Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: protein

  • Rabbit starvation (protein poisoning)

    Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden “Jack Sprat could eat no fat,his wife could eat no lean…“— Sixteenth-century nursery rhyme Rabbit starvation (fat starvation, mal de caribou, protein poisoning) is an acute type of malnutrition that develops from a diet deficient in fat and where nearly all calories come from lean meat. Rabbit meat is very lean, as…

  • 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,…