For women, menopause — which occurs most often between ages 45 and 55 — causes a significant drop in estrogen that encourages extra pounds to settle around the belly, explains Dr. This shift in fat storage may make the weight gain more noticeable and increase the risk of high blood pressure , heart disease, high cholesterol , and type 2 diabetes. In addition, Griebeler notes, fluctuations in estrogen levels during perimenopause , the years leading up to menopause, may cause fluctuations in mood that make it more difficult to stick to a healthy diet and exercise plan.
As a result, the average weight gain during the transition to menopause is about five pounds, according to UC San Diego Health. Men, on the other hand, experience a significant drop in testosterone as they age, which begins to gradually decline around age 40 at a rate of about 1 to 2 percent per year, notes Harvard Health.
Testosterone is responsible for, among other things, regulating fat distribution and muscle strength and mass. In other words, declines in it can make the body less effective at burning calories. That decrease in muscle mass is likely to slow your metabolism , a complex process that converts calories into energy. Having more fat and less muscle reduces calorie burning.
So do certain health conditions, such as hypothyroidism. This amount of weight loss does sound concerning. I would definitely recommend that you see a health provider and ask for an evaluation.
An initial evaluation for this type of weight loss can be done during a primary care visit. Good luck! Father 94 years old blood test and urine test normal.
He has lost 60 lbs in three years. Doctor said she will check for lung and pancreatic cancer. He eats 2, calories a day. Should I be concern? If your father is eating calories per day and still losing weight, I would recommend you keep asking the doctor questions about what they have checked for and how they plan to evaluate further. How tall are you. Hello Leslie, Greetings from me! My mother age 70, weight 35 kilos. She feels weakness, nausea every day. Please advise.
Hello and thanks for your kind greeting! Diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis, and the medications used to treat those conditions, can interfere with appetite and have side effects that include nausea.
If I were giving advice to someone in your situation, I would start by looking at the medications and other health issues, probably also ordering some screening bloodwork. My mother weight is dramatically declining, she is in a nursing home and her weight is around 67 pounds. She has always been thin but around pounds.
Is there anything that can be done in helping her gain more weight? I would strongly advise tracking the weight of someone with that much of a change and consulting with the health care team at the nursing home, including a dietician if possible.
This is a very well thought out article about the complexities of unexplained, sudden weight loss in older adults. You are good to point out that it is first of all important to discover the cause s and not jump to conclusions, or a solution, before really delving in. Make sure the social supports are in place, including hiring help if necessary or enlisting neighbors and friends, if possible.
This is really, really complex. But just dumping in the calories is probably not the best idea. I realize that providing cases of Ensure seems really simple especially if you live far away from your aging parent, but it does not help increase health. It detracts from health. Maybe spend some extended time with your father who lives miles away, not just a short visit, but enough time to get a grasp on the problem from up close.
There are few simple answers, when it comes to the health of older adults. If you are concerned about unintentional weight loss, you should consult a health professional. The article aims to help older adults and families prepare, so that they can get better help.
So very true. I applaud your, as always, calm and methodical approach, bringing to light avenues which could easily have been overlooked. In this case, especial thanks for moving the easy fix supplements way down the list of things to consider! THank you. She feels a little sick after she eats, but it passes. She is also depressed because my brother and I are trying to move her cross country with us and she has to sell the house we grew up in.
Any advice is greatly appreciated! She would be living with me already but is so stubborn! Loss of appetite, weight loss, and feeling unwell after eating does sound worrisome, so a visit to the doctor is a good next step. Your mother may well be experiencing some depression and this can cause lack of appetite and weight loss.
My husband who is 72 has had a weight loss recently and his Doctor is sending him to an endocrinologist. You might also ask: Were there abnormal laboratory test results? And does the doctor think the potential endocrine problem is the main cause for the weight loss?
My grandpa is losing weigh about 10 kg in one year Also has macrocytic anemia. I would strongly recommend that he see his doctors. Your family can ask about evaluation for all the common causes of weight loss and malnutrition that I list in the article. I have moved fromNJ,to be close to my father,and mother permanently. Prior to such,dad was at a healthy or so pds, eating well,and still is… Last few weigh-ins, also was diagnosed as still competent and gets around but healing from light to mild stroke, Dec.
He,since then dropped a few pounds,but is eating quite normal. He also gets out at least 1x to 2x a day. I would like your feedback please as to the feasible underlying issue involving weight loss with the elderly, as i am researching thoroughly, insofar as such relevance.
