When a person loses weight. Why does a person suddenly lose weight?

Eating what you want and as much as you want, not knowing what gyms and grueling workouts are, and at the same time losing weight - isn’t this the dream of every woman, and, probably, of many men who are dissatisfied with their figure?

However, this is not everyone’s cherished dream. There are quite a large number of people for whom weight loss is a problem, especially when five to seven kilograms are desired and long-awaited...

In addition, sudden weight loss in many cases can be a symptom of serious malfunctions in the body, a signal of the development of some disease.

If the weight ranges from plus 1-2 kilograms to minus 1-2 kilograms, this is within normal limits. However, if you lose more than 5% of weight, and you haven’t made any special changes to your diet and you haven’t experienced any nervous shocks, this should alert you.

Natural and understandable reasons for weight loss are:

  • malnutrition,
  • increased physical activity and its consequence – increased energy expenditure.

However, there are other reasons, not so “harmless”, which are worth talking about separately.

If you have been trying to gain the missing weight for a long time, using all possible methods (five balanced meals a day, drinking regimen, regularly cleansing the body of toxins, etc.), but the desired kilograms still do not come, but, on the contrary, are melting, check if you have any of these seven reasons are present:

Seven reasons for weight loss

  1. Depression. This is the most common cause of sudden weight loss. People who are depressed have different taste sensations. Whatever they eat, it doesn’t taste good to them, and accordingly, they have problems with their appetite. In addition to a depressive state or neurosis, an exacerbation of gastrointestinal diseases, such as gastritis, or, for example, is added. And the lack of appetite is also accompanied by discomfort after eating.

If you are apathetic, have a bad mood, slow reactions, and at the same time have a sharp weight loss, it is quite possible that you should consult a psychotherapist.

  1. Hormonal disorders. In our body there are organs responsible for the production of the most important hormones: the thyroid gland, pancreas, pituitary gland and adrenal glands. The hormones they produce are responsible for the metabolism and how intense it will be. The more such hormones are produced, the faster the metabolism, which means that the body no longer has enough calories that it receives from food; the calories are burned too quickly. If there are problems with the organs of the endocrine system, these problems begin to affect your weight.

A person may have an increased appetite, but if he suffers from type 1 diabetes (insulin-dependent) or hyperthyroidism, he will lose weight quickly. Other signs of the presence of these diseases, in addition to sudden weight loss, are: rapid pulse, weakness, mood problems, dry skin, frequent urination, constant feeling of thirst.

If these conditions are familiar to you, you should definitely visit an endocrinologist who will prescribe blood tests for glucose, a general blood test, and thyroid hormones (TSH, T3, T4).


Tuberculosis also often leads to weight loss. The causative agent of the infection requires a significant expenditure of energy from the body to fight it, plus patients with tuberculosis often complain of problems with appetite. To weight loss, as a symptom of tuberculosis, you can add a prolonged cough with sputum, body temperature above 37° for a long time, night sweats and general weakness.

No matter how many obvious symptoms you discover, a visit to a specialist cannot be avoided. This could be an infectious disease specialist or a general practitioner. Fluorography and all kinds of tests are a frequent program for diagnosing and identifying the cause of problems.

  1. Diseases of the gallbladder and pancreas. Diseases such as cholecystitis and pancreatitis can cause underweight. As a result of these diseases, the digestion process is disrupted; many nutrients are not absorbed by the body properly. In addition, people with such problems feel discomfort after eating, and may experience pain in the right hypochondrium, diarrhea, and the stool has a greasy sheen.

It is necessary to exclude fatty and spicy foods from the diet, and take food in small portions and often. You also need to visit a gastroenterologist, who, based on a stool analysis and ultrasound of the abdominal organs, will be able to tell you something definite.

  1. Problems with the intestines and stomach. These can be atrophic gastritis and enterocolitis, ulcers and hepatitis, colitis and cirrhosis of the liver. The gastrointestinal mucosa atrophies, which leads to problems with digestion and absorption of nutrients. Of course, if the cells are starved, the body begins to lose weight. Bloating, heaviness in the abdomen and pain, constipation or diarrhea - these are the unpleasant symptoms of these disorders.

Cells that lack vitamins and microelements are not able to fully perform their functions. Dry skin and the presence of... will tell you about this.

