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The term inanition [2] refers to the symptoms and effects of starvation. Starvation by outside forces is a crime according to international criminal law and may also be used as a means of torture or execution. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), hunger is the single gravest threat to the world's public health.
Starvation response in animals (including humans) is a set of adaptive biochemical and physiological changes, triggered by lack of food or extreme weight loss, in which the body seeks to conserve energy by reducing metabolic rate and/or non-resting energy expenditure to prolong survival and preserve body fat and lean mass.
Chronically isolated individuals are also more likely to develop inflammation-related diseases thus providing a plausible biological connection between social variables (e.g. isolation, rejection, social stress, and socioeconomic status) and disease risk and mortality, namely heightened inflammation mediated by differential gene expression.
The idea behind the model was to express mental distress as a triggered response of a disease that a person is genetically vulnerable when stressful life events occur. In that sense, it is also known as vulnerability-stress model. [ 2 ]
The frequency of gene reassortment among human pathogens is less clear than it is the among plant or animal species but of concern as animal diseases adapt to human hosts and as man new diseases comes into contact. [citation needed] When one disease diminishes or eradicates another it is a counter-syndemic disease interaction. [citation needed]
The set point theories of hunger and eating are inconsistent with basic evolutionary pressures related to hunger and eating as they are currently understood. [26] Major predictions of the set point theories of hunger and eating have not been confirmed. [27] They fail to recognize other psychological and social influences on hunger and eating. [25]
Diseases of poverty, also known as poverty-related diseases, are diseases that are more prevalent in low-income populations. [1] They include infectious diseases, as well as diseases related to malnutrition and poor health behaviour. Poverty is one of the major social determinants of health.
The effect stress has on expecting women may not only affect them, but their child as well. Studies have shown a link between child mental health and behavioral problems to maternal stress during pregnancy. Stress in the body leads to an increase in the cortisol levels. Maternal stress, therefore, exposes the foetus to high cortisol levels.