Marasmus

Marasmus is a form of malnutrition. It happens in people (especially children) who do not get enough food. A healthy person gets energy from eating food, especially foods with protein and fat in them. Because a person with marasmus is not getting enough food, they do not get the energy they need to survive. This is due to deficiency of both proteins and calories. Generally, this disease occurs when there is an immediate second pregnancy or repeated child births. Lean and weak, swelling limbs, less developed muscles, dry skin, diarrhoea, etc., are the signs and symptoms of this disease.

Marasmus
Classification and external resources
Child suffering with Marasmus in India, 1972
ICD-10	E41.-E42.
ICD-9	261
DiseasesDB	7826
eMedicine	ped/164
MeSH	D011502

Children with marasmus look emaciated (very skinny). This is because their bodies have burned up all of their fat and muscles to make energy. The child's body weight will be less than 60% of a normal child his or her age.

Marasmus can be treated. However, about half of children with bad malnutrition die because they cannot get treatment where they live.

The word “marasmus” comes from the Greek word μαρασμός marasmos (meaning "decay '')

Signs and symptoms

Most children with marasmus look shrunken and have lost most of their muscles and body fat. Their bodies try to save as much energy as possible by shutting down the immune system, not growing, and giving less energy to the liver, kidneys, heart, and gastrointestinal system. This can cause problems like:

• Having too much fluid in the body, because the kidneys are not working well enough to get rid of it. This can lead to edema (fluid under the skin) and even heart failure.
• Hypothermia (low body temperature), because staying warm takes energy, and because the child has almost no fat or muscles to keep them warm
• Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), because the child is not getting sugar or carbohydrates from foods
• Infection, because the child's body has shut down the immune system, which usually fights infection, to save energy

Other symptoms of marasmus include:

• Anemia (not having enough red blood cells in the blood)
• Dehydration, not having enough water in the body
• Shock caused by dehydration (hypovolemic shock)
• Tachypnea (breathing too fast - for example, from pneumonia or heart failure)

Disability-adjusted life year for protein-energy malnutrition per 100,000 inhabitants in 2002.

  no data

  less than 10

  10–100

  100–200

  200–300

  300–400

  400–500

  500–600

  600–700

  700–800

  800–1000

  1000–1350

  more than 1350

• Eye problems
• Skin problems
• Problems with the ears, nose, and throat (like ear infections)

Causes

Marasmus is caused by a deficiency (not having enough) of nearly all nutrients, especially protein, carbohydrates, and lipids (fats).

Treatment

Marasmus can be treated by giving emergency nutrients and fluids. However, treating the causes of marasmus is not enough. Often, the disease has complications (it causes other problems), like infections, dehydration, and problems with the circulatory system. These complications are very dangerous and often kill children if they are not treated correctly.

Related pages

• Malnutrition
• Starvation
• Kwashiorkor (a similar disease caused by not having enough protein)