Download Diseases related to Hunger or Over-Nutrition - Mrs. Standish

Diseases related to Hunger or
Over-Nutrition
HFA 4M – Unit 3
Glossary
• Malnutrition: Poor nutrition because of an
insufficient or poorly balanced diet or faulty
digestion or utilization of foods.
• The World Health Organization: a specialized
agency of the United Nations(UN) that is
concerned with international public health.
WHO cites malnutrition as the greatest single
threat to the world's public health.
These are the diseases we are going to
look at:
• kwashiorkor, marasmus, beriberi,
xerophthalmia, rickets, ariboflavinosis,
pellagra, scurvy, iron deficiency anemia,
goiter, cretinism, cardiovascular disease
Kwashiorkor
• Kwashiorkor is a form of malnutrition that occurs
when there is not enough protein in the diet.
Causes, incidence, and risk factors
• Kwashiorkor is most common in areas where
there is:
– Famine
– Limited food supply
– Low levels of education (when people do not
understand how to eat a proper diet)
• This disease is more common in very poor
countries.
• It often occurs during a drought or other
natural disaster, or during political unrest.
• These conditions are responsible for a lack of
food, which leads to malnutrition.
Symptoms
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Changes in skin pigment
Decreased muscle mass
Diarrhea
Failure to gain weight and grow
Fatigue
Hair changes (change in color or texture)
Increased and more severe infections due to
damaged immune system
• Irritability
• Large belly that sticks out (protrudes)
Marasmus
• Marasmus is a form of severe protein-energy
malnutrition characterized by energy deficiency.
• A child with marasmus looks emaciated.
• Body weight may be reduced to less than 80% of
the average weight that corresponds to the
height
• Marasmus occurrence increases prior to age 1,
whereas kwashiorkor occurrence increases after
18 months.
Symptoms
• The malnutrition associated with marasmus leads
to extensive tissue and muscle wasting, as well as
variable edema.
• Other common characteristics include dry skin,
loose skin folds hanging over the buttocks (glutei)
and armpit (axillae), etc.
• There is also drastic loss of adipose tissue (body
fat) from normal areas of fat deposits like
buttocks and thighs.
• The afflicted are often fretful, irritable, and
voraciously hungry.
Child suffering with Marasmus in India.
Beriberi
• Beriberi is a disease in which the body does
not have enough thiamine (vitamin B1).
Causes, incidence, and risk factors
• There are two major types of beriberi:
– Wet beriberi affects the cardiovascular system.
– Dry beriberi and Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome
affect the nervous system.
• Beriberi is rare in N. America because most
foods are now vitamin enriched.
• If you eat a normal, healthy diet, you should
get enough thiamine.
• Today, beriberi occurs mostly in patients who
abuse alcohol. Drinking heavily can lead to
poor nutrition, and excess alcohol makes it
harder for the body to absorb and store
thiamine.
Symptoms
Symptoms of dry beriberi include:
• Difficulty walking
• Loss of feeling (sensation) in hands and feet
• Loss of muscle function or paralysis of the lower
legs
• Mental confusion/speech difficulties
• Pain
• Strange eye movements (nystagmus)
• Tingling
• Vomiting
Symptoms of wet beriberi include:
• Awakening at night short of breath
• Increased heart rate
• Shortness of breath with activity
• Swelling of the lower legs
Xerophthalmia
• Dry eye syndrome is when the eye is unable to
maintain a healthy layer of tears to coat it.
• In areas of the world where malnutrition is
common, vitamin A deficiency is a cause. This
is rare in N. America.
• Signs include:
– Reduced visual acuity
– Thick cornea
Rickets
• Rickets is a disorder caused by a lack of vitamin D, calcium, or
phosphate. It leads to softening and weakening of the bones.
Causes, incidence, and risk factors
• Vitamin D helps the body control calcium and phosphate levels. If
the blood levels of these minerals become too low, the body may
produce hormones that cause calcium and phosphate to be
released from the bones. This leads to weak and soft bones.
• Vitamin D is absorbed from food or produced by the skin when
exposed to sunlight. Lack of vitamin D production by the skin may
occur in people who:
– Live in climates with little exposure to sunlight
– Must stay indoors
– Work indoors during the daylight hours
• Not getting enough calcium and phosphorous
in your diet can also lead to rickets.