  1. Cancer. There is such a term - cancer cachexia, in which a person not only loses a significant amount of weight, but also his general condition worsens. The perception of taste changes not for the better, appetite is almost completely absent. There is a disruption of metabolic processes in the body: with proper nutrition, both fat mass and muscle mass steadily decrease. Of course, there is also a psychological factor: a person who has learned his diagnosis begins to lose weight due to the onset and development of depression. Weight is also lost during chemotherapy.

With lymphoma and lymphogranulomatosis, one of the first symptoms is sudden weight loss. Other symptoms include: enlarged lymph nodes in the neck, groin and armpits, and these nodes are painless.

Leukemia also promotes weight loss.

If you feel constant weakness, get tired quickly, or have a body temperature above normal for a long time, such symptoms should not be taken lightly. Be sure to consult a general practitioner. And he will determine whether you need to see a hematologist or oncologist, where you will have to take blood tests, do an x-ray, tomography of the abdominal and chest cavity, a biopsy or puncture (the type of examination depends on the identified disease).

  1. Surgery or long-term illness.“Disease does not make a person beautiful” - we have known this truth for a long time. An exhausted appearance and weakness are accompanying physical problems. In this case, time and special therapeutic nutrition help, giving the body a large amount of calories and saturating the cells with nutrients.

Learn more about the reasons for weight loss in this video:

Taking care of your health is a vital necessity, and not a hobby that you do according to your mood. If you take care of your body and regularly engage in disease prevention, you will not only avoid possible diseases, but also stop the development of existing ones. Nothing could be more important in your home than a healthy family. The body itself is capable of recovering, it only sometimes needs help in this. And then the problem of sudden weight loss will cease to exist.

What can make a person lose weight?

Source: http://info-4all.ru/zdorove-i-medicina/ot-chego-chelovek-mozhet-hudet/

Why does a person lose weight

Another reason why a person loses weight may be the presence of destructive processes or serious diseases in the body. At the same time, a person loses weight, and sometimes quite actively and quickly.

This expression has its own history, but now about something else: why does a person lose weight without going on a diet? Each of us knows people who don’t think about extra calories, and yet never gain weight.

But there may be other reasons. A person can easily cope with most of the reasons on his own. Let's look at some reasons for losing weight due to illness.

Attention!

To understand why a person suddenly began to lose pounds, it is necessary to find the reason; perhaps it is hidden in the body. If, with a good appetite and healthy appearance, a teenager begins to lose weight sharply, then this is a fairly common phenomenon, which is associated with the peculiarities of the restructuring of the growing body.

Many people tend to lose weight sharply due to strong experiences and stress, because at this time all their energy goes into solving problems.

It all depends on how long the weight loss process lasts, what harm it caused to the body, how many kilograms the person lost, what the reason was, and after what time the treatment was prescribed.

After studying the consequences of the disease, a person will not think for a long time: “Why am I losing weight for no reason,” but will immediately consult a doctor or consult with a specialist. When a person quickly loses weight during active sports, training must be stopped for a while.

Perhaps these are the characteristics of the body, excellent metabolism. Man has always obtained food in order to survive. People grew vegetables, grains, fished and hunted animals. To do this, it is enough to get rid of stress, worries, balance the load, etc. But the last reason requires the intervention of doctors.

At the same time, the intake of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals into the body is sharply reduced. In this case, appetite does not disappear, but the incoming nutrients are not retained in the body.

If you begin to notice a rapid loss of kilograms for no apparent reason, be sure to undergo a medical examination.

But it often happens differently: a person tries not to notice the sudden weight loss and reassures himself that there are no other symptoms of the disease. Let's look at some diseases that can cause significant weight loss. 1. Type 1 diabetes mellitus. This is a very common reason for weight loss. Please note: most people with type 2 diabetes are overweight and obese people.

This is a disease in which the metabolism is disrupted, it produces too many hormones, and the metabolism accelerates. These and other problems lead to increased appetite. 4. Oncological diseases in most cases cause weight loss.

Diseases that make you lose weight

Age-related metabolic disorders in older people can lead to both severe weight gain and rapid weight loss. However, there are a number of diseases that lead to rapid depletion of the body and cause excessive thinness.

This type of disease includes chronic pancreatitis, stomach cancer and many other pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract. Such diseases include helminthic infestations and diabetes mellitus. Diseases that consume a person's vitality. Usually in such cases the person’s weight decreases. It turns out that you can lose weight without dieting, just by eating foods that promote this process.

