Kwashiorkor symptoms

Vitamin A deficiency can result from insufficient dietary intake, from malabsorption and it has been recognized that also malfunction of RAR-receptors can lead to symptoms of vitamin A deficiency. These symptoms include skin lesions, night blindness, corneal ulcerations and conjunctivitis and poor bone remodeling. Vitamin A deficiency associated with malnutrition is wide spread in large parts of the world and may be fatal in infants and young children suffering from kwashiorkor or marasmus. 

Marasmus Marasmus occurs when calorie deprivation is rela tively greater than the reduction in protein. Marasmus usually occurs in children younger than one year of age when the mother s breast milk is supplemented with thin watery gruels of native cereals, which are usually deficient in protein and calories. Typical symptoms include arrested growth, extreme muscle wast ing (emaciation), weakness, and anemia. Victims of marasmus do not show the edema or changes in plasma proteins observed in kwashiorkor. 

Kwashiorkor usually occurs in the second or third year in the life of a child. Edema is the principal symptom. The condition arises from a combination of circumstances, but the primary cause appears to be a weaning diet that is both inadequate and indigestible and, notably, is lacking of protein. The principal calories are supplied by carbohydrate. The condition is accelerated by repeated infections of a bacterial, parasitic, or vital nature. Without treatment, the disease is fatal in most cases. 

The signs and symptoms of protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) depend on various factors, including the duration of the nutritional inadequacy, age at onset, and frequency/types of concomitant infections. Figure 24-1 shows children diagnosed with kwashiorkor and marasmus and outlines some of the diagnostic features discussed in this section (Scrimshaw and Behar, 1961). 

A number of important and, as yet, unexplained discrepancies are apparent in tissue zinc concentrations in this syndrome. Patients with chronic renal disease, with clinical signs and symptoms of zinc deficiency show consistently elevated red blood cell zinc levels (40-42) whereas plasma zinc concentrations have been reported as either low, normal or elevated (40-44). Patients with Kwashiorkor and symptoms of zinc deficiency have... 

Symptoms of kwashiorkor are apathy, muscular wasting, and edema. Both the hair and the skin lose their pigmentation. The skin becomes scaly and there is diarrhea and anemia, and permanent blindness can result from this condition. Marasmus is another condition of a wasting away of the body tissues from the lack of calories as well as protein in the diet. In marasmus the child is fretful rather than apathetic and is skinny rather than swollen with edema. Aside from contrasting symptoms between the two diseases, there may be converging symptoms which would be described as marasmic kwashiorkor. 

Severe protein-energy malnutrition often occurs after weaning, the transition frcim nursing to the consumption of foods from other sources (i.e.. Solid foods). The marasmus common in Latin America is caused by early weaning, followed by use of overdiluted commercial milk formulas. Kwashiorkor occurs in Africa, where babies arc fed starchy roots, such as cassava, that arc low in protein. It also occurs in the Caribbean, where babies are fed sugar cane. The major symptom of kwashiorkor is edema, mainly of the feet and legs. Edema is the condition produced when water normally held in the bloodstream by osmotic pressure leaks into (jther extracellular spaces. It can result from reduced osmotic pressure in the bloodstream caused by catabolism and depletion of serum albumin. 

Aflatoxin poisoning is difficult to diagnose early in humans. The first clinical symptoms are anorexia and weight loss. Aflatoxins are associated with hepatocellular damage and necrosis, cholestasis, hepatomas, acute hepatitis, periportal fibrosis, hemorrhage, jaundice, fatty liver changes, cirrhosis in malnourished children, and Kwashiorkor. There is... 

Adults who lack protein may feel dizzy and nauseated.Their skin becomes dry and scaly, they fatigue easily, and they become short-tempered. Infections, kidney problems, and diarrhea become increasingly worse. Since protein is the main source of sulfur intake, both kwashiorkor and marasmus produce sulfur deficiency symptoms. 

A negative nitrogen balance represents a state of protein deficiency, in which the body is breaking down tissues faster than they are being replaced. The ingestion of insufhcient amounts of protein, or food with poor protein quality, cau result in serious medical conditions in which an individual s overall health is compromised. The immune system is severely affected the amount of blood plasma decreases, leading to medical conditions such as anemia or edema aud the body becomes vulnerable to infectious diseases and other serious conditions. Protein malnutrition in infants is called kwashiorkor, and it poses a major health problem in developing countries, such as Africa, Central and South America, and certain parts of Asia. An infant with kwashiorkor suffers from poor muscle and tissue development, loss of appetite, mottled skin, patchy hair, diarrhea, edema, and, eventually, death (similar symptoms are preseut in adults with protein deficiency). Treatment or prevention of this condition lies in adequate consumption of protein-rich foods [106]. 

Fig. K-2 Kwashiorkor, a protein deficiency disease. Note characteristic bloated belly. Other usual symptoms are stuntkl growth, diarrhea, brittle hair with an abnormal reddish color, and retarded mentality. (Courtesy, FAO, Rome, Italy)...

Vitamin E deficiency symptoms as such rarely occur in humans because vitamin E (1) is widely distribute in foods. (2) is stored in almost all body tissues, and (3) is retained in the body for relatively long periods. However, clinical evidence of deficiency has been observed in infants, especially those bom prematurely and formula-fed. Also, vitamin E deficiency occurs in individuals suffering from kwashiorkor (a protein deficiency), and in children and adults who have impaired fat absorption. 

What are main differences between marasmus and kwashiorkor How many people are affected by these deficiencies What are the classic symptoms of an infant severely affected by kwashiorkor ... 

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