Dad is early eighties. Thank you so much in advance for your courtesies and care when responding. Good day now. God bless us all. It sounds like your father has been diagnosed with dementia and has lost 10 pounds recently.
Also sounds like his appetite is good and he has no particular complaints. I would certainly recommend bringing this up with her usual health care providers and asking lots of questions about what might be going on. My wife age 68 yrs. We are from India and living in a joint family.
She is having type II Diabetes also under controlled. She lost 07 kilogram for last 03 years. Lot of Medical tests have already been conducted and found suffering from Gastritis.
She is being treated by Gastroenterologist and other concerned doctors. But her health is not at all improving and she is gradually moving towards depression. Request your advise for her weight gain. Impossible to say over the internet what might be causing her weight loss and what should be done. If she is not improving under the care of her current health providers, I would recommend considering a second opinion. You could also ask her doctors to clarify what conditions they feel they have ruled out, and what do they think is the likely cause of her weight issue.
Yes, there are many items to investigate with elder weight loss. I smiled as I read your list and wondered why you had left out poor dentition. Medicare does not pay dental bills and dentistry is expensive plus may not be accessible near the patient. Hi Leslie, this is such great info. Just wondered if you would mind me posting on a local Facebook group I have set up Bayside community Aged Care and Disability group.
Or you are welcome to join. Only 50 members do far but hoping to grow as only just set up. So glad you find this useful.
Good luck growing your group! According to her detailed descriptions of recent meals, she often eats nothing, or only one item, from any lunch or dinner. We are wondering if the overall decrease in nutrition, combined with this scant energy supply being largely diverted to healing 2 broken bones over the past months, is actually diverting energy from the brain, and and accelerating her dementia, which seems to be worsening week by week.
Particularly those who are not fully competent to assert or articulate their needs. It seems to us, that the mom, at least, is slowly starving herself to death due to a resistance to the food being offered her. Must we go through a long process of formally complaining and demanding corrections to the system by phone, writing, etc.
Especially if you are worried about her mental function, you will likely need to step in and help get the situation resolved…it may not be realistic to expect her to make complaints or otherwise negotiate with the care facility. I am not sure just how the rules may be different for Christian Science facilities, but in general, nursing homes are required to weigh residents monthly and to make various accommodations to ensure that residents get adequate care.
This page also provides resources on how to lodge a complaint. Generally, every state should have a long-term care ombudsman; the office is required to investigate complaints.
Many states also have local advocacy groups. You can start by asking to talk to the head of nursing or of operations; also a good idea to send a letter or email, so that your concerns are in writing. I have to say that it sounds unusual for a nursing facility to be serving highly spiced food; at such a facility, I would expect the menu and food to be determined by some kind of dietary professional, it should not be up to the whim of the cook.
Have you actually sampled the food being served to your mother? They may well need a reminder and a little persistence in order for your mother to get better care. My father is 65 years old and he is loosing weight constantly. In last 1. He was 92 and is now 70 kgs.
The weight loss is drastic. Being concerned he got various medical check ups and got to know about diabetes and some stomach problem. Can the weight loss be because of that? And is it something we should worry about? If yes then what can be done to improve his health? Your reply will be highly acknowledged Regards Javeria. My mother 74 is unable to eat due to a dental infection. It may be up to 10 days before she is back to normal, best case scenario. Or is a day fast considered safe?
Thank you again. It is definitely not ideal for a person her age to remain mostly in bed, because at this age the muscles get deconditioned very quickly when older adults are in bed due to illness. Hi dr. Leslie I have been having a very slow process of weight loss of about 10 kg in last 5 years. I am middl aged 45 male suffering from anxiety disorders since age of However this weight loss in the recent 4 years is new. Have seen many doctors but none of them have been able to help. There is no significant finding in the tests.
Not sure what kind of doctor to see and which test to perform further. Now at o 47 kg at cm. Sorry to hear of your weight loss. Unfortunately, the only advice I can give is to keep asking the doctors questions. You may want to ask them what they have done specifically to check for the common causes I list in the articles.
You may also want to try seeing a different type of doctor or a specialist. There are some people who have digestive issues that prevent them from absorbing their food as well as they could.
My mother is years old. She had an angioplasty in December and had two stents put in. She is also diabetic. She takes Metformin for blood sugar and ticagrelor for anti-coagulation, along with other medications. Almost immediately, she began having stomach cramps and diarrhea. Since December, however, she has lost her appetite, can eat only a little, ended up with a hemoglobin of 80 that resulted in a blood transfusion and — perhaps most alarming — has lost between 20 and 25 pounds.
