Her doctor says she is otherwise healthy. She cooks for herself and eats healthy non-processed foods mostly, does not restrict fats like butter and olive oil.
But to me, she seems to have lost most of her fat and muscle. Is this normal? Should I be concerned?
I, myself, at 76 years of age, am having a difficult time keeping weight on, even with a hypo thyroid condition.
https://thegeriatricdietitian.com/
Now if you have concerns about something specific, I would absolutely share it with her doctor. Have them do testing. But I wouldn't put her through unnecessary testing over a 40 pound weight loss in 5 years. That's really only 8 pounds a year. That's less than a pound a month. That's not rapid or alarming. Now if you had said she has lost 40 pounds in the last 3 months I would be more concerned. But over 5 years it seems like a natural aging progression.
We have the opposite problem. My FIL is a medical unicorn. He is almost 90 and weighs almost 300 pounds. He can't seem to lose it no matter what. There is definitely no muscle tone. He can barely stand up. (but 50 years of that much weight takes its toll) While you see plenty of people over 80 that are "shrinking" so to speak, you rarely see them that seem to be "growing" or at least maintaining such a large size. Specifically because many morbidly obese people don't have a great mortality rate and don't generally see that age range to begin with. So he draws quite a bit of attention because people are shocked to see someone his age at his size.
I wouldn't worry too much about it unless you see a reason to worry.
I lost quite a bit of weight because I lost muscle mass and "insulation". I'm seeing the outline of bones that I don't remember ever seeing before.
My sister's MIL is under 90 pounds and she has been at that level for the last 10 years. She looks very thin and fragile....almost like those pictures you see of starving kids.
My mom would often say that she wasn’t hungry. She only ate because she knew that she had to eat to get nourishment.
Doesn't sound user-friendly if one has acid-reflux.
Ooooooh, yummy!
Sorry for the sarcasm but that list of ingredients are ridiculous, aren’t they?
Yet, Ensure, Boost and other similar products sell a lot of products.
when my Mom was on Hospice the nurse told me not to force eating and that loss of appetite is also the normal process of aging. Dad passed and Mom is going to be 90 in July.
It is hard to watch but Ijust make sure my Mom has some of her favorite items on hand such as her beloved Mac and Cheese which she will eat.
I was thinking about this last night when getting dinner for us. I was not hungry enough to go out for dinner which we do alot. I did not want to cook a meal either. DH had leftover soup from the night before and a grilled cheese. Me, I had an apple dumpling because thats all I wanted. I think if I had not have had to get my DH something, I may not have eaten at all and I am 73. I don't eat much anyway.
Those drinks aren't that great taste wise. I find they are too sweet. I have frozen the choc for an hour or two. They get thick like a milkshake and are not bad. I used to do this with Slimfast too.
But at this point, if her doctor's not concerned, I'm not sure I would be either.
Age changes happen. They happen externally where they are visible and they happen internally. For instance, at 80 what I note most of all is balance. Now, on the buses, I kind of fly about as though I weigh nothing. I feel like a feather in the winds. But I weigh close to 150, more than I ever in my life weighed. It would seem that I should stand solidly upon the earth, but, no.
You might want to look up "aging changes in the body". It may reassure you that it is normal. But there is little reassurance that your Mom is moving toward the last years of her life, and this may be your deeper concern.
To make sure the weight lost is normal for your Mom, have her see her primary doctor and have a blood panel drawn to make sure everything is ok.