Weight loss you did not intend is one of the few symptoms that is always worth investigating.
Assessed by a GMC-registered GP, not a symptom checker
Honest about what needs to be seen in person
Tests and referrals arranged where they are needed
Your NHS records in the room, with your consent
Care led personally by Dr Khan
Attentive, unhurried care that listens properly
Five-star Google reviews from the people we have looked after
Registered with the Care Quality Commission
Arrange prompt assessment — this is not a symptom to watch and wait on — if you have lost more than 5% of your body weight over six to twelve months without trying. For someone weighing 70kg, that is around 3.5kg.
More urgent still where weight loss comes with:
Any of these combinations warrants an urgent cancer pathway, which your NHS GP can access and we cannot. We will write to them the same day.
Losing weight without trying is different from every other symptom on this site, because there is essentially no version of it that does not deserve explanation.
The threshold clinicians use is 5% of body weight over six to twelve months without dieting or increased exercise. Below that, normal fluctuation. Above it, something is usually driving it.
Most causes turn out to be treatable. But this is the symptom where a wait-and-see approach is least defensible.
Hormonal and metabolic — overactive thyroid, which causes weight loss despite a good appetite; undiagnosed or poorly controlled diabetes.
Gut — coeliac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and malabsorption. Weight loss with altered bowel habit points strongly here.
Mental health — depression commonly reduces appetite, and eating disorders affect people of every age and body size.
Infection and inflammation — chronic infection, and inflammatory conditions.
Cancer. It is on this list because it belongs on it, and skirting round that would be dishonest. Unexplained weight loss is one of the more significant presenting symptoms, which is precisely why it is investigated properly rather than reassured away.
Medication and alcohol — both underappreciated causes.
"I've lost a bit of weight" is not something a clinician can act on. A figure is.
The threshold that matters clinically is roughly 5% of body weight over six months without trying — around 4kg for someone who was 80kg. Below that, still worth mentioning; above it, do not delay.
Weight loss with an obvious cause is a different situation entirely. Before assuming otherwise, consider:
These turn a vague symptom into a specific one, and they are what a GP will ask about:
The first task is establishing whether the weight loss is real and quantifying it. Actual numbers matter here more than an impression — old photographs, a belt notch, clothes that no longer fit.
Testing is broad by design, because narrowing too early is how things get missed: full blood count, thyroid function, HbA1c, liver and kidney function, inflammatory markers, coeliac screening, and a FIT test where there are bowel symptoms.
Where the picture suggests an urgent pathway, we will say so directly and write to your NHS GP the same day — because the two-week-wait system is NHS only, and it is the right route.
Around 5% of your body weight over six months, without trying — roughly 4kg if you were 80kg, or 3kg if you were 60kg. Faster than that, or accompanied by any other symptom, and it should not wait. The key word throughout is unintentional: weight loss you worked for is not this symptom.
It is completely understandable — and it is also the single commonest reason people wait too long. Weight that comes off without any change in what you eat or do has a cause, and the cause needs identifying whether or not the result is welcome. Plenty of the causes are eminently treatable; the point of checking is to find out which.
Yes, and often it is. Depression, anxiety, bereavement and prolonged stress all genuinely reduce appetite and cause real weight loss. That is not a lesser explanation or a dismissal — it is a diagnosis in its own right that deserves treatment. But it is usually reached after the physical causes have been excluded, not instead of excluding them.
Usually not. Most unexplained weight loss turns out to have another cause — an overactive thyroid, undiagnosed diabetes, coeliac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, depression, or a medication effect. Cancer is one possibility among several, and it is the one that most rewards being found early, which is why the symptom is taken seriously rather than because it is the likeliest answer.
Three worth knowing, because each is diagnosed with an ordinary blood test and each is entirely manageable:
That is the pattern that most demands explanation. Weight loss despite a normal or increased appetite points towards the body either burning fuel too fast (an overactive thyroid), losing it in the urine (diabetes), or failing to absorb it (coeliac disease, pancreatic problems, inflammatory bowel disease). Say so explicitly when you are seen — it narrows things considerably.
It is not. Muscle mass does decline gradually with age, but frank unintentional weight loss in an older person is a genuine warning sign — for cancer, for thyroid disease, for depression, for difficulty with dentures or swallowing, and for simply not managing to shop and cook. It is one of the symptoms most often wrongly attributed to age and most worth investigating.
Typically full blood count, inflammatory markers, thyroid function, HbA1c, kidney and liver function, coeliac screening, and ferritin. That panel identifies the majority of causes. Where it is normal and the weight loss is real and significant, the next step is imaging and specialist referral — which we can arrange.
Clinically reviewed by Dr Mohammad Zubair Khan, GMC 7563469
Last reviewed
August 23, 2026
On this page
Ongoing
Time to be seen
Appointment length
Your NHS record in the room
Written treatment plan
Told when a test isn’t needed
Cost
Same day, usually
20 minutes
Yes, with your consent
Included
Yes, and told why
£40 for 20 minutes
Varies by practice
Typically 10 minutes
Yes, your full record
Not routinely
Usually
Free
Same day
Often 10 to 15 minutes
Usually not
Sometimes charged
Varies by provider
Often a subscription
Same-day access is usually available, from 6am to 10pm, seven days a week. You choose a time that suits you rather than waiting on hold at 8am.
Yes. Care is led personally by Dr Mohammad Khan, so you are not passed between clinicians. Continuity is the point of a small practice: someone who knows your history and is listening attentively rather than working through a checklist.
Yes, with your consent. We can access your Summary Care Record during the consultation, so your current medications, allergies and significant history are in the room. That means fewer questions you have already answered elsewhere, and safer prescribing.
No. We are not here to replace GPs, only to support them. Your NHS practice remains responsible for your ongoing care, and with your consent we write to them after the consultation. We are useful when you need to be seen sooner, or want more time than a standard appointment allows.
Twenty unhurried minutes and a comprehensive assessment. A written treatment plan is included, along with any prescription, sick note or referral letter arising from the consultation, at no extra charge.
£40 for 20 minutes, self-pay. Membership is optional and never required. Priced for fairness, because we are not here to charge extortionate amounts for access to a doctor.
It means the diagnosis can usually be made from your history and photographs, and that treatment can be arranged safely without examining you. Where a condition is not marked treatable online, it is because examination is the diagnosis — listening to a chest, feeling an abdomen, examining an ear or a joint — or because a procedure or device is needed.
Yes, where there is a genuine bacterial infection — cellulitis, impetigo, bacterial urine infections, confirmed strep throat. We will also frequently tell you that you do not need one. Most sore throats, coughs, colds and earaches are viral, and an antibiotic gives you the side effects with none of the benefit.
If your problem turns out to be genuinely outside what we can do remotely, the doctor will tell you straight away, point you to the right service, and refund your fee in full. We would rather do that than fill twenty minutes to justify the charge.
Call 999 or go to A&E — do not book an online appointment and do not wait for a reply to an email. For urgent problems that are not emergencies, NHS 111 is available 24 hours a day, online or by phone, and can direct you to the right service.
Patient reviews
