Wasting
Wasting is used to characterise involuntary loss of
body weight (i.e. muscle mass, ‘‘muscle wasting’’)
and decline of muscle strength. Wasting is not
etiologically or pathologically different from undernutrition
but has been used customarily in certain
contexts. The term ‘‘wasting syndrome’’ is established
in the AIDS terminology as involuntary weight
loss of more than 10% and either chronic diarrhoea
(41 month) and/or fever.