Proper weight loss is possible by eating grapefruit. The minimum calorie content and quick saturation are possible due to the fiber content in them. This substance takes a long time to be digested by the body, and therefore the feeling of hunger returns much more slowly.

Of course yes. Any porridge is a long-lasting carbohydrate that quickly brings a feeling of fullness and prevents the feeling of hunger from appearing for a long time. Porridge is much more difficult to digest than other foods, which is the reason for the body's additional energy consumption. Cereals have a fairly high calorie content due to the fatty acids they contain.

Spicy food lovers actually lose weight faster than others. And the reason is that food seasoned with hot spices can speed up various metabolic processes in the body.

This seasoning is not spicy, but can reduce fats, sugar and cholesterol in the blood. Perhaps one of the most effective means for losing weight is plain water.

People need water in fairly large quantities, but we do not always fill this need.

Wanting to lose extra pounds quickly and in sufficiently large quantities, many begin to “sit down” on diuretic diets or exhaust themselves in the gym. As it turned out, the human brain is able to confuse the signals of hunger and thirst, since they come from the same area.

Every person should know that sudden weight loss is a great stress for the body, and visiting a doctor is an integral procedure for maintaining health. One of the most common reasons for losing weight is loss of energy.

For example, when a person is actively involved in sports for a long time, he uses all his energy reserves. The presence of infectious diseases can also contribute to rapid weight loss.

According to statistics, people rapidly lose weight during the cold season: the body requires colossal energy to warm itself.

When a person begins to lose weight for no reason, becomes nervous, irritable, it is necessary to immediately sound the alarm. And, despite people's awareness of the causes of obesity, this problem in the world is becoming increasingly acute.

Source: http://netokaseryg.ru/pochemu-chelovek-khudeet/

Reasons for sudden weight loss

Eating what you want and as much as you want, not knowing what gyms and grueling workouts are, and at the same time losing weight - isn’t this the dream of every woman, and, probably, of many men who are dissatisfied with their figure?

However, this is not everyone’s cherished dream. There are quite a large number of people for whom weight loss is a problem, especially when five to seven kilograms are desired and long-awaited...

In addition, sudden weight loss in many cases can be a symptom of serious malfunctions in the body, a signal of the development of some disease.

Attention!

If the weight ranges from plus 1-2 kilograms to minus 1-2 kilograms, this is within normal limits. However, if you lose more than 5% of weight, and you haven’t made any special changes to your diet and you haven’t experienced any nervous shocks, this should alert you.

Natural and understandable reasons for weight loss are:

  • malnutrition,
  • increased physical activity and its consequence – increased energy expenditure.

However, there are other reasons, not so “harmless”, which are worth talking about separately.

If you have been trying to gain the missing weight for a long time, using all possible methods (five balanced meals a day, drinking regimen, regularly cleansing the body of toxins, etc.), but the desired kilograms still do not come, but, on the contrary, are melting, check if you have any of these seven reasons are present:

Seven reasons for weight loss

  1. Depression. This is the most common cause of sudden weight loss. People who are depressed have different taste sensations. Whatever they eat, it doesn’t taste good to them, and accordingly, they have problems with their appetite.

    In addition to a depressive state or neurosis, an exacerbation of gastrointestinal diseases, such as gastritis or ulcers, for example, is added. And the lack of appetite is also accompanied by discomfort after eating.

If you are apathetic, have a bad mood, slow reactions, and at the same time have a sharp weight loss, it is quite possible that you should consult a psychotherapist.

  1. Hormonal disorders. In our body there are organs responsible for the production of the most important hormones: the thyroid gland, pancreas, pituitary gland and adrenal glands. The hormones they produce are responsible for the metabolism and how intense it will be. The more such hormones are produced, the faster the metabolism, which means that the body no longer has enough calories that it receives from food; the calories are burned too quickly. If there are problems with the organs of the endocrine system, these problems begin to affect your weight.

A person may have an increased appetite, but if he suffers from type 1 diabetes (insulin-dependent) or hyperthyroidism, he will lose weight quickly. Other signs of the presence of these diseases, in addition to sudden weight loss, are: rapid pulse, weakness, mood problems, dry skin, frequent urination, constant feeling of thirst.

Tuberculosis also often leads to weight loss.

