Child of a sharecropper with malnutrition and rickets, 1935 Malnutrition weakens every part of the immune system. Protein and energy malnutrition increases susceptibility to infection; so do deficiencies of specific micronutrients (including iron, zinc, and vitamins). In communities or areas that lack access to safe drinking water, these additional health risks present a critical problem. Malnutrition plays a major role in the onset of active tuberculosis. It also raises the risk of HIV transmission from mother to child, and increases replication of the virus. Malnutrition can cause vitamin-deficiency-related diseases like scurvy and rickets. As malnutrition worsens, sufferers have less energy and experience impairment in brain functions. This can make it difficult (or impossible) for them to perform the tasks needed to acquire food, earn an income, or gain an education. Malnutrition can also cause acute problems, like hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). This condition can cause lethargy, limpness, seizures, and loss of consciousness. Children are particularly at risk and can become hypoglycemic after 4 to 6 hours without food. Dehydration can also occur in malnourished people, and can be life-threatening, especially in babies and small children. Signs There are many different signs of dehydration in malnourished people. These can include sunken eyes; a very dry mouth; decreased urine output and/or dark urine; increased heart rate with decreasing blood pressure; and altered mental status. Site Sign Face Moon face (in kwashiorkor); shrunken, monkey-like face (in marasmus) Eye Dry eyes; pale conjunctiva; periorbital edema; Bitot's spots (in vitamin A deficiency) Mouth Angular stomatitis; cheilitis; glossitis; parotid enlargement; spongy, bleeding gums (in vitamin C deficiency) Teeth Enamel mottling; delayed eruption Hair Dull, sparse, brittle hair, with thinning of the hair follicles; hypopigmentation; flag sign (alternating bands of light and normal color); broomstick eyelashes; alopecia Skin Dry skin; follicular hyperkeratosis; patchy hyper- and hypopigmentation; erosions; poor wound healing; loose and wrinkled skin (in marasmus); shiny and edematous skin (in kwashiorkor) Nail Koilonychia; thin and soft nail plates; fissures or ridges Musculature Muscle wasting, particularly in the buttocks and thighs Skeletal Deformities, usually resulting from deficiencies in calcium, vitamin D, or vitamin C Abdomen Distended; hepatomegaly with fatty liver; possible ascites Cardiovascular Bradycardia; hypotension; reduced cardiac output; small vessel vasculopathy Neurologic Global developmental delay; loss of knee and ankle reflexes; poor memory Hematological Pallor; petechiae; bleeding diathesis Behavior Lethargic; apathetic; anxious Source: "Protein Energy Malnutrition" Cognitive development Protein-calorie malnutrition can cause cognitive impairments. This most commonly occurs in people who were malnourished during a "critical period ... from the final third of gestation to the first 2 years of life". For example, in children under two years of age, iron deficiency anemia is likely to affect brain function acutely, and probably also chronically. Similarly, folate deficiency has been linked to neural tube defects. Iodine deficiency is "the most common preventable cause of mental impairment worldwide." "Even moderate iodine deficiency, especially in pregnant women and infants, lowers intelligence by 10 to 15 I.Q. points, shaving incalculable potential off a nation's development." Among sufferers, very few people experience the most visible and severe effects: disabling goiters, cretinism and dwarfism. These effects occur most commonly in mountain villages. However, 16 percent of the world's people have at least mild goiter (a swollen thyroid gland in the neck)."
symptom of Short bowel syndrome
symptom of Gastritis
symptom of Gastroenteritis
symptoms of Short bowel syndrome
symptom of Upper gastrointestinal bleeding
symptom of Vomiting
symptom of Bowel obstruction
symptom of Intestinal pseudo-obstruction