The feeling of hunger is a signal of the body that it needs energy for life. Sometimes this natural sensation can temporarily increase or weaken, but soon, in a healthy person, a normal appetite is restored. With some diseases, a lack of appetite accompanies the course of the disease:
- elevated temperature;
- flu;
- stomach upset;
- strong stress, emotional stress;
- the period of growth retardation in children;
- first trimester of pregnancy.
If you have not found any of the above listed items, it's time to talk about the reasons for the lack of appetite, which conceal new diseases.
Taking certain medications can cause a decrease in appetite. This applies to the use of antitumor drugs, the medical treatment of epilepsy, as well as drugs against influenza, asthma and angina pectoris.
Poor appetite can be a consequence of vitamin deficiency or hypervitaminosis. In this case, you need to see a doctor, and determine what vitamin is not enough or there is an excess.
- Heart failure.
- Exacerbation of chronic kidney and liver diseases
- With a decrease in appetite, the cause may also be cancer of the stomach, pancreas and ovaries.
- Hepatitis, appendicitis and ulcerative colitis
- In addition, a complete lack of appetite, as a separate disease, is called anorexia .
How to determine the cause?
Prolonged lack of appetite can mean the onset of a serious illness, here you can not do without a medical examination. The most common methods of diagnosis are:
- complete blood count;
- Ultrasound of the abdominal cavity;
- chest X-ray;
- tests for kidney and liver function;
- pregnancy test;
- tests for the thyroid gland;
- analysis of urine and feces;
- test for HIV.
To improve appetite there are also many folk remedies. Consider how to whet your appetite with herbal decoctions:
- We brew the root of wild chicory and drink on a cup for half an hour before eating.
- Decoction of cones of hops.
- The root of the dandelion (30 g of dried raw materials) is brewed with a liter of water and drunk half a glass before eating.
- Leaves of black currant and fruits. Fruits are recommended, eat before eating, and from the leaves cook tea and drink before eating.
Sometimes the reasons for lack of appetite lie in high psycho-physical stresses. For example, usually after training you are ready to "eat an elephant," and at other times you do not want to eat, drink, or practice anymore. Lack of appetite after training means that you just overtrained, the nervous system and the body as a whole are exhausted.
You should not panic prematurely, but if you have not been feeling hungry for a long time, you should definitely consult a doctor.