When the body fat and protein decrease, and the weight loss exceeds 10% of the normal standard, it is called wasting. The wasting referred to here is generally progressive in the short term, with weight loss before and after the measured weight value, and there is obvious evidence of looser clothes, looser belts, larger shoes, and reduced subcutaneous fat, thin muscles, loose skin, prominent bones, etc. As for the weight loss after dehydration and edema subsides, it cannot be called wasting and does not belong to the scope of discussion in this section.
Causes of wasting
1, from the pathological point of view, digestive system diseases, diabetes, hyperthyroidism, hepatitis, kidney disease and many other diseases can cause the body to lose weight; long illness, malnutrition can also cause wasting.
2, physical, genetic factors, some body wasting people, to the hospital examination did not find any disease, usually can work normally, the body basically no discomfort performance. These people’s wasting may be related to physique, genetic factors, such as parents are wasting body type, most of the children are wasting.
3, life and eating habits of the factors: a large part of the wasting people is the diet and living habits of unscientific causes. Insufficient dietary intake, dietary allocation is not reasonable, irregular meals, learning and working under pressure, anxiety, mental tension, excessive fatigue, poor sleep, etc. will lead to wasting.
The harm of wasting
The same as obesity, thinness is a kind of subhealth. The body’s muscle and fat content is too low, the body mass index BMI less than 18.5 is wasting. The wasted person is not only easily tired, poor physical strength, and low resistance, poor immunity, cold and disease resistance, susceptible to a variety of diseases.
1, wasted middle-aged and elderly people are prone to osteoporosis.
2, wasted young people are often accompanied by gastrointestinal diseases.
3, thin women are prone to menstrual disorders and amenorrhea.
4, thin children have malnutrition and intellectual development problems.
Thinness is prone to common diseases of insufficient food intake
(1) food deficiency, partiality or improper feeding caused by emaciation: seen in pediatric malnutrition, rickets, etc.
(2)Wasting caused by feeding or swallowing difficulties: common in oral ulcers, mandibular arthritis, osteomyelitis and esophageal tumors, etc.
(3) Wasting caused by anorexia or loss of appetite: common in anorexia nervosa, chronic gastritis, hyperalgesia, acute and chronic infections, uremia and malignant tumors, etc.
Food digestion, absorption and utilization disorders
(1) Chronic gastrointestinal disease: common in gastric and duodenal ulcers, chronic gastritis, gastrointestinal tumors, chronic colitis, chronic enteritis, intestinal tuberculosis and clonorchiasis, etc.
(2) Endocrine and metabolic diseases: common in diabetes mellitus, etc.
(3) Other: long-standing laxatives or drugs that stimulate the gastrointestinal tract.
(4) Increased food needs or excessive consumption such as growth, development, pregnancy, lactation, overwork, hyperthyroidism, long-term fever, malignant tumors, trauma and after major surgery, etc.
Types of wasting
Simple wasting
Including: Somatic wasting: mainly non-progressive wasting, with a certain degree of heredity.
Exogenous wasting.
Usually influenced by various factors such as diet, living habits and psychology. Inadequate food intake, partial eating, anorexia, missed meals, irregular life and lack of exercise, as well as psychological factors such as high work pressure, mental stress and overwork are all causes of exogenous wasting.
Secondary wasting
The wasting caused by various diseases is called secondary wasting. Gastrointestinal diseases such as gastritis, gastric prolapse, gastric and duodenal ulcers, metabolic diseases such as hyperthyroidism, diabetes, chronic wasting diseases such as tuberculosis, liver disease, etc. may cause wasting. In addition, post-operative cholecystectomy and other post-operative abdominal surgery may also lead to wasting.
Prevention of wasting malnutrition
Wasting malnutrition is caused by a chronic lack of calories, protein and other nutrients in the diet.
