Some people can overcome and treat thinness, while some people's attempts fail, so is thinness considered a disease?
If you are one of the people who suffer from thinness, and traditional attempts, such as: taking supplements or changing your diet, have failed, the cause of thinness may be a chronic disease.
Also, the appearance of some abnormal symptoms, such as sudden weight loss or persistent loss of appetite, may be a symptom of some diseases that result in severe weight loss.
Therefore, the symptoms of extreme thinness should not be neglected, and seeking to know the causes of thinness, and whether it is the result of a disease or whether it is thinness resulting from traditional factors, such as malnutrition or the wrong diet.
In the coming lines, we will learn about the causes of thinness, and how to determine whether thinness is considered a disease or a symptom.
What is thinness?
To answer the question, is thinness considered a disease? we must understand the definition of thinness first.
Severe low body weight is called by several names, such as thinness, slenderness, or underweight, all of which refer to a decrease in body weight from its normal range.
The normal range of body weight varies from person to person, a certain weight may be overweight for one person while the same weight may be normal for another person.
Therefore, determining whether thinness is considered a disease or not, is through an equation or a measure known as the Body Mass Index (BMI).
When do we say that a person is thin?
People can call a person whose body does not look chubby, the word thin, but this is not true, it does not mean that a person does not look good weight, that he suffers from thinness.
So how do I know if I'm skinny or not? Or how do I determine if I really have an extremely low weight problem?
In fact, the answer is simple, and you can rely on the so-called BMI scale to find out whether you are at a normal weight or not.
BMI is a simple relationship between body weight and height, which can be calculated by dividing body weight by height.
To say that someone is thin, or underweight, this scale must be less than 18.5, in other words, weight divided by height is less than 18.5.
Types of thinness
To determine whether thinness is considered a disease or not, first, thinness can be divided into several types, depending on the cause that leads to it, such as:
- Genetic thinness is a result of the transmission of genes from parents to children, these genes cause thinness even with eating normal amounts of food.
- Thinness results from malnutrition, which is the result of a lack of food quantities eaten by the individual, or a lack of food in important nutrients.
- Thinness results from a wrong diet, where some people follow diets poor in calories, or most of what they eat is without calories.
- The resulting thinness is a symptom of chronic diseases, such as gastrointestinal diseases that cause constant vomiting of food.
When is thinness a disease?
Most cases of thinness or thinness are caused by a wrong diet or malnutrition and can be overcome with medication or a proper diet.
But if a person tried to follow a diet and tried several ways to gain weight, and these attempts did not work, then thinness in this case may be a disease that requires medical care and treatment.
It is also if thinness causes serious health problems, such as infertility or menstrual disorders in women, or a severe decline in mental abilities.
If thinness causes the previous symptoms, it should not be neglected and it must be treated as a disease that calls for medical intervention and treatment from specialists, and it is important to wonder whether thinness is considered a disease?
There is also what is known as eating disorders, which can be a reason for not eating enough food.
Affected people may not realize that they have one of these diseases, but it is a serious problem and may make us wonder, is thinness considered a disease?
Therefore, it is necessary to know the symptoms associated with eating disorders, which can cause severe weight loss, such as:
Sudden and unexplained weight loss.
The individual's unwillingness to participate in family or social events.
Refusing to eat in front of others.
Therefore, these symptoms must be observed and whether they are the cause of the occurrence of thinness, in which case you should consult a doctor immediately to treat this problem.
There are also some cases in which thinness can be considered a disease, such as cases of genetic thinness or thinness resulting from chronic diseases.
Diseases that can cause thinness
There are some chronic diseases, of which thinness is one of its complications, and these diseases include:
1- Liver and kidney diseases.
2- Hyperthyroidism.
3- Diabetes mellitus.
4 - Crohn's syndrome.
5- Rheumatoid arthritis.
6- Lupus erythematosus.
7- Worms and parasites.
8- Depression.
9 - stomach ulcers.
10- Addison's disease.
11- Immunodeficiency disease (AIDS).
12- Cancer.
How do we treat thinness?
Several questions always revolve around a question in the mind of everyone who suffers from thinness, such as: What is the treatment for thinness? Does thinness have a cure, and can I gain weight?
The truth is that curing thinness is not impossible, and the problem of thinness can be overcome in several ways, but the treatment of thinness varies according to its cause.
Among the ways to treat thinness are the following:
- Eat healthy foods rich in calories.
- Take nutritional supplements.
- Treating vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
- Playing sports.
- Treating some health problems, such as stomach ulcers and intestinal parasites.
