Many people are slaving away at the gym and counting every calorie to try to shed pounds. Others, however, find that they lose weight without making any changes to their diet or physical activity levels. Unintentional weight loss can happen for a number of reasons -- and some can be serious health problems.
Thyroid Disorders
Your thyroid hormone helps to control your body's metabolism, which directly affects how you burn calories and your weight. Changes in your hormone levels can result in losing weight without trying. Hyperthyroidism, or overactive thyroid, commonly causes unintentional weight loss as it can speed up metabolism.
Mental Health Issues
Anxiety, depression, stress and worry can affect your physical health and weight. Although in some people, these factors might lead to weight gain, such mental health issues can also lead to unintentional weight loss. You might not be eating enough because you're stressed, worried or depressed, or you may have lost your appetite.
Digestive Disorders
Some digestive disorders can affect the way your body absorbs nutrients from food, resulting in malnourishment and weight loss. MayoClinic.com says inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease and peptic ulcer disease are a few digestive disorders that can result in weight loss despite eating plenty of calories. Suffering from chronic diarrhea can not only cause dehydration, but also significant weight loss.
Chronic Diseases
Unintentional weight loss might be a sign of a serious health condition. Cancer can cause you to lose weight without trying, as can heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other lung diseases. People with serious cardiovascular disease might also drop weight unintentionally. Those who have suffered a stroke or have Parkinson's or Alzheimer's disease might also lose weight due to their diseases. Eating disorders, AIDS, an infection and abuse of drugs are other possible causes of unintentional weight loss, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
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