cachexia

American  

[kuh-kek-see-uh] / kəˈkɛk si ə /

Also cachexy

noun

Pathology.

1. general ill health with emaciation, usually occurring in association with cancer or a chronic infectious disease.

---

cachexia British  

/ kəˈkɛksɪə, kəˈkɛksɪ, kəˈkɛktɪk /

noun

1. a generally weakened condition of body or mind resulting from any debilitating chronic disease

---

cachexia Scientific  

/ kə-kĕk′sē-ə /

1. Severe weight loss, anorexia, and general debility that occur as a result of chronic disease. Cachetic patients exhibit signs of malnutrition, including muscle wasting.

---

Other Word Forms

• cachectic adjective
• cachectical adjective
• cachexic adjective

Etymology

Origin of cachexia

1535–45; < Late Latin < Greek, equivalent to kak ( ós ) bad + héx ( is ) condition ( hek-, variant stem of échein to have + -sis -sis ) + -ia -ia

Example Sentences

"This discovery could have implications for cancer patients who experience cachexia, or muscle wasting due to the disease and its treatments."

From Science Daily • May 21, 2024

So, she says, it would be a “very particular situation” where a patient would have high lactate in the blood long enough to cause cachexia.

From Science Magazine • Apr. 2, 2024

Several years earlier, other international forensics experts had already rejected the official cause of death as cachexia, or weakness and wasting of the body due to chronic illness — in his case, cancer.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 20, 2024

It found inmates were "significantly malnourished" and dealing with a condition called cachexia, also known as wasting syndrome.

From BBC • Aug. 15, 2023

It generally runs a slow course, and when of large size, the resulting cachexia is serious.

From The Fijians A Study of the Decay of Custom by Thomson, Basil

Related Words

• affliction
• ailment
• disease
• malady
• sickness