cachexia

…such as body wasting (cachexia) and a variety of clinical manifestations known as paraneoplastic syndromes. Both local and systemic effects are described in this section.

…to be effective in treating cachexia, the severe weight loss that occurs in patients with diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis, and leprosy. Cachexia is apparently caused by the body’s overproduction of TNF. In 1998 the FDA approved the use of thalidomide in the treatment of ENL, although distribution was to…