The causative agent of the infection requires a significant expenditure of energy from the body to fight it, plus patients with tuberculosis often complain of problems with appetite.

To weight loss, as a symptom of tuberculosis, you can add a prolonged cough with sputum, body temperature above 37° for a long time, night sweats and general weakness.

No matter how many obvious symptoms you discover, a visit to a specialist cannot be avoided. This could be an infectious disease specialist or a general practitioner. Fluorography and all kinds of tests are a frequent program for diagnosing and identifying the cause of problems.

  1. Diseases of the gallbladder and pancreas. Diseases such as cholecystitis and pancreatitis can cause underweight. As a result of these diseases, the digestion process is disrupted; many nutrients are not absorbed by the body properly. In addition, people with such problems feel discomfort after eating, nausea, pain in the right hypochondrium, diarrhea, and the stool may have a greasy sheen.

It is necessary to exclude fatty and spicy foods from the diet, and take food in small portions and often. You also need to visit a gastroenterologist, who, based on a stool analysis and ultrasound of the abdominal organs, will be able to tell you something definite.

  1. Problems with the intestines and stomach. These can be atrophic gastritis and enterocolitis, ulcers and hepatitis, colitis and cirrhosis of the liver.

    The gastrointestinal mucosa atrophies, which leads to problems with digestion and absorption of nutrients. Of course, if the cells are starved, the body begins to lose weight.

    Bloating, heaviness in the abdomen and pain, constipation or diarrhea - these are the unpleasant symptoms of these disorders.

Cells that lack vitamins and microelements are not able to fully perform their functions. Dry skin, brittle nails, bleeding gums and anemia will tell you this.

  1. Cancer. There is a term - cancer cachexia, in which a person not only loses a significant amount of weight, but also his general condition worsens. The perception of taste changes not for the better, appetite is almost completely absent. There is a disruption of metabolic processes in the body: with proper nutrition, both fat mass and muscle mass steadily decrease. Of course, there is also a psychological factor: a person who has learned his diagnosis begins to lose weight due to the onset and development of depression. Weight is also lost during chemotherapy.

With lymphoma and lymphogranulomatosis, one of the first symptoms is sudden weight loss. Other symptoms include: enlarged lymph nodes in the neck, groin and armpits, and these nodes are painless.

Leukemia also promotes weight loss.

If you feel constant weakness, get tired quickly, or have a body temperature above normal for a long time, such symptoms should not be taken lightly. Be sure to consult a general practitioner.

And he will determine whether you need to see a hematologist or oncologist, where you will have to take blood tests, do an x-ray, tomography of the abdominal and chest cavity, a biopsy or puncture (the type of examination depends on the identified disease).

  1. Surgery or long-term illness.“Disease does not make a person beautiful” - we have known this truth for a long time. An exhausted appearance and weakness are accompanying physical problems. In this case, time and special therapeutic nutrition help, giving the body a large amount of calories and saturating the cells with nutrients.

Learn more about the reasons for weight loss in this video:

Taking care of your health is a vital necessity, and not a hobby that you do according to your mood.

If you take care of your body and regularly engage in disease prevention, you will not only avoid possible diseases, but also stop the development of existing ones. Nothing could be more important in your home than a healthy family.

The body itself is capable of recovering, it only sometimes needs help in this. And then the problem of sudden weight loss will cease to exist.

Sudden weight loss (emaciation) in the medical literature is referred to as “cachexia.” The immediate causes of exhaustion are accelerated catabolism and impaired absorption of lipid, carbohydrate and protein compounds.

Important:A good reason to seek help from specialists is losing 5% of weight in a short time!

Reasons for sudden weight loss in men

It is safe to say that most of the factors that contribute to rapid weight loss are common to men and women.

Reasons for sudden weight loss in men include:

Important:Diseases of infectious origin that cause cachexia include, in particular.

Nowadays, many men are subject to frequent emotional stress. Stressful situations lead to sudden weight loss in most representatives of the stronger sex.

In addition to sudden weight loss, stress causes:

  • sleep disturbance();
  • rapid physical and mental fatigue;
  • irritability.

In some cases, men find it difficult to cope with stress and need the help of an experienced psychotherapist, but many are embarrassed to see a doctor. Over time, the situation becomes more and more aggravated, which can lead to serious metabolic disorders, the development of a number of diseases or exacerbation of existing chronic pathologies.

