Starvation

Information and facts about Nutrition.

Starvation is a severe reduction in vitamin, nutrient, and energy intake, and is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation (in excess of 1-2 months) causes permanent organ damage and may eventually result in death.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, more than 25,000 people die of starvation every day, more than 800 million people are chronically undernourished. On average, every five seconds a child dies from starvation.

Symptoms
Starved individuals lose substantial fat and muscle mass as the body turns to these tissues for energy. The skin's pale and dry appearance attenuates this emaciation.

Vitamin deficiency is common, often resulting in anemia, beriberi, pellagra, and scurvy. These diseases collectively may cause diarrhea, skin rashes, edema, and heart failure. Individuals are often irritable, fatigued, and lethargic as a result.

Treatment
Starvation is usually treated by slowly increasing food intake until no nutrient deficiencies remain. By this time, the diet of a recovering individual should consist of 5,000 calories and twice the Recommended Dietary Allowance of nutrients.

Capital punishment
Starvation has always been a means to carry a death sentence. From the beginning of civilization through to the Middle Ages people were immured and starved to death.

Rajmund Kolbe, a Polish friar, offered his life to save another inmate sentenced to death in the Auschwitz concentration camp. He was starved along with another nine inmates. After two weeks of starvation he and three other inmates were still alive and executed with injections of carbolic acid.

Ugolino della Gherardesca, his sons and other members of his family were immured in the Muda, a tower of Pisa, and starved to death in the thirteenth century. Dante, his contemporary, wrote about Gherardesca in his masterpiece The Divine Comedy.

Back to the main Nutrition page

Can't find what you are looking for?
Use our site search facility...

Home I Search Site I Site map I Conditions I Symptoms I News Archive I Forum I Contact us I About us I Access Keys

All information published on this web site is for information purposes only. The content of this web site should not be used for a conclusive diagnosis or for choosing a treatment. The content on this site has been provided as a guideline and general information it is not intended to replace professional medical care. In all serious cases it is advisable to recieve attention from a qualified medical practitioner. All text is available under the terms of the GNU free documentation license.