• Rickets caused by a lack of these minerals in
diet is rare in developed countries, because
calcium and phosphorous are found in milk
and green vegetables.
Symptoms
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Bone pain or tenderness
Dental deformities
Impaired growth
Increased bone fractures
Muscle cramps
Short stature (adults less than 5 feet tall)
Skeletal deformities
Ariboflavinosis
• Medical condition caused by deficiency of
riboflavin (vitamin B2).
• Ariboflavinosis is most often seen in
association with protein-energy malnutrition,
and also in cases of alcoholism.
• It was originally known as pellagra sin pellagra
(pellagra without pellagra), as it exhibits
certain similarities to the niacin deficiency
pellagra.
Causes
• The most common cause of riboflavin
deficiency is an inadequate diet; thus, it
occurs most frequently in populations
consuming limited quantities of riboflavincontaining foods such as meats, eggs, milk,
cheese, yogurt, leafy green vegetables and
whole grains.
Symptoms
• The signs and symptoms of riboflavin deficiency
typically include sore throat with redness and
swelling of the mouth and throat
mucosa(cracking of the lips and corners of the
mouth)
• glossitis (magenta tongue with atrophy)
• seborrheic dermatitis (moist, scaly skin
particularly affecting the scrotum or labia majora
folds)
• decreased red blood cell count with normal cell
size and hemoglobin content (anemia).
Pellagra
• Pellagra is a vitamin deficiency disease most
commonly caused by a chronic lack of niacin
(vitamin B3) in the diet.
• Pellagra is classically described by "the four
D's": diarrhea, dermatitis, dementia and death
Man with Pellagra
Scurvy
• Scurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency
of vitamin C, which is required for the
synthesis of collagen in humans.
• Scurvy is one of the accompanying diseases of
malnutrition (other such micronutrient
deficiencies are beriberi or pellagra) and thus
is still widespread in areas of the world
depending on external food aid.
• Scurvy often presents itself initially as symptoms
of malaise and lethargy, followed by formation of
spots on the skin, spongy gums, and bleeding
from the mucous membranes.
• Spots are most abundant on the thighs and legs,
and a person with the ailment looks pale, feels
depressed, and is partially immobilized.
• As scurvy advances, there can be open,
suppurating wounds, loss of teeth, jaundice,
fever, neuropathy and death.
Iron Deficiency Anemia
• When your body does not have enough iron, it will
make fewer red blood cells or red blood cells that are
too small. This is called iron deficiency anemia.
Causes, incidence, and risk factors
• Iron deficiency anemia is the most common form of
anemia.
• Red blood cells bring oxygen to the body's tissues.
Healthy red blood cells are made in your bone marrow.
Red blood cells move through your body for 3 to 4
months. Parts of your body then remove old blood
cells.
Symptoms
• Symptoms of the conditions that cause iron
deficiency anemia include:
• Dark, tar-colored stools or blood
• Heavy menstrual bleeding (women)
• Pain in the upper belly (from ulcers)
• Weight loss (in people with cancer)
Goiter
• Worldwide, over 90% cases of goitre are caused by
iodine deficiency.
• The main symptom is a swollen thyroid gland. The size
may range from a single small nodule to a large neck
lump.
• The swollen thyroid can put pressure on the windpipe
and esophagus, which can lead to:
– Breathing difficulties (may rarely occur with very large
goiters)
– Cough
– Hoarseness
– Swallowing difficulties
Cretinism
• A congenital condition caused by a deficiency
of thyroid hormone during prenatal
development and characterized in childhood.
• Iodine Deficiency.
Neurological cretinism: Mental deficiency
• Deaf mutism
• Spasticity
• Ataxia (lack of muscular coordination)
Hypothyroid cretinism: Dwarfism
• Hypothyroidism
Cardiovascular Disease
• More related to over-nutrition.
• The term malnutrition usually refers to decreased
intake of calories, protein, vitamins and minerals. This
is not a cause of coronary artery disease, but it can
lead to other abnormalities in the heart.
• For example, vitamin B1 (Thiamine) deficiency can
occur with malnutrition and can lead to Beri Beri with
an associated Cardiomyopathy.
• Malnutrition can also lead to low levels of certain
electrolytes such as Magnesium and Potassium. Low
potassium increases the risk of abnormal heart
rhythms which can potentially be fatal.