1 and 2 The loss of lean and fat tissue may in turn be associated with weight loss. Such involuntary weight loss has been termed cachexia. Much confusion exists with regard to the different terminology. 3 A recent consensus definition suggests

Obeticholic Acid concentration to diagnose cachexia when there is loss of more than 5% of body weight over 12 months or less in the presence of a chronic illness such as heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic kidney disease, or cancer, 4 altogether providing the basis for an estimated 9 million subjects being affected by cachexia in industrialized countries alone. 5 The mere loss of skeletal muscle mass in the limbs that exceeds 2 SDs of the mean of a healthy young reference population has been termed sarcopenia. 6, 7 and 8 Some

this website researchers have suggested to restrict the use of the term sarcopenia to apparently healthy elderly subjects who lose muscle mass as a consequence of the aging process. In the context of chronic illness, the terms muscle wasting, myopenia, or even muscle wasting disease have been used or proposed. 9 and 10 In contrast to cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle wasting are not usually associated with weight loss, but with reduced exercise capacity and reduced quality of life. 11 Although the development of cachexia is mostly associated with impaired survival, the development of sarcopenia can be associated with poor survival as well. The 2 conditions have seen much attention in recent years: first, with regard to their definition 4 and 6; second, with regard to their pathophysiology 12, 13 and 14; and third, with regard to their treatment. 15 and 16 In fact, pathophysiological pathways of the 2 clinical entities can, but do not necessarily have to, overlap. For clinicians actively involved in the care of patients at risk of cachexia or muscle wasting (ie, surgeons, oncologists, nephrologists, cardiologists, and many more), the available terms often create more confusion

than help, making the diagnosis of cachexia and muscle wasting a rarity. 17 This is unfortunate, in particular because both require medical attention, and treatment approaches are currently under way that will hopefully enable Sirolimus physicians to maintain their patients’ muscle mass and body weight and therefore their ability to maintain activities of daily living for longer than is currently possible. The aim of this article was to highlight clinical intervention trials that have been published over the past 2 years with the primary purpose of treating cachexia. Studies that have shown beneficial results in animal experiments only using approaches such as myostatin blockade, 18 use of green tea, 19 ursodeoxycholic acid, 20 or inhibition of nuclear factor-κB 21 are not discussed. Loss of appetite appears in many patients with cancer, which is not only frequent, but also associated with poor prognosis and reduced quality of life.