Doctors are quick to place the blame for her anemia and loss of appetite on her ticagrelor, saying that causes angiodysplasia, resulting in microscopic bleeding. Is it just coincidence that her symptoms started immediately post angioplasty? Is a malignancy in the stomach, for example, a more likely reason for such significant weight loss? If you are very concerned about malignancy, I would ask them to discuss the possibility of further evaluation to look into that.
My mother has dementia and lately she will eat very little food. She spits it out in her napkin ,she gags on it and almost vomits. It as if she is eating Rancid food.
Anything that was sure bet is no longer.. She does not even like her sweets. Just me making sure she drinks some ensure plus, yougurt with effort, pudding ,tapioca, Homemade soups she rejects.
Once in a blue moon she will eat shrimp cocktail. She has gone from to At this rate I see her going much lower. Food tastes horrid to her. Why is that? And is there any way to restore her tastebuds? No new medication has been added. Sometimes people are reacting to pain or discomfort in the mouth or otherwise related to eating. People with dementia can also start to forget how to eat, or have difficulty coordinating the mouth and swallowing movements due to the ongoing degeneration of their brain cells.
I would recommend talking to her doctor and getting her evaluated. Be sure they take a look in her mouth. You could also consider asking about a swallowing evaluation; these are done by speech therapists who have experience identifying difficulties people have with eating and swallowing. Older adults do experience changes in their sense of smell and taste as they get older, and this might be worsened by dementia. There is more on the physiologic causes of anorexia in aging in this scholarly article: Mechanisms of the anorexia of aging-a review.
Hi Leslie, My 76 year old father is down to 81 pounds now, and my brothers and I are very very concerned. He had a throat issue which they were finally able to fix through surgery.
Now he should be able to eat and swallow, but his stomach bothers him when he tries to eat. He continues to lose weight. His doctor authorized a feeding tube, which will Hopefully help him gain weight, but we are still concerned and wonder if there is anything else we can try. Any advice you can offer would be much appreciated!!
You may want to ask his doctors to explain to you why his stomach is bothering him when he eats. And has he been checked for other common causes of weight loss what have they done to check, what did they find?
My mom is 95 living in a nursing home she has dementia and I was told today that she has lost 13 pounds in the last month … they putting her on a supplement to hopefully hold her weight from going any lower … is this part of the dementia?
Well it might be due to her dementia but it could also be due to something else, so they should be checking for the common causes listed in the article. Re dementia and weight loss: some people with dementia do lose weight because they forget to eat or otherwise have trouble organizing themselves to get food, prepare it, etc. This usually happens to people with mild or moderate dementia who are still living at home; it should not be happening in a facility.
Otherwise, quite advanced dementia when people are totally bedbound can indeed be associated with weight loss. This can happen if the person starts to have difficulty swallowing, or if the body otherwise starts to shut down due to quite advanced dementia. My Dad has been a heart patient valve regurgitation for almost 7 years. I was wondering what should we do or how do we modify his diet to control this unintentional weight loss. Effective treatment of his weight loss needs to target the underlying cause of his weight loss.
Otherwise, general dietary approaches that tend to help is to make sure the food is appealing to him, easily accessible, calorie-dense, and includes a lot of protein.
As a 70 year old woman who has lost 35 pounds in the last 4 months I became concerned and found your site. Thank you so much for your insight and encouragement.
As I am eating less and less and not enjoying food at al. Your no nonsense approach was what I needed. Off to the Doctor for a frank discussion. Thanks to this article I know how to approach the issue and what questions to ask. I am sorry to hear of your weight loss but delighted to know that the article was useful. I hope your conversations with your providers bring you the information and advice that you need.
The average man is also just larger than the average woman, so it takes more calories to maintain a larger body mass. Between these two differences, men can consume more calories to maintain or lose weight than women can. Goddard says estrogen levels begin to decline as a woman begins perimenopause. It increases insulin resistance, can lead to pre-diabetes and diabetes, and increases the risk for heart disease. The loss of muscle mass mentioned above also decreases the number of calories we need to maintain or lose weight, says Goddard.
Insulin is a hormone. So what can a woman over 40 to do to boost her chances of taking off a few pounds? Exercise is key , says Goddard. Try to incorporate both activities into your weekly workout routine.
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