.
In addition to that, you may notice symptoms like anxiety, being tired all the time, trouble sleeping, light periods, hand tremors, an irregular heart rate, and possibly depression.
Hyperthyroidism could be caused by taking too much iodine or having too much thyroid medicine. Something else may have also knocked your hormones out of balance.
However, a trip to your doctor should be able to help you fix this problem.
4. Celiac Disease
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that can be a problem when you ingest gluten. When you eat gluten, your immune system flags it as a foreign object and freaks out.
This reaction will mess up your small intestine, which can make it harder to digest the nutrients properly.
If you have this disease and eat gluten, it will start to damage your small intestine. After a while, this can lead to you losing a bit of weight.
There are normally other symptoms that accompany the weight loss, like bloating or diarrhea.
5. Type 1 Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes can also help explain your sudden weight loss.
Type 1 diabetes will destroy the cells in your pancreas that produce insulin, which means that you won’t have any energy. Your body uses glucose to make energy, and without insulin, it can’t do that.
If there is more glucose in your blood because it can’t be used, the kidneys will absorb the glucose and will get rid of more sugar than normal. This can cause you to start losing weight.
In addition to weight loss, you can also experience more frequent urination, irritability, blurred vision, hunger, and irritability.
6. Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is also a common cause of unexplained weight loss.
This is an overarching term for diseases that inflame and affect your bowels. The most common types are ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.
When your body is constantly inflamed, it will start to use up more energy which means that you will burn more calories.
The illness can also mess up your hunger hormone which will make you feel less hungry and stop eating as much as you used to.
If you think you have IBD, you may also experience symptoms such as fatigue, bloating, stomach pain, and diarrhea.
7. Cancer
Unfortunately, cancer can also make you lose weight. Sometimes cancer itself can cause weight loss, and sometimes it’s the treatment of cancer that proves to be a problem.
Cancer is a general term for any disease that will cause abnormal cells to grow rapidly and spread to the rest of your body. One of the first signs that cancer is starting to take over is a sudden weight loss.
This normally consists of ten or more pounds.
The treatment will depend on which type of cancer you have. If you have Mesothelioma, you can reach out and get mesothelioma help today.
8. Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is another condition that causes inflammation.
Your immune system will start to attack healthy tissues on accident, and this attack can sometimes cause the victim to lose their appetite.
When you aren’t eating as much, naturally you will start to lose weight as well. The inflammation can also affect your gut which can make it harder for your body to absorb and retain the nutrients it needs.
9. HIV
HIV will attack the T-cells in your immune system, making it harder for your body to fight infections. If it isn’t treated, it can lead to AIDS.
When it advances without treatment, you will end up losing some weight. You may also experience other symptoms such as a sore throat or achiness.
Learn More About Extreme Weight Loss Today
Extreme weight loss can sometimes be a good thing, but if you weren’t planning on losing weight, you may want to make an appointment with your doctor.
As you’ve seen, there can be many different factors that contribute to the problem.
For more health-related articles, make sure you check out some of our other blog posts!