It’s common to experience small weight swings of up to one kilogram caused by brief adjustments to your food intake or exercise routine. However, more significant unintentional weight loss typically necessitates medical treatment, particularly when coupled with other symptoms like loss of appetite. Consult this PDF If you have lost more than 4.5kg (10lb) in a period of 10 weeks or less, or if you have noticed any of the weight loss symptoms listed in the box below.
WEIGHT LOSS DURING PREGNANCY
In the first three months of pregnancy, most women experience some weight loss, mostly as a result of nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite. Unless you lose more than 4 kg (8lb) this is not considered an issue. It is best to see a doctor in this situation because it could indicate that your persistent vomiting is keeping you from getting enough nutrition. By the 12th week of pregnancy, nausea and vomiting should have subsided, and by the 14th–16th week, you should start gaining weight. You should do so at a rate of roughly 0.5kg (1lb) per week until the 38th week.
Unexplained weight loss
Consult your doctor if you don’t gain weight at a reasonable rate or if you start to lose weight after the first three months. In order to make sure that the placenta is working well, and the baby is developing regularly, he or she will make sure that you are eating adequately and may schedule tests like urine and blood analysis as well as possible ultrasound scan. It is crucial that you visit your doctor for prenatal care frequently throughout your pregnancy so that an eye may be kept on your weight growth and appropriate action can be taken.
SIGNS OF WEIGHT LOSS
Always consider the occurrence of weight loss without conscious effort to lose weight seriously, especially if other symptoms point to a potential medical condition. The following indications could point to weight loss if you don’t weigh yourself frequently:
- People remark on how different you now look.
- You develop sunken cheeks.
- Your skirts or pants start to hang loosely around your waist.
- Your collars on shirts start to sag.
- A smaller bra is necessary.
HIV AND AIDS
The human immunodeficiency virus infection that leads to AIDS is a condition that affects the body’s immune defense system (HIV). It is a chronic condition that leads to generalized symptoms such sweating, weight loss, and swollen lymph glands. People who have the disease also become far more vulnerable to some cancers, as well as infections of the lungs and digestive system.
The illness was discovered in 1981. Antiviral medications have now been demonstrated to reduce the disease’s progression; up until the late 1980s, it was believed that the sickness was fatal once symptoms appeared. The outlook should continue to improve as more potent medications are created.
Both blood transfusions and sexual contact can transmit the HIV virus. AIDS was initially thought to be a condition that only affected homosexual males who had frequent sex partners, but it now affects men, women, and children all around the world in the same manner that other sexually transmitted diseases like syphilis or hepatitis B do.
Sharing unsterilized needles is another way that drug addicts spread disease. Blood transfusions are now safe after numerous patients, mostly hemophiliacs, were infected by the transfusion of contaminated blood in the early 1980s. As a result, testing protocols were put in place.
A person with HIV may not exhibit any symptoms at all or may experience a brief sickness lasting one to two weeks with signs and symptoms comparable to those of other viral illnesses. (Fever, sore throat, swollen lymph glands, aching muscles and loss of energy). Although there are no symptoms or indicators of infection for months or even years, the person is still contagious during this incubation period.
The loss of a specific type of white blood cell, the T4 lymphocytes, has been impairing the body’s immune system throughout this time. Eventually, symptoms appear; these may be limited to a simple skin condition, a lung infection, or indications of a viral brain infection. This is typically followed by repeated infections that get steadily more severe over time, severe weight loss, persistent diarrhea, and frequently a form of skin cancer called Kaposi’s sarcoma. Long-term research has revealed that, although some HIV-infected individuals continue to appear healthy, approximately half to two thirds of them manifest AIDS symptoms within 10 years.
Zidovudine (AZT), an antiviral medication, is used to treat HIV infection. It delays the loss of T4 cells, which in turn slows the disease’s progression. Researchers are currently searching for other successful medications and, ultimately, a vaccine.
Infection prevention
The prevention of HIV infection depends on safe sex. This means that men need to use condoms at all times. HIV can be transmitted during anal, vaginal, and possibly even oral intercourse. The possibility that viruses could occasionally escape through a condom raises some anxiety. By staying in a monogamous relationship with a partner you know is HIV-negative, you can reduce your risk of getting sick. For information on AIDS and safe sex, speak with your physician, the closest STD clinic, or the public health department.