Question to GP Maarten: I am concerned about my weight loss in a short period of time
Maarten Vasbinder lives in Isaan. His profession is general practitioner, a profession that he mainly practiced in Spain. On Thailandblog he answers questions from readers who live in Thailand and writes about medical facts.
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Dear Martin,
Two years ago I emigrated to a village near Chiang Rai and weighed around 81 kg. I am 1.80 m and now 60 years young. Gradually I lost some weight, I don't find alarming. Every morning I have a weighing moment: before breakfast and preferably after my visit to the smallest room in the house.
At the end of July this year I woke up in the middle of the night with a knot in my stomach / intestine area and an urge to defecate. The stool was watery liquid. This repeated itself an hour later and I then felt flu with some elevation. Went to Overbrook hospital on my wife's advice but I seemed to have a 39.6C elevation/fever. Based on this temperature and a pulse of 95 with a normal blood pressure of 126(sys)/86(dia) it was decided to admit me for observation due to dengue symptoms.
Lucky false alarm about that. the dengue but I turned out to be dehydrated. Back home after two nights and since then my weight has now dropped to the high 74kg – low 75kg.
I am concerned about this weight loss in such a short period of time. What can I do about it other than eat a lot. NB.: the diarrhea has not returned, I cycle regularly and walk every day at least 3 km in 1 piece with our dog.
Regards,
H.
*******
Dear h,
Looks like you've had a viral intestinal infection. Which virus it was remains a guess. You have apparently lost a lot of moisture. Many people here drink too little. This is especially true for athletes. You can tell from your urine whether you are drinking enough. Urine is basically almost colorless.
With too little fluid intake, the urine turns yellow and the darker, the greater the deficiency. Water is then an excellent remedy. One glass of water (250cc) per hour is usually enough. With certain diseases, the urine also turns dark and red beets also color.
At your height, 75 kg is a nice weight.
If you're otherwise fine, I wouldn't do anything. If not, have blood (including sugar, hemogram and liver values) and faeces (parasites and FOBT) checked. FOBT is a test for occult blood.
Yours faithfully,
Martin Vasbinder