Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0240066 (iron deficiency)
 7,156 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

For many decades there has been adequate information for the elimination of acute dietary deficiency diseases. Scurvy, beri-beri, and pellagra, once serious scourges, are now seen only rarely. The severe forms of protein-energy malnutrition, kwashiorkor and marasmus, have also decreased greatly. Nonetheless, mild to moderate forms of protein-energy deficiency, exacerbated by infection, continue to impair growth and development in a majority of the low-income pre-school age populations of most developing countries. Deficiencies of iron, iodine, and vitamin A are still widespread in developing countries. Fortunately, the success of the WHO/UNICEF "Child Survival and Development Revolution" in persuading most developing countries to introduce expanded programs of immunization, growth monitoring, and appropriate feeding of young children, control of diarrheal disease, and specific campaigns against avitaminosis A, iodine deficiency disorders, and the functional consequences of iron deficiency, will accelerate the decline of acute deficiency diseases in the developing world. Diets are changing among the more affluent in these countries, however, and it is time for them to stress dietary goals for the health of rich and poor alike. For the first time there is enough information regarding dietary risk factors for chronic disease to provide an opportunity in the 1990s to accelerate the dietary changes that have already brought significant health benefits to some populations in North America and Europe. The changes, which include a lower dietary intake of fat, particularly saturated fat, less salt, and more green and yellow vegetable and whole grain cereals, can be expected to influence favorably morbidity from cardiovascular diseases and some kinds of cancer. For maximum benefit, these measures need to be combined with the avoidance of obesity, reasonable physical activity, abstention from, or moderate use of, alcohol, and avoidance of tobacco in any form. Since there is already considerable momentum toward these changes in North America and some European countries, the 1990s are likely to see substantial further progress in the reduction of chronic diseases known to be influenced by diet.
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PMID:Nutrition: prospects for the 1990s. 219 71

Famine and the manifestations of acute hunger that result are an unnecessary disgrace to our global society and serious in their political, economic, and social consequences. Probably more damaging is the chronic undernutrition that afflicts such a large proportion of the populations of developing countries and the hidden hungers of iron deficiency, avitaminosis A, and iodine deficiency disorders that are enormously widespread. Famine in the modern world is almost invariably superimposed on chronic undernutrition that is not solved with emergency relief. Adaptation to this undernutrition requires a reduction in physical activity needed for household and community improvement as well as work output. Iron deficiency interferes with cognitive performance, resistance to infection, and capacity for work. Other nutrient deficiencies add to the damage to the individual and society. Prevention of famine and hunger is not primarily a technological issue, but a moral, political, and social one.
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PMID:Consequences of hunger for individuals and societies. 309 3