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Anorexia (symptom)

 

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Anorexia (symptom)



 
 
Anorexia (deriving from the Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 "a(?)-" (a(n)-, a prefix that denotes absence) + "??e?? (orexe) = appetite) is the decreased sensation of appetite
Appetite

The appetite is the desire to eating food, felt as hunger. Appetite exists in all higher lifeforms, and serves to regulate adequate energy intake to maintain metabolism needs....
. While the term in non-scientific publications is often used interchangeably with anorexia nervosa
Anorexia nervosa

Anorexia nervosa is a psychiatry illness that describes an eating disorder characterized by extreme low body weight and body image distortion with an obsessive fear of gaining weight....
, many possible causes exist for a decreased appetite, some of which may be harmless, while others indicate a serious clinical condition, or pose a significant risk.








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Anorexia (deriving from the Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 "a(?)-" (a(n)-, a prefix that denotes absence) + "??e?? (orexe) = appetite) is the decreased sensation of appetite
Appetite

The appetite is the desire to eating food, felt as hunger. Appetite exists in all higher lifeforms, and serves to regulate adequate energy intake to maintain metabolism needs....
. While the term in non-scientific publications is often used interchangeably with anorexia nervosa
Anorexia nervosa

Anorexia nervosa is a psychiatry illness that describes an eating disorder characterized by extreme low body weight and body image distortion with an obsessive fear of gaining weight....
, many possible causes exist for a decreased appetite, some of which may be harmless, while others indicate a serious clinical condition, or pose a significant risk.

Causes


Harmless

  • Satiation following the consumption of food. This is normal and is called postprandial
    Postprandial

    Postprandial means after eating a meal. This term is often used in the context of blood sugar levels, which are normally measured 2 hours after eating....
     anorexia.


Clinically important

  • Acute Radiation Syndrome.
  • AIDS
    AIDS

    Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the HIV ....
    .
  • Anorexia nervosa
    Anorexia nervosa

    Anorexia nervosa is a psychiatry illness that describes an eating disorder characterized by extreme low body weight and body image distortion with an obsessive fear of gaining weight....
    .
  • acute appendicitis
    Appendicitis

    Appendicitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the Vermiform appendix. It is a medical emergency. All cases require removal of the inflamed appendix, either by laparotomy or laparoscopy....
     where it accompanies the presenting symptom of abdominal pain
    Abdominal pain

    Abdominal pain can be one of the symptoms associated with transient disorders or serious disease. Making a definitive diagnosis of the cause of abdominal pain can be difficult, because many diseases can result in this symptom....
    , often with vomiting
    Vomiting

    Vomiting is the forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose. Undesired vomiting may result from many causes, ranging from gastritis or poisoning to brain tumors, or elevated intracranial pressure....
    .
  • Cancer
    Cancer

    Cancer is a class of diseases in which a group of cell display uncontrolled growth , invasion , and sometimes metastasis . These three malignant properties of cancers differentiate them from benign tumors, which are self-limited, do not invade or metastasize....
    .
  • Chronic renal failure
    Chronic renal failure

    Chronic kidney disease , also known as chronic renal disease, is a progressive loss of kidney over a period of months or years. The symptoms of worsening kidney function are unspecific, and might include feeling malaise and experiencing a anorexia....
    .
  • Congestive heart failure
    Congestive heart failure

    Heart failure is a condition in which a problem with the structure or function of the heart impairs its ability to supply sufficient blood flow to meet the body's needs....
    , perhaps due to congestion of the liver
    Liver

    The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals; it has a wide range of functions, a few of which are detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion....
     with venous blood
    Venous blood

    In the circulatory system, venous blood is blood returning to the heart . With one exception this blood is deoxygenated and high in carbon dioxide, having released oxygen and absorbed carbonoxygen2 in the tissues....
    .
  • Crohn's Disease
    Crohn's disease

    Crohn's disease is an inflammatory disease which may affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract from mouth to anus, causing a wide variety of symptoms....
    .
  • dementia
    Dementia

