Nutrition Facts and Health Blog

Some diseases result primarily from nutritional diseases – the major deficiency diseases and obesity.

Deficiency diseases seldom present in pure form. More often than not they are secondary to some other illness. Even where food is short, not all the members of a community are equally affected. Individuals with with some physical or mental abnormality usually show clinical menifestation first. Young children and disabled adults are the most vulnerable.

When malnutrition occurs it is unlikely to involve only one nutrient. Even if the clinical features suggest a single deficiency, biochemical tests usually reveal depletion of other nutrients. Treatment should therefore not be confined to large intakes of the nutrient whose deficiency is indicated by the clinical signs. Furthermore, malnourished patients are liable to complications, especially certain infections which may be the presenting illness or may occur in modified form because malnutrition has supressed some of their characteristic signs. Thus complications of malnutrition must be looked for and treated. Much of the skill in diagnosing patients with malnutrition is being aware of and dientangling predisposing illness, other associated malnutrition and complicating diseases.