Alzheimer’s Disease and Weight Loss: Why It Happens and What Can Be Done

symptoms that affect their appetite like stomach pain or discomfort. 
Whats more is that people living with Alzheimers may also experience hallucinations or delusional thinking. That can lead to fear and distractions that get in the way of eating. 
In later stages of Alzheimers disease people may no longer recognize foods. And they can forget how to use utensils to bring food to their mouth. They can also lose the ability to safely chew or swallow food which makes getting nutrition very difficult. 
Other conditions and medications 
As we age we tend to rack up a number of chronic health conditions and may rely on more medications to keep us healthy. And people with Alzheimers disease often live with other conditions that affect their health in addition to living with Alzheimers. Those conditions are called comorbidities. Many comorbidities and the medications used to treat them can be associated with weight loss. 
Unintentional weight loss may be a side effect of medication used to treat Alzheimers disease. It can also be associated with many conditions and medications to treat other conditions including 
Bone and joint conditions like osteoporosis arthritis gout and lupus. Heart conditions like high cholesterol heart failure high blood pressure or chest pain. Gastrointestinal disorders like celiac disease inflammatory bowel disease or gastroesophageal reflux disease GERD. Mental health conditions like anxiety or depression. Emotional concerns like grief and social isolation. Fluid buildup edema. Kidney disease. Cancer. Thyroid disease. Diabetes. Pain. Infections. Allergies. Colds and coughs. Anemia. Potassium deficiency. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease COPD. Liver failure. Involuntary muscle movement. 
Physical activity 
People with Alzheimers disease may lose weight because they can burn more calories compared to many older people who dont live with the disease. Part of that reason may be that people with dementia frequently pace or wander. Theyre more likely to be in motion. Through those activities they may rack up their step counts and burn more calories than they take in. 
Treating weight loss 
If your loved one with Alzheimers disease is losing weight check with their healthcare provider to get to the bottom of it. 
There are a lot of variables that can lead to weight loss so the provider should be taking a very thorough look at whats going on Dr. Pillai notes.