The first symptom of wasting malnutrition is the lack of weight gain or even weight loss. If the disease is prolonged, the height may also be lower than normal. The subcutaneous fat layer is not plump or is completely lacking. The order of the subcutaneous fat layer is first in the abdomen, followed by the chest and back, then the upper and lower limbs and buttocks, and finally the forehead, neck and cheeks. When the fatty layer of facial skin gradually disappears, wrinkles form on the forehead, cheekbones protrude, and the chin becomes longer, forming an elderly appearance.
In the early stage of malnutrition, if only the face is looked at without whole body examination, the wasting is not easily detected. When the subcutaneous fat disappears in a large amount, the skin is dry, loose and loses elasticity. Initially, they often cry a lot and become irritable, and then become sluggish. Appetite is good at the beginning, then low and disappears, often with symptoms of acute digestive disorders such as vomiting and diarrhea.
Although the decrease in weight and height is not a specific clinical manifestation of wasting malnutrition, but still as a diagnostic indicator, some people talk about protein and caloric malnutrition into 3 levels according to the degree of weight loss at the same age.
Mild malnutrition: weight is 75% to 90% of the normal weight for the same age and sex.
Moderate malnutrition: weight for the same age, the same sex of the normal weight of 60% to 75%.
Severe malnutrition: weight for the same age, the same sex of the normal weight of 60% or less.
To prevent wasting malnutrition, breastfeeding should be promoted and supplementary food should be given reasonably. If the breast milk is not enough, should be supplemented with milk substitute food, in addition, should be made on time for vaccination to prevent the occurrence of infectious diseases, timely consultation with doctors to treat diseases or congenital malformations, in order to reduce the consumption of nutrients. When suffering from diseases other than digestive system, we should also pay attention to supplemental nutrition to improve the function of the intestinal tract, so that resistance can increase and the disease can be cured as soon as possible, so as not to lose weight due to prolonged illness.
Timely supplementation of high-quality protein and sufficient caloric energy is the main means of treatment of this disease, but because of long-term nutritional deficiencies in children, serious cases of digestive organs atrophy, digestive tract movement and digestive juice secretion is reduced, so the treatment of malnutrition, should adopt the principle of “progressive cycle, gradually enrichment. Nutrient supply should be from less to more, from simple to complex, do not greedy for more fast. According to the practical experience, some people summarize the treatment of malnutrition into 6 steps.
Children with mild malnutrition, the damage of human physiological function is not serious, can start from the third step in the table, to the fourth step when the treatment can be completed, move to the sixth step. It usually takes about 1 week from the beginning of treatment to the completion of treatment. The daily caloric energy can be controlled at 330~500 kJ/kg body weight. By the sixth step of consolidation phase, it can last for 1~2 weeks. If there is no stagnant food or diarrhea, steamed egg custard can be added daily and fish, minced meat and the like can be added gradually.
In moderately malnourished children, because of their weak digestion and poor tolerance to food, it is advisable to start with step 2 and gradually progress to step 3 in 5-7 days, and so on until step 5 treatment is completed. This phase is the adjustment and enrichment phase, usually 1~2 weeks.
Thereafter, enter the sixth step and consolidate for about 1 week. In addition, children with moderate malnutrition are prone to diarrhea, and it is advisable to increase food more slowly. When first correcting, food containing more protein and less fat can be added first, and starch can be added to supplement caloric energy, and when digestive function gradually recovers, appetite improves and stools are normal, more food can be added, and cooked soybean oil or cooked vegetable oil can be added to fish flour and rice soup or fish flour and rice paste to supplement fat. In the consolidation stage, whole cow’s milk can be used, 2 bottles per day, divided into 3~4 times, plus rotten porridge, steamed egg custard, etc., and 5 meals per day.
Severely malnourished children have even weaker digestion and very poor tolerance of food. Appetite is low or disappeared, it is necessary to start from the first step of supply, and gradually enrich and consolidate until the sixth step. In the first step, it is available for 3-7 days for observation and treatment, and when the digestive function gradually improves, it can be gradually progressed to the sixth step, and this stage usually takes 2-3 weeks.
