LL4: Physical Development-Kwashiorkor

Kwashiorkor is a type of severe protein-energy malnutrition caused by edema, irritability, ulcerating dermatoses and an enlarged liver with infiltrates containing fat. The only difference it has from marasmus is the intake of sufficient calorie, but with protein consumption in which is not enough. It's a most frequent disease in conjunction with malnutrition. It also occurs within famine (not enough food being supplied). This is very rare within our world, which is constantly developing on a day to day basis.

In 1935, Cicely Williams, a pediatrician from Jamaica, brought this disease to the attention of the medical community by putting it into an article entitled "Lancet", after publishing the first formal description in the history of Western medical literature. The name of this disease comes from coastal Ghana's language "Ga" being interpreted as either "the sickness the baby gets when the new baby comes" or "the disease of the deposed (removed) child and reflecting on the older child's condition in which had been weaned from drinking milk from a mother's breast when a sibling younger than he or she comes into the world. When talking about the word "breastmilk", it is very important when dealing with a child's growth due to the fact it has both plenty of proteins and animo.

This disease kwashiorkor can develop when a mother gets her child off of breastmilk as well as off her breast by putting him or her on a high, sugary carbohydrate diet.

You may ask, "How will I know if my child has the disease?" Well, here are the signs and symptoms concerning this disease of which you must watch out for:

*pitting edema (both ankles and feet swollen)

*distended abdomen

*enlarged liver that consists of infiltrates with fat

*hair thinning

*teeth loss

*depigmentation of skin and dermatitis

*cachexia (a malnutrition syndrome)

*irritability and anorexia

What causes kwashiorkor to occur?

Kwashiorkor is a type of malnutrition in which is very severe, resulting in a lack of dietary protein. With its consequences in lacking protein to the extent, puts out an osmotic imbalance within the gastro-intestinal system, resulting in gut swelling diagnosis as either an edema or retaining of water. Too much of fluid retention from people suffering with this disease is both resulting in irregularities in the lymphatic system and a capillary exchange indication. There are 3 major purposes concerning what the lymphatic system does: fluid recovery, immunity and lipid absorption.

If a child has low protein intake, here are some signs for it concerning this disease as well:

*edema of the hands and feet

*irritability

*anorexia

*a desquamative flash

*hair discoloration

*and a large fatty liver

There are 2 causes of the usual, yet typical swollen abdomen:

*ascites due to hypoalbuminemia (low oncotic pressure)

*an enlarged fatty liver

If at anytime the protein should be given, it should be given for anabolic purposes only. Also, what should be content with both the carbohydrate and fat is the catabolic. When patients deal with this kind of disease, the protein has no choice but to be introduced again slowly but surely until the body has all of the protein it needs. This includes weaning what's affected by having milk products on hand and having the intake of materials in which are proteinaceous go up to daily required amounts.

Source: Kwashiorkor-Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwashiorkor

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