kwashiorkor /kwash·i·or·kor/ (kwahsh″e-or´kor) a form of protein-energy malnutrition produced by severe protein deficiency; caloric intake is usually also deficient. Symptoms include retarded growth, changes in skin and hair pigment, edema, immune deficiency, and pathologic changes in the liver.
Kwashiorkor
kwashiorkor
kwashiorkor (kwä´shēôr´kôr),
marasmic kwashiorkor a condition in which there is a deficiency of both calories and protein, with severe tissue wasting, loss of subcutaneous fat, and usually dehydration.
kwa·shi·or·kor (kwä sh -ôr kôr)n. A severe malnutrition of infants and young children, primarily in tropical and subtropical regions, caused by deficiency in the quality and quantity of protein in the diet and characterized by anemia, edema, potbelly, depigmentation of the skin, loss or change in hair color, hypoalbuminemia, and bulky stools containing undigested food. |
Kwashiorkor
Severe malnutritution in children primarily caused by a protein-poor diet, characterized by growth retardation.
Mentioned in: Malnutrition, Starvation
kwashiorkor
[kwä′shē·ôr′kôr]
Etymology: Afr
a malnutrition disease, primarily of children, caused by severe protein deficiency that usually occurs when the child is weaned from the breast. The child does not lose weight as dramatically and does not look as sick as a marasmic child, who lacks both protein and calories. Some now believe kwashiorkor may relate to bacterial grain contamination and occur when the newly weaned child begins to ingest grain products. Eventually the following symptoms occur: retarded growth, changes in skin and hair pigmentation, diarrhea, loss of appetite, nervous irritability, lethargy, edema, anemia, fatty degeneration of the liver, necrosis, dermatoses, and fibrosis, often accompanied by infection and multivitamin deficiencies. Because dietary fats are poorly tolerated in kwashiorkor, its treatment includes a skimmed milk formula in initial feedings, followed by additional foods until a full, well-balanced diet is achieved. See also marasmic kwashiorkor, marasmus, protein-energy malnutrition.
kwashiorkor (kwä´shēôr´kôr),
n a wasting disease of malnutrition that occurs in children after weaning as a result of severe protein deficiency. The word is Ghanan, meaning “the displaced child's visible condition.”
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Kwashiorkor.
kwashiorkor
protein-caloric malnutrition; a human condition.
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