Tag: Kwashiorkor
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Kwashiorkor
Charles Halsted Davis, California, United States An eleven-month-old Egyptian infant sat wailing on a cot, his abdomen pouched out and covered by spider-like purplish veins. His tiny arms and legs were like sticks, except for his swollen ankles. He was brought in by his mother who knew that his food and care would be free,…
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Cicely Williams and kwashiorkor
Sue ReevesRoehampton, London, UK Cicely Delphine Williams (1893–1992) has been described as achieving the ‘physician’s dream’1 by diagnosing, identifying the cause, and finding a prevention and a cure for a disease.2 The disease she identified was kwashiorkor, a severe form of protein-energy malnutrition, fatal if not treated promptly. Williams was the first woman to recognize…