Starvation
| Starvation | |
|---|---|
| Classification and external resources | |
| Specialty | emergency medicine |
| ICD-10 | T73.0 |
| ICD-9-CM | 994.2 |
| MeSH | D013217 |
Starvation is a severe deficiency in caloric energy intake needed to maintain human life. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, death. The term inanition refers to the symptoms and effects of starvation. Starvation may also be used as a means of torture or execution.
According to the World Health Organization, hunger is the single gravest threat to the world's public health. The WHO also states that malnutrition is by far the biggest contributor to child mortality, present in half of all cases. Undernutrition is a contributory factor in the death of 3.1 million children under five every year. Figures on actual starvation are difficult to come by, but according to the Food and Agriculture Organization, the less severe condition of undernourishment currently affects about 842 million people, or about one in eight (12.5%) people in the world population.
The bloated stomach, as seen in the adjacent picture, represents a form of malnutrition called kwashiorkor which is caused by insufficient protein despite a sufficient caloric intake. Children are more vulnerable to kwashiorkor, advanced symptoms of which include weight loss and muscle wasting.
Causes of hunger are related to poverty. There are inter-related issues causing hunger, which are related to economics and other factors that cause poverty. They include land rights, and ownership, diversion of land use to non productive use, increasing emphasis on export oriented agriculture, inefficient agricultural practices, war, famine, drought, over fishing, poor crop yield, etc.
The basic cause of starvation is an imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure. In other words, the body expends more energy than it takes in. This imbalance can arise from one or more medical conditions or circumstantial situations, which can include:
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