4. Unintended Weight Loss: A Deceptive Signal
Unintended weight loss might initially seem like a pleasant surprise. After all, who doesn’t want to drop a few pounds without trying? However, in the scope of lung cancer, sudden weight loss could be a dire warning. Your body may be expending more energy to fight off the cancer, leaving you with unexplained pounds dropping off the scale.
Weight loss in cancer often occurs due to metabolic changes. Your body is essentially flipping switches in how it utilizes energy, disrupting your metabolism in a way that results in weight loss. Don’t ignore this signal just because you might have wanted to lose weight. It’s your body telling you that something’s amiss.
What’s more, your appetite may change without you even noticing. Sure, a decreased appetite could be due to stress or other emotional factors. But when it’s a symptom of lung cancer, it’s often untraceable to any specific life event. Your body might be redirecting its focus towards battling the cancerous cells, leading to a natural decline in appetite.(4)
