kwashiorkor

Kwashiorkor is a form of severe protein malnutrition characterized by edema and an enlarged liver with fatty infiltrates. It is caused by sufficient calorie intake, but with insufficient protein consumption, which distinguishes it from marasmus. Kwashiorkor cases occur in areas of famine or poor food supply. Cases in the developed world are rare.Jamaican pediatrician Cicely Williams introduced the term in 1935, two years after she published the disease's first formal description. The name is derived ...