Often, sudden weight loss in men is caused by dysfunction of the internal secretion organs (hormonal pathologies).

Diseases of the thyroid gland (in particular -) can cause an acceleration of metabolism, i.e. excessively rapid burning of calories supplied through the diet. In such cases, sudden weight loss develops even against the background of a sedentary lifestyle and consumption of high-calorie foods.

Signs of increased levels of thyroid hormones (a characteristic sign of hyperthyroidism) are:

  • rapid weight loss (10 kg or more) with increased appetite;
  • (excessive sweating even in a cool room);
  • constant tachycardia (up to 140 beats/min.);
  • trembling fingers;
  • increased nervous excitability;
  • irritability;
  • sleep disorders;
  • sexual dysfunction (decreased libido and).

If such symptoms appear, you should urgently seek help from an endocrinologist. The sooner adequate treatment is started, the sooner recovery can be achieved.

The cause of sudden weight loss can also be such a serious and insidious disease as.

Symptoms of the pathology are:

  • weight loss accompanied by a significant increase in appetite;
  • constant feeling of thirst;
  • the smell of acetone from the patient’s mouth;
  • (not always).

If one or more symptoms appear, it is recommended not to delay your visit to the doctor; first you need to take a test. Early diagnosis is the key to successful treatment of the disease.

Another reason for sudden weight loss is... It is believed that helminthic infestations occur mainly in children. This is not entirely true. Infection is possible not only if personal hygiene rules are not followed, but also by consuming meat or fish that has not undergone sufficient heat treatment. Men often eat poorly fried foods while relaxing in nature.

Clinical signs of helminthiases:

Note:In men, worms can cause early baldness.

Unfortunately, in some cases, sudden weight loss is caused by much more serious reasons - in particular, cancer of the digestive system. With malignant neoplasms, significant weight loss in a short period of time may be one of the first symptoms. If there are no other visible causes of cachexia, it is strongly recommended to undergo examination by an oncologist. It is possible that this will help to identify a tumor in the initial stages of development and begin complex therapy in a timely manner.

Cachexia is very typical for people suffering from chronic. Women are also susceptible to the disease, but it is more common among men. A harmful addiction to alcohol causes damage to the liver and gastrointestinal tract. Alcohol abuse disrupts the absorption of nutrients in the intestines, which causes sudden weight loss even with a normal diet. In addition, during periods of heavy drinking, patients eat very little or refuse food altogether, which leads to rapid exhaustion.

Severe thinness is a characteristic external feature of patients suffering from tuberculosis. An active process is characterized by sudden weight loss.

Rapid weight loss is often caused by opportunistic infections.

Reasons for sudden weight loss in women

Women suffer from stress no less than men. Against the background of psycho-emotional stress, representatives of the fair sex often develop. This nervous disorder is also characterized by loss of appetite, leading to sudden weight loss.

A common cause of exhaustion is a disorder characteristic of women -. Young girls who believe (often completely unfoundedly) that they are overweight are more susceptible to it. Patients refuse to eat, and if they are forced to eat, they artificially induce vomiting. Over time, the obsession with losing weight leads to the formation of an aversion to food. Anorexia often causes irreversible disorders in the body, which may well cause death.

Symptoms of tuberculosis are weakness, loss of strength, drowsiness, sudden weight loss and coughing attacks not associated with respiratory diseases. If there has been contact with a carrier of the infection and similar clinical signs appear, you should immediately contact a therapist and phthisiatrician and do

Why am I losing weight for no reason? What are the consequences of the disease? Do I need to see a doctor or will it “go away on its own”? Every person should know that sudden weight loss is a great stress for the body, and visiting a doctor is an integral procedure for maintaining health.

A person can lose weight for no reason for a long period, and during this time there will be a load on the internal organs.

When a person begins to lose weight for no reason, becomes nervous, irritable, it is necessary to immediately sound the alarm. The sooner you start acting, the more effective the treatment will be.

“I’m losing weight for no reason” - the consequences of the disease

The consequences of the disease can be completely different. It all depends on how long the weight loss process lasts, what harm it caused to the body, how many kilograms the person lost, what the reason was, and after what time the treatment was prescribed.

