not eating

My brother has lost 8 pounds in the last two months.  No one seems to know why.  The nurse practitioner has ordered blood tests for him and they have come back normal except for protein which is just a bit low.

When I take him out for a meal, he eats well.  But he is skipping lunch  a lot. He says it's because he doesn't like the food.  He is a bit crazy about food, insisting that this and that isn't good for people with irritable bowel, heart conditions, etc.  We have gone round and round the track in regards to the fact that he can eat most of anything if he does it in moderation.

He seems gaunt and weaker since the holidays.  Not a huge amount, but it's noticeable.  Right after the holidays, he fell.  I am wondering if he had a TIA or if he hit his head when he fell.   I had him in PT, but that is over now.  He is a bit stronger, but not where he was earlier in the year.

I am reluctant to start taking him on a round of doctors.  I am ambivalent about getting him involved in a bunch of tests that won't lead to any cure.

Some of my doctor friends say it is part of the course of events that people start eating less and less when it is their time.  This is hard to deal with because my brother isn't in his eighties, he is in his sixties.  If you look at him, however, he acts and looks like an octogenarian.

I am still mulling over a course of action.  I am mainly thinking that things just have to percolate until it becomes more clear what the problem is.

My main concern is that if he continues to lose weight, he is going to lose even more muscle mass and end up in a wheel chair pretty quickly.  I realize that because of his cerebral palsy, that is a likely outcome in the long run, but I dread it.  I am thinking about how it is going to be really difficult to take him to places once he is wheel chair bound.