A young girl with kwashiorkor in a relief camp during the Biafra War
Specialty
Pediatrics
Kwashiorkor (/ˌkwɒʃiˈɔːrkɔːr,-kər/KWOSH-ee-OR-kor, -kər, is also KWASH-)[1] is a form of severe protein malnutrition characterized by edema and an enlarged liver with fatty infiltrates.[2] It is thought to be caused by sufficient calorie intake, but with insufficient protein consumption (or lack of good quality protein), which distinguishes it from marasmus. Recent studies have found that a lack of antioxidant micronutrients such as β-carotene, lycopene, other carotenoids, and vitamin C as well as the presence of aflatoxins may play a role in the development of the disease.[3] However, the exact cause of kwashiorkor is still unknown. Inadequate food supply is correlated with occurrences of kwashiorkor; occurrences in high income countries are rare.[4] It occurs amongst weaning children to ages of about five years old.[2]
Conditions analogous to kwashiorkor were well documented around the world throughout history.[5] However, Jamaican pediatrician Cicely Williams introduced the term in 1935, two years after she published the disease's first formal description. Williams was the first to conduct research on kwashiorkor and differentiate it from other dietary deficiencies. She was the first to suggest that this might be a deficiency of protein.[6][7] The name is derived from the Ga language of coastal Ghana, translated as "the sickness the baby gets when the new baby comes" or "the disease of the deposed child", and reflecting the development of the condition in an older child who has been weaned from the breast when a younger sibling comes.[8] Breast milk contains amino acids vital to a child's growth. In at-risk populations, kwashiorkor may develop after children are weaned from breast milk and begin consuming a diet high in carbohydrates, including maize, cassava or rice.[2][6]
^Wells, John C. (2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.). Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.
^ abcCite error: The named reference Benjamin & Lappin Kwashiorkor was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Pham, Thi-Phuong-Thao; Alou, Maryam Tidjani; Golden, Michael H.; Million, Matthieu; Raoult, Didier (January 2021). "Difference between kwashiorkor and marasmus: Comparative meta-analysis of pathogenic characteristics and implications for treatment". Microbial Pathogenesis. 150: 104702. doi:10.1016/j.micpath.2020.104702. PMID 33359074. S2CID 229694345. Archived from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
^Liu T, Howard RM, Mancini AJ, Weston WL, Paller AS, Drolet BA, et al. (2001). "Kwashiorkor in the United States: fad diets, perceived and true milk allergy, and nutritional ignorance". Archives of Dermatology. 137 (5): 630–6. PMID 11346341.[permanent dead link]
^Nott, John (May 2021). "'No one may starve in the British Empire': Kwashiorkor, Protein and the Politics of Nutrition Between Britain and Africa". Social History of Medicine. 34 (2): 553–576. doi:10.1093/shm/hkz107. PMC 8162845. PMID 34084092.
^ abWilliams CD (1983) [1933]. "Fifty years ago. Archives of Diseases in Childhood 1933. A nutritional disease of childhood associated with a maize diet". Archives of Disease in Childhood. 58 (7): 550–60. doi:10.1136/adc.58.7.550. PMC 1628206. PMID 6347092.
^Williams CD, Oxon BM, Lond H (1935). "Kwashiorkor: a nutritional disease of children associated with a maize diet. 1935". Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 81 (12): 912–3. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(00)94666-X. PMC 2572388. PMID 14997245. Reprint: Williams CD, Oxon BM, Lond H (2003). "Kwashiorkor: a nutritional disease of children associated with a maize diet. 1935". Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 81 (12): 912–3. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(00)94666-X. PMC 2572388. PMID 14997245.
^Stanton, J. (2001). "Listening to the Ga: Cicely Williams' Discovery of Kwashiorkor on the Gold Coast" (PDF). Women and Modern Medicine. Clio Medica. Vol. 61. pp. 149–171. doi:10.1163/9789004333390_008. ISBN 978-90-04-33339-0. PMID 11603151. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
Kwashiorkor (/ˌkwɒʃiˈɔːrkɔːr, -kər/ KWOSH-ee-OR-kor, -kər, is also KWASH-) is a form of severe protein malnutrition characterized by edema and an enlarged...
prior to age 1, whereas kwashiorkor occurrence increases after 18 months. It can be distinguished from kwashiorkor in that kwashiorkor is protein deficiency...
with hypoalbuminemia make fluid status control especially difficult. Kwashiorkor is a disease of malnutrition characterized by decreased protein intake...
stomach represents a form of malnutrition called kwashiorkor. The exact pathogenesis of kwashiorkor is not clear, as initially it was thought to relate...
protein-energy malnutrition, which can manifest as marasmus or kwashiorkor. Kwashiorkor was once attributed to pure protein deficiency in individuals who...
cause of undernutrition. Two forms of PEM are kwashiorkor and marasmus; both commonly coexist. Kwashiorkor is primarily caused by inadequate protein intake...
lymphedema, lipedema, and myxedema. Edema caused by malnutrition defines kwashiorkor, an acute form of childhood protein-energy malnutrition characterized...
PEM can appear as conditions called marasmus, kwashiorkor, and an intermediate state of marasmus-kwashiorkor. Although malnutrition can have severe and lasting...
Kenneth E. Magnus. Kwashiorkor, discovered by Cicely Williams. She was the first to recognize and conduct research on kwashiorkor and differentiate it...
child malnutrition syndrome, kwashiorkor, by Cicely Williams. She was the first to recognise and conduct research on kwashiorkor and differentiate it from...
Jamaican physician, most notable for her discovery and research into kwashiorkor, a condition of advanced malnutrition, and her campaign against the use...
deficiency Hypervitaminosis A Hypovitaminosis A (phrynoderma) Iron deficiency Kwashiorkor Lycopenemia Maple syrup urine disease Marasmus Niacin deficiency (pellagra...
scientific and medical contributions. Amongst these include the discovery of kwashiorkor, the pioneer of treatments for pediatric sickle cell anemia and the invention...
protein intake in the diet. An example of nutritional hypoproteinemia is Kwashiorkor, a type of protein energy malnutrition affecting young children. Malabsorption...
and later a successful novelist, observed that the main problem was kwashiorkor, a protein deficiency. Prior to the civil war, the main source of dietary...
accumulation of glycolipids. Protein malnutrition, such as that seen in kwashiorkor, results in a lack of precursor apoproteins within the cell, therefore...
Tenggara was reported as the most affected area by malnutrition and kwashiorkor. Life expectancy in West Nusa Tenggara amounted to only 54 years, the...
hair may turn red or blonde. The condition, part of a syndrome known as kwashiorkor, is a sign of critical starvation caused chiefly by protein deficiency...
personality Cicely Williams (1893–1992), medical researcher, discoverer of kwashiorkor Jenna Wolfe (b. 1974), American journalist born in Jamaica and raised...
Christopher McCandless - possibly a protein poisoning victim Dukan Diet Kwashiorkor – Disease resulting from sufficient caloric intake with very low protein...
Global Information