Friday, November 20, 2020

Nova Speech

 

Category: Psychologists
Topic: “I Can’t Stop Eating”
Disease or Whim ?



I believe that more than a whim it is a disease and if I am more punctual a syndrome.


It is known as Prader-Willi syndrome and it is a rare genetic disorder that causes a number of physical, mental and behavioral problems.


The main characteristic of this disorder is a constant feeling of hunger since they never feel full and usually have problems controlling their weight.


Specialists can work to control the symptoms of this disorder, they can also reduce the risk of complications and can improve the quality of life.


This syndrome begins around 2 years of age and during each stage of life there are different symptoms.


During lactation you can see a difficulty in sucking due to a decrease in muscle tone, this could affect the growth of the baby and they may also have facial features such as almond-shaped eyes.


During childhood there is a delay in psychomotor development, this means that it is when certain skills or behaviors do not appear or appear later than normal, such as the ability to walk autonomously. A feeling of constant appetite is usually noticed, which will lead to weight gain. Their sexual organs may also be underdeveloped, leading to problems such as sterility.


There can be many complications related to obesity since in addition to being constantly hungry, they have very little muscle mass and need to have fewer calories than average and they are probably not physically active. All this leads problems such as:

  • Type 2 diabetes

  • Sleep apnea

  •  High blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease


There is no cure for Prader-Willi syndrome, but , there are treatments like:

  • Human Growth Hormone Treatment: Helps accelerate growth, improves muscle tone, and reduces body fat.

  • Sex hormone treatment: replenishes low levels of sex hormones, hormone replacement therapy begins when your child reaches the normal age of puberty and can help reduce the risk of weak bones.

  • Weight control: control your child's weight and ensure good nutrition. Increasing activity and physical exercise can help control weight and improve physical function.


By Ana S. Durán P., Step 10