  • Muscle weakness develops, prolonged constipation occurs, and the person becomes quite lethargic and indifferent.
  • The main functions of the endocrine glands change.
  • The size of the heart decreases.
  • There are noticeable disruptions in the breathing process.
  • Gradual destruction of the liver occurs.
  • If, during the process of sudden weight loss, a person’s brain stops receiving glucose, a decrease in mental activity occurs: concentration of attention is disrupted (the person becomes distracted, looks lost or scared); the patient incorrectly perceives the surrounding reality.

After studying the consequences of the disease, a person will not think for a long time: “Why am I losing weight for no reason,” but will immediately consult a doctor or consult with a specialist.

As for the aesthetic side, the patient’s appearance changes greatly: folds appear, the skin becomes flabby and sagging on the buttocks, abdomen, chest and other noticeable places. It turns out that the body functions in a certain mode, and if sudden weight loss occurs, malfunctions begin to occur. They leave a mark not only on the appearance of a person, but also on the internal organs.

Among other things, an unplanned hormonal imbalance will affect your teeth, hair, and nails. And that's not all: let's take the psychological side of the disease. People who suddenly lose weight become embittered and react inappropriately to others. These factors can trigger the onset of a disease called anorexia.

Anorexia is a disease that involves complete or partial refusal of food. A person can die if he is not helped in time.

Losing weight for no reason: treatment

Before starting treatment, it is necessary to establish the reason for the weight loss. When it is installed, experts offer the following solution to the problem:

One way or another, seeing a doctor is the main recipe for the disease.

About 40% of the adult population of the Earth have been struggling with excess weight their entire adult lives. A matter of honor, so to speak. And there are people who are forced to decide how to gain the missing kilograms due to rapid weight loss. A person who has lost a lot of weight and has made more than one attempt to get back into shape begins to worry seriously about his health. “Why am I losing weight for no reason” is a rather incorrect way of asking the question. The reason for what is happening may not be obvious, but, nevertheless, it is always there. A person quickly losing weight must find the “beginning” of the problem, which probably lies in the body, and only then look for a diet to regain the previous weight.

Weight loss and human age

It has been scientifically proven that a man loses weight faster than a woman. This is how the body of the strong half of humanity works - it was initially designed for heavy loads, so accelerated metabolism “burns” weight very quickly. If a person’s energy expenditure (men or women, it doesn’t matter) is not proportional to their weight loss, the cause may be an undiagnosed disease. You should immediately consult a doctor when a person “melts” before your eyes, despite a good appetite.

In older people, age-related metabolic disorders can cause not only severe weight loss, but also rapid weight gain. The question of why teenagers lose weight without any reason is even easier to answer. If a growing child has a good appetite, a healthy appearance and no complaints, rapid weight loss may be associated with the physiological characteristics of the growing body. Moreover, weight loss is not always uniform: for example, arms and legs may first stretch out and lose weight, then the face becomes thinner and the torso decreases in volume.

What diseases make us lose weight?

There are many somatic diseases and mental conditions that contribute to rapid weight loss. Some of them, unfortunately, are so serious that traditional medicine recipes alone cannot be used to treat them. Let's look at some of them.

General classification of diseases that cause weight loss

  1. Diseases associated with loss of appetite, in which the body does not fully receive the vitamin-mineral complexes and nutrients it needs. Such diseases include chronic pancreatitis, ulcerative colitis, stomach cancer and other gastrointestinal pathologies. Also in this group is anorexia, a disease of mental origin.
  2. Diseases that disrupt metabolism, making it impossible for the body to accumulate nutrients. These are, for example, diabetes mellitus, celiac disease, helminthic infestations.
  3. Diseases that “eat up” all a person’s vital energy. These include spastic paralysis, oncology, thyrotoxicosis.
  4. Nervous exhaustion of the body, chronic psychogenic stress. The answer to the common question “Why do you lose weight when you’re nervous?” obvious. All energy resources are spent on solving complex problems, and even the appetite disappears due to stress. All often nervous people, as a rule, are not curvy.
  5. The recovery period after a complex injury or illness. Few people have a rested, blooming appearance after protracted serious illnesses. In such a situation, weight begins to decline.

Some examples of diseases that cause weight loss


A person who goes to the doctor and has lost weight for no apparent reason is certainly doing the right thing. If nothing hurts, but the weight is “burning off,” you can’t console yourself with the hope that nothing bad is happening. Sudden weight loss may be only the first symptom of a serious illness. The sooner the “enemy” is identified, the more likely it is that victory will be yours!