    Dementia is the progressive decline in cognition due to damage or disease in the body beyond what might be expected from normal aging. Although dementia is far more common in the geriatric population, it may occur in any stage of adulthood....
    .
  • Severe depression
    Clinical depression

    Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by a pervasive depression , low self-esteem, and anhedonia in normally enjoyable activities....
    .
  • Sickness behavior
    Sickness behavior

    Sickness behavior is a coordinated set of adaptation behavioral changes that develop in illness individuals during the course of an infection.Hart, B....
    Exton, M. S. (1997) "Infection-induced anorexia: active host defence strategy". Appetite. 29: 369-383.
  • Superior Mesenteric Artery Syndrome
    Superior mesenteric artery syndrome

    Superior mesenteric artery syndrome is a rare, life-threatening gastrointestinal disorder characterized by a compression of the third portion of the duodenum by the abdominal aorta and the overlying superior mesenteric artery....
    .
  • Ulcerative Colitis
    Ulcerative colitis

    Ulcerative colitis is a form of inflammatory bowel disease . Ulcerative colitis is a form of colitis, a disease of the intestine, specifically the large intestine or colon , that includes characteristic Peptic ulcer, or open sores, in the colon....
    .


Drugs

  • amphetamine (Adderall)
    Amphetamine

    Amphetamine and related drugs such as methamphetamine are a group of drugs that act by increasing levels of norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine in the brain....
    , dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine & Dextrostat))
    Dextroamphetamine

    Dextroamphetamine is a psychostimulant which is known to produce increased wakefulness and focus in association with decreased fatigue and appetite....
    .
  • Antidepressants can have anorexia as a side effect.
  • dextromethylphenidate (Focalin)
    Dexmethylphenidate

    Dexmethylphenidate is a pharmaceutical drug used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It is a psychostimulant dopamine reuptake inhibitor that affects the central nervous system....
    .
  • Abrupt cessation of appetite-increasing drugs, such as marijuana.
  • dextromethamphetamine (Desoxyn)
    Methamphetamine

    is a stimulant and sympathomimetics psychoactive drug. It is a member of the family of phenylethylamines. The levorotary levomethamphetamine is an over-the-counter drug and used in Vicks Inhalers for nasal decongestion and does not possess the Central nervous system activity of dextro or racemic methamphetamine....
      (treatment of ADD & ADHD and narcolepsy
    Narcolepsy

    Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder characterized by overwhelming daytime drowsiness and sudden attacks of sleep. The condition is most characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness , in which a person experiences extreme tiredness and possibly falls asleep during the day at inappropriate times, such as at work or school....
    ).
  • methylphenidate (Ritalin & Concerta)
    Methylphenidate

    Methylphenidate is the most commonly medical prescription psychostimulant and is indicated in the treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy, although off-label uses include treating lethargy, depression, neural insult and obesity....
    .
  • Chemicals that are members of the phenethylamine
    Phenethylamine

    Phenethylamine, or ?-phenylethylamine or 2-phenylethylamine, is an alkaloid and monoamine. Phenethylamine also has a constitutional isomer a-phenylethylamine , which has two stereoisomers: --1-phenylethylamine and --1-phenylethylamine....
     group. (Individuals with anorexia nervosa may seek them to suppress appetite).
  • stimulants.


Other

  • Altitude
    Altitude sickness

    Altitude sickness, also known as acute mountain sickness , altitude illness, or soroche, is a pathological condition that is caused by acute exposure to low air pressure ....
     when it can also accompany sickness.
  • Preoperative anorexia drugs may be prescribed as a prophylactic to ensure no food will back up into the esophagus which might risk pulmonary aspiration
    Pulmonary aspiration

    In medicine, aspiration is the entry of secretions or foreign material into the Vertebrate trachea and lungs.The patient may either inhalation the material, or it may be blown into the lungs during positive pressure ventilation or CPR....
    .
  • Significant emotional pain
    Broken heart

    A broken heart is a common metaphor used to describe the intense psychological pain or suffering one feels after losing a loved one, through death, divorce, moving, being rejected, or other means....
     caused by an event (rather than a mental illness) can cause an individual to temporarily lose all interest in eating.