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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Cachexia

Cachexia \Ca*chex"i*a\, Cachexy \Ca*chex"y\, n. [L. cachexia, Gr. kachexi`a; kako`s bad + "e`xis condition.] A condition of ill health and impairment of nutrition due to impoverishment of the blood, esp. when caused by a specific morbid process (as cancer or tubercle).

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
cachexia

"bad general state of health," 1540s, from Latinized form of Greek kakhexia "bad habits," from kakos "bad" (see caco-) + -exia, related to exis "habit or state," from exein "to have, be in a condition," from PIE root *segh- "to hold, hold in one's power, to have" (see scheme (n.)). Related: cachexic.

Wiktionary
cachexia

n. (context medicine pathology English) A systemic wasting of muscle tissue, with or without loss of fat mass, that accompanies a chronic disease.

WordNet
cachexia

n : any general reduction in vitality and strength of body and mind resulting from a debilitating chronic disease [syn: cachexy, wasting]

Wikipedia
Cachexia

Cachexia (from Greek κακός kakos "bad" and ἕξις hexis "condition") or wasting syndrome is loss of weight, muscle atrophy, fatigue, weakness, and significant loss of appetite in someone who is not actively trying to lose weight. The formal definition of cachexia is the loss of body mass that cannot be reversed nutritionally: Even if the affected patient eats more calories, lean body mass will be lost, indicating a primary pathology is in place.

Cachexia is seen in patients with cancer, AIDS, celiac disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, multiple sclerosis, Rheumatoid arthritis, congestive heart failure, tuberculosis, familial amyloid polyneuropathy, mercury poisoning (acrodynia) and hormonal deficiency.

It is a positive risk factor for death, meaning if the patient has cachexia, the chance of death from the underlying condition is increased dramatically. It can be a sign of various underlying disorders; when a patient presents with cachexia, a doctor will generally consider the possibility of adverse drug reactions, cancer, metabolic acidosis, certain infectious diseases (e.g., tuberculosis, AIDS), chronic pancreatitis, and some autoimmune disorders. Cachexia physically weakens patients to a state of immobility stemming from loss of appetite, asthenia, and anemia, and response to standard treatment is usually poor. Cachexia includes sarcopenia as a part of its pathology.

Usage examples of "cachexia".

There are eminent physicians who swear that it is no more effective than strong tea, and there are those who swear that it is effective in treating anemia, cachexia, scrofula, gastrointestinal catarrh, and malfunctions of the lungs, kidneys, liver, heart, and genital organs.

The wagon they traveled in was loaded with fancy little colored bottles of medicine, each with its special disease to cure: cancer, consumption, neuralgia, malaria, cachexia, stroke, fit, and seizure.

In other cases, as you very justly observed, there seems to be a very marked cachexia associated with the exhibition of the spirit in question, even in comparatively small doses.