Dietary Disease Flashcards
Iron Deficiency Anaemia: Main cause
- condition of body’s lack of sufficient amount of healthy red blood cells
- low amount of red blood caused by low degree of iron in the body.
- less red blood cells = less substance to carry haemoglobin throughout the body
Iron Deficiency Anaemia: Main symptoms and their description
Extreme fatigue - very common, result of low amount of oxygen for the tissues in the body
Pica - Unusual craving for non-nutritive substances e.g. bricks & glass. Is a sign the body is trying to replenish low nutrient levels.
Negative Cognitive Performance - Is shown through poor concentration. Caused by low maternal iron levels which impact the unborn child’s brain development.
Iron Deficiency Anaemia: Lifestyle preventions
Foods that are iron rich: red meat, pork and poultry, seafood, beans and dark green leafy vegetables.
Most iron is absorbed from meat, if on a non-meat diet the intake of iron-rich plant foods must increase to the amount of iron you need to receive.
Foods and drinking citrus juice containing vitamin C enhances the body’s absorption of iron (while eating high iron foods)
Iron Deficiency Anaemia: Main treatments
- Intravenous (IW) iron therapy to increase blood levels
- Red blood cell transfusion to quickly increase red blood cells in the body.
- Surgery to correct any internal bleeding
- consumption of iron and vitamin C foods and supplements
- Oral contraceptives (for women)
Rickets: Main cause
Extreme deficiency of vitamin D. Calcium and phosphorus are hardly absorbed into the body with this vitamin, causing the bones that need the minerals to soften and weaken.
Rickets: Main symptoms and description
Delayed and poor growth - Lack of vitamin D, calcium and phosphate slows process of bones growth and sturdiness.
Bowed legs / knock knees - Softening of growing tissues at the end of bones causes the legs to curve out horizontally, like a bow or even other abnormal shapes.
Thickened wrists and ankles - Ends of the wrists and ankles are larger than normal, due to swelling, joints have pressure and then swelling occurs.
Rickets: Lifestyle Prevention
Exposure to sunlight (Vitamin D) - 10-15 minutes a day
Feeding child foods that naturally contain vitamin D - fatty fish, fish oil, egg yolks and other foods that have added vitamin D like infant formula or cereal.
Infants are recommended to receive 400 IU a day of vitamin D. Breastfed infants should take supplemental vitamin D daily.
Rickets: Main treatments
Increase vitamin D and calcium intake through supplements and eating more foods rich in calcium and vitamin D.
Scurvy: Main Cause
Lack of vitamin C for at least 3 months. Occurs due to eating less than the required amount of fruit and vegetables in diet.
Scurvy: Main symptoms and description
Swollen and bleeding gums - blood vessels become fragile and are more prone to breaking - caused by lack of collagen being helped to form by vitamin C.
Bruising easily - tied to lack of collagen making the blood vessels very fragile and prone to breaking.
Anaemia - Vitamin C is essential for absorption of iron, iron plays an important role in the creation of haemoglobin and the decreased amount of haemoglobin causes anaemia.
Scurvy: Lifestyle preventions
Consume enough vitamin C in diet, sometimes supplements, foods that contain vitamin C are citrus fruits (Oranges + orange juice), strawberries, blackcurrants, broccoli and Brussels sprout.
Pregnant women are required to consume 85 mg of vitamin C, rising to 120 mg during breastfeeding.
Smoker required 35 mg more than nonsmokers every day.
Scurvy: Main Treatments
Consumption of fruit and vegetables - many symptoms are expected to disappear in 2 weeks.
Prescription of vitamin C - can come in supplements to be administered by mouth or injection. It should improve fatigue, lethargy, pain, confusion and anorexia within 24 hours.
Kwashiorkor: Main Cause
Formed through severe malnutrition, commonly in babies and children that don’t get enough protein or other essential vitamins and minerals in their diet.
Kwashiorkor: Main symptoms and descriptions
An enlarged stomach (pot belly) - fluid retention (process of absorbing and holding a substance, this case a fluid). The stomach appears to look bloated, cases where the child is natural weight or plump but the swelling fluid is in replace of most fat and muscle.
Failure to grow in height - Due to malnutrition experienced at early age, not enough nutrients for optimal health.
Weakened immune system - Protein-energy malnutrition causes weakened immune system as its functions decrease, having a deficiency in essential amino aids causing repression in the immune system. This is due to the lack of red blood cells in the immune system.
Kwashiorkor: Lifestyle preventions
Include rich protein foods in diet - meat, fish eggs, dairy products, soy and beans. With this treatment, vitamin and mineral supplements and enzymes are commonly need to be taken to help digestion of dairy products.
