Editing Cachexia (section)

=== Previous Criteria for Diagnosing Cachexia ===
Doctors used to diagnose cachexia mainly by looking at changes in body weight. A person was considered to have cachexia if they had a low BMI or unwanted weight loss of more than 10%.<ref name="dev-2019" /> However, only using weight is not always a reliable method. Factors like fluid buildup ([[edema]]), tumor size, and obesity can make it difficult to diagnose cachexia.<ref name="dev-2019">{{cite journal | vauthors = Dev R | title = Measuring cachexia-diagnostic criteria | journal = Annals of Palliative Medicine | volume = 8 | issue = 1 | pages = 24–32 | date = January 2019 | pmid = 30525765 | doi = 10.21037/apm.2018.08.07 | doi-access = free }}</ref> These weight-based criteria do not account for muscle loss, which is a key part in cachexia. .<ref name="dev-2019" />

To improve diagnosis of cachexia, experts proposed adding lab tests and symptom evaluations.<ref name="evans-2008" /> With that, a person might have cachexia if they lost  at least 5% of their total body weight in 12 months or had a BMI under less 22&nbsp;kg/m<sup>2</sup> with at least three of the following: weak muscles, fatigue, loss of appetite, low muscle mass, or abnormal labs.<ref name="evans-2008" />

There have also been attempts to define specific types of cachexia, such as cardiac cachexia, which can occur in people with [[congestive heart failure]].<ref name="anker-1999">{{Cite journal |last1=Anker |first1=Stefan D. |last2=Coats |first2=Andrew J.S. |date=1999 |title=Cardiac Cachexia |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0012369216356586 |journal=Chest |language=en |volume=115 |issue=3 |pages=836–847 |doi=10.1378/chest.115.3.836 |pmid=10084500|url-access=subscription }}</ref> However, there is no widely accepted definition for it.<ref name="anker-1999" />