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Synonyms

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 /

noun

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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


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

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

"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

Marilia Seelaender, a cachexia researcher at the University of São Paulo, remains skeptical that long-term wasting in people is driven by lactate.

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

He had been suffering from prostate cancer and his death certificate said he died of "cancerous cachexia" - a wasting away caused by the disease.

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2023

There is one supposed safeguard that does not seem to have the slightest title to be so regarded—namely, the notion that a typical pock cannot be developed on a person affected with a specific cachexia.

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various

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