(A). Kwashiorkor
(B). Phenylketonuria
(C). Marasmus
(D). Addison’s disease
Keywords: edema, protein deficiency
The definitions for the answer choices are as follows:
- Kwashiorkor: severe protein deficiency; begins around age 2. Symptoms include apathy, failure to grow and gain weight, listlessness, changes in hair color, edema in abdomen and legs.
- Phenylketonuria: liver cannot metabolize essential amino acid phenylamine into nonessential amino acid tyrosine; toxic by-products build up in the body and damage developing nervous system of infants, causing intellectual disability.
- Marasmus: inadequate food intake; most common in children aged 6-18 months from impoverished nations; impairs brain development and learning; mainly causes severe wasting and weakening of muscles; no
- Addison's disease: adrenal insufficiency by the adrenal glands - cortisol and aldosterone insufficiency.
Answer: (A). Kwashiorkor
The image tried to illustrate the main differences between Kwashiorkor and Marasmus. Take 5 seconds to pay attention to it as this can potentially help you in the dental hygiene board exams (NBDHE, NDHCE). The child on the left has “swelling” in the abdomen and is around 2 years of age. The child on the right has NO swelling, the child is super skinny and is younger than 2 years of age. For those two diseases, I remember the child with the swollen belly being older and the super skinny child being a baby. Those are all conditions mostly prevalent in third world countries which reminds me of how much food abundance we have. This makes me grateful for being able to work for a profession that I love: dental hygiene education. We hope that StudentRDH grows big so we can donate to causes we believe in the future. But enough of this today, the point is to remember at least two conditions in the chapter of nutrition for the dental hygiene board exams (NBDHE, NDHCE).
If you created mnemonics or images for yourself to memorize information related to the dental hygiene board exams (whether it is the NBDHE, NDHCE, WREB, CDCA) that you’d like to share with me, I would sincerely appreciate it. Together we can help more students! Email me at ClaireJ@StudentRDH.com
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