Children with severe malnutrition can encounter many difficulties in treatment, such as refusal to eat, suffering from one or more significant vitamin deficiencies and secondary infections, so the progress of the diet can be advanced or retreated, and repeated several times. When adjusting nutrition, vitamins and minerals must be supplemented. At the beginning, supply water-soluble vitamins, and when the situation improves, gradually add vitamin A and vitamin D. Later, add calcium and iron.
In the treatment of malnourished children, the rational choice of food is particularly important. Protein food, mild malnourished children can use cow (lamb) milk (or milk powder), eggs, soy milk, fish powder, etc., and then gradually add minced meat, liver, etc. Most children with moderate or severe malnutrition are intolerant of whole cow’s milk or whole goat’s milk at the beginning. For infants with insufficient breast milk, they can be supplemented with skim milk, soy milk or fish meal, etc. After good digestion and absorption, whole milk, minced meat and minced liver can be added. For children over 6 months old, they can first eat tender steamed egg custard or a small amount of steamed fish. Steamed egg custard and steamed fish are less likely to cause diarrhea and are safer.
By the third part, fat can be supplemented with a small amount of vegetable oil (cooked soybean oil, peanut oil or sesame oil). Carbohydrates, available rice soup, flour paste, porridge and a small amount of sugar. Various vitamin supply, available drugs to supplement the food content is insufficient.
From the fourth to the sixth step, gradually add vegetable leaves, fruit juice and other supplementary foods to increase the intake of vitamins and minerals. In severe cases, fluids can be infused to correct water-electrolyte disorders, etc. If available, amino acid mixture or plasma can be infused several times, etc. After the condition improves, nutritional treatment can be carried out as described above.
How to register for consultation
According to the age and accompanying symptoms, it is not difficult to register.
1.Pediatrics should be registered for children with paranoia, anorexia and even wasting during their growth period.
2, Internal medicine, young adults with chronic fever and wasting, should consider the possibility of hyperthyroidism or tuberculosis, the first consultation listed in internal medicine.
3, endocrinology adult wasting, accompanied by excessive drinking, overeating, polyuria, or wasting with palpitations, sweating, irritability, hand trembling, hyperphagia, and wasting with anorexia, skin mucous membrane obvious black patients, should consider the possibility of diabetes, hyperthyroidism, Addison’s disease, registered endocrinology consultation.
4, gastroenterology wasting with loss of appetite, difficulty in eating or swallowing, acid reflux, abdominal distension, long-term diarrhea patients, should be registered gastroenterology.
5, psychiatry young female patients, wasting, anorexia, by all aspects of the examination are no organic lesions exist, should go to the psychiatric consultation.
6, a history of masturbation, should control masturbation, and promptly seek medical attention!
How to gain weight for thin people
Weight gain is similar to weight loss, is a gradual process, can not be rushed. If you want to gain weight effectively, you should first have an awareness that you must gain weight scientifically and gain weight healthily so that you will not be left with the aftermath.
We all know that usually thin people are a little picky about their food, so to gain weight healthily, the first point is that you should make more adjustments in the diet. In this regard, a balanced and reasonable diet is the key – the so-called balanced, is to increase the variety of food intake, a variety of food should be eaten, so as to intake a variety of nutrients, the so-called reasonable, is a variety of diets to maintain an intake of the amount, but not less, but also not more. The next is to increase the intake of some food that is conducive to gaining weight.
Can help gain weight food is mainly high-calorie, high-fat, high-sugar three high food, such as fried food, puffed food, meat food, and a variety of candy and cakes, ice cream, etc..
In addition, a good and sufficient sleep is also necessary to gain weight. If you usually pay attention to observe, you can find that those who are used to night life, as well as those who often stay up late at work, are basically thinner and weaker. So try to avoid staying up late in the day, it is best to go to bed at regular intervals to ensure adequate sleep. And good sleep quality, appetite will follow, the stomach and intestines can also better absorb nutrients.
For those who are sedentary, to gain weight, you should increase your exercise time accordingly, because exercise not only strengthens the body, but also can effectively cover the appetite.
In addition to these methods, you can also choose a more appropriate fattening products to help you easily gain weight.