A 4 year old boy that is sick, he is so skiny with a very big stomach. What kind of illness is that?

Question

I learnt that the child needs blood transfusion from time to time to stay alive. What kind of illness is that. skinny body, big stomach & blood transfusion from time to time. The mother of the child does not speak english so she doenst understand what doctors say and I am not in the same state with them.

Answer 1

Possible causes of skinny boy with bloated stomach might be due to primarily to malnutrition, and parasites. Ascites or abdominal swelling is also common among sickle-cell anemia patients. or pts with liver diseases.

Normal peritoneum

Portal hypertension (serum-ascites albumin gradient [SAAG] >1.1 g/dL)

Hepatic congestion, congestive heart failure, constrictive pericarditis, tricuspid insufficiency, Budd-Chiari syndrome

Liver disease, cirrhosis, alcoholic hepatitis, fulminant hepatic failure, massive hepatic metastases

Hypoalbuminemia (SAAG <1.1 g/dL)

Nephrotic syndrome

Protein-losing enteropathy

Severe malnutrition with anasarca

Miscellaneous conditions (SAAG <1.1 g/dL)

Chylous ascites

Pancreatic ascites

Bile ascites

Nephrogenic ascites

Urine ascites

Ovarian disease

Diseased peritoneum (SAAG <1.1 g/dL)

Infections

Bacterial peritonitis

Tuberculous peritonitis

Fungal peritonitis

HIV-associated peritonitis

Malignant conditions

Peritoneal carcinomatosis

Primary mesothelioma

Pseudomyxoma peritoneum

Hepatocellular carcinoma

Other rare conditions

Familial Mediterranean fever

Vasculitis

Granulomatous peritonitis

Eosinophilic peritonitis

Answer 2

There are MANY things this child could have. All medical facilities are required to provide some form of translator for their patients, it is in a legal document called the "Patients Bill of Rights". There are tollfree numbers that a doctors office can call to get a hold of a translator over the phone. Suggest to your friend that she get someone to help her with the translations so that she can understand what is going on. Not knowing must be so scary for her.

Answer 3

Could possibly be lymphoma, probably non-Hodgkins type. It's can be treated with infusions of antibodies, which are carried in serum. Could also be Gauchers Disease, type 1, and being treated with packed red cells to offest anemia. It's pretty hard to say with any certainty based on what you describe. Needless to say though, it sounds as if it is serious and somebody needs to translate for that poor mother and child. If you have this ability, I'm sure the doctors would be more than willing and eager to use you to communicate- via telephone, if needed. Then you would have all the answers to your questions.

Answer 4

I have done some voluntary work and to me what you are describing is malnutrition. The child needs to go to a hospital fast.

Answer 5

could be a sign of malnutrition. Typically when the body doesn't get any nutrients into it's system; the body starts to digest itself, that's what causes the bloated stomach

Answer 6

the physical description would indicate severe malnutrition, and if he requires blood transfusions, it is likely he has some sort of anemia, if the child is of color he may suffer from sickle cell anemia.

Answer 7

yeh i think that the child has been suffering from malnutrition or inadequate nutrients as thats why the stomach swells up

Answer 8

when u see really skinny but bloated stomach usually means malnutrition or dehydration

Answer 9

malnutriton.....it causes the distended stomach...the person probably lives in a third world country

Answer 10

Malnutrition.. kwashiorkor (not enough protein) or marasmus (not enough calories ) or both.