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Symptoms » Excessive hunger
 

Excessive hunger

Excessive hunger: Introduction

Excessive eating is called "polyphagia" (or hyperphagia) and can be the symptom of numerous conditions. For a variety of mental and emotional conditions that cause excessive eating or binging, see overeating. For conditions causing the feeling that you are full when eating (or causing this sensation too early), see fullness. The list here deals primarily with medical conditions that affect the body's metabolism and cause an increase in the appetite and excessive hunger for food. See also appetite changes or appetite loss if these descriptions are more appropriate. Certain medical conditions causing hunger are extremely serious and any hunger symptoms need prompt professional medical advice for correct diagnosis and treatment.

» Review Causes of Excessive hunger: full list

Causes of Excessive hunger:

The following medical conditions are some of the possible causes of Excessive hunger. There are likely to be other possible causes, so ask your doctor about your symptoms.

See full list of 49 causes of Excessive hunger

» Review Causes of Excessive hunger: full list

Causes of Types of Excessive hunger:

Review causes of types of Excessive hunger in more specific categories:

See full list of 2 types for Excessive hunger

Excessive hunger: Symptom Checker

Listed below are some combinations of symptoms associated with Excessive hunger, as listed in our database. Visit the Symptom Checker, to add and remove symptoms and research your condition.

Symptom Checker

Symptom Checker

See full list of 2061 Symptom Checker combinations related to Excessive hunger

Excessive hunger Treatments

Review information on Excessive hunger Treatments.

Excessive hunger: Marketplace Products, Discounts & Offers

Products, offers and promotion categories available related to Excessive hunger:

Causes of General Symptom Types

Research the causes of these more general types of symptom:

Research the causes of related medical symptoms such as:

Causes of Similar Symptoms to Excessive hunger

Research the causes of these symptoms that are similar to, or related to, the symptom Excessive hunger:

Diagnostic Guides for Excessive hunger

Medical Books Excerpts Read excertps from published book sections related to Excessive hunger from the following published medical books for more detailed information about Excessive hunger. Free access (no registration): read all online diagnostic book sections about Excessive hunger

Medical Books Excerpts
  • POLYPHAGIA
  • "Algorithmic Diagnosis of Symptoms and Signs" (2003)
  • Polyphagia
  • "In A Page: Pediatric Signs and Symptoms" (2007)
  • Polyphagia
  • "Signs & Symptoms: A 2-in-1 Reference for Nurses" (2007)
 

Copyright notice for book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Excessive hunger: Undiagnosed Conditions

Conditions that are commonly undiagnosed in related areas may include:

Hospitals & Clinics: Excessive hunger

Research extensive quality ratings and patient safety measures for hospitals, clinics and medical facilities in health specialties related to Excessive hunger:

Research Hospital & Clinic Quality Ratings » »

Excessive hunger: Research Related Doctors & Specialists

Other ways to find a doctor, or use doctor, physician and specialist online research services:

Misdiagnosis and Excessive hunger

Chronic digestive conditions often misdiagnosed: When diagnosing chronic symptoms of the digestive tract, there are a variety of conditions that may be...read more »

Intestinal bacteria disorder may be hidden cause: One of the lesser known causes of diarrhea is an imbalance of bacterial in the gut, sometimes called intestinal imbalance....read more »

Antibiotics often causes diarrhea: The use of antibiotics are very likely to cause some level of diarrhea in patients. The reason is that antibiotics kill off not...read more »

Food poisoning may actually be an infectious disease: Many people who come down with "stomach symptoms" like diarrhea assume that it's "something I ate" (i.e. food poisoning). In fact, it's more...read more »

Mesenteric adenitis misdiagnosed as appendicitis in children: Because appendicitis is one of the more feared conditions for a child with abdominal pain, it can be over-diagnosed (it can, of course, also fail to be...read more »

Celiac disease often fails to be diagnosed cause of chronic digestive symptoms: One of the most common chronic digestive conditions is celiac disease, a...read more »

Chronic digestive diseases hard to diagnose: There is an inherent difficulty in diagnosing the various types of chronic digestive diseases. Some of the better known possibilities are peptic ulcer, colon cancer, ...read more »

Is your child always hungry?: Type 1 Diabetes also known as Juvenile Diabetes appears during childhood or adolescence and is a chronic condition which presents with vague symptoms such as failure to gain weight in spite of a huge appetite. It occurs due to the...read more »

Read more about Misdiagnosis and Excessive hunger

Excessive hunger: Related Rare Diseases

Rare types of medical conditions and diseases in related medical categories:

Diagnostic tests for Excessive hunger:

Various tests are used in the diagnosis of Excessive hunger. Some of these are listed below :

  • Physical examination
    • Measure body mass index (BMI) i.e. weight in kg/(height in meters) squared
    • Examine for signs of bulimia nervosa - e.g. cardiac arrhythmia, dental decay and swollen salivary glands due to vomiting and dehydration due to diuretic abuse.
    • Examine for visual field defects and papilledema that may be present with pituitary or hypothalamic tumors
    • Examine for signs of Graves disease including look for proptosis (forward displacement of the eyeball), thyroid enlargement, fine tremor, rapid pulse
    • Mental state examination - including appearance, behavior, rate and continuity of speech, mood, affect, thought content, evidence of any hallucinations or abnormal beliefs, orientation to time, place and person, attention and concentration, short-term memory, insight and judgement.
  • more tests...»

See full list of 17 diagnostic tests for Excessive hunger

Diagnosis Checklist: Questions your doctor may ask (and why!)

During a consultation, your doctor will use various techniques in their assessment of Excessive hunger. Your doctor may ask several questions when assessing your condition. It is important to remember that your consultation is a two-way process and any extra information you can share with your doctor about your symptoms may help them with their diagnosis. Some of the questions your doctor may ask are listed below:

  • How long have you had excessive hunger? - to establish if acute or chronic.
  • Are you sleep deprived? - e.g. shift worker, sleep debt, insomnia - may cause excessive hunger.
  • What is the age of the person with increased appetite? - e.g. it is normal for pubertal adolescents to have increased appetite.
  • Past medical history? - e.g. diabetes, Grave's disease.
  • Past psychiatric history? - e.g. bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, bulimia nervosa.
  • more questions...»

See Diagnosis Checklist for Excessive hunger (17 listings)

Diagnosis Checklist: Associated symptoms your doctor may ask about (and why!)

Sometimes, other symptoms may be present and may help your doctor analyse your condition. The symptoms your doctor may ask about (in association with Excessive hunger) may include:

  • Excessive thirst, frequent urination and weight loss? - the presence of these symptoms with excessive hunger would suggest either diabetes mellitus or Grave's disease.
  • Weight gain? - may suggest an insulinoma, Cushing's disease or Obesity.
  • Symptoms of anxiety, depression or other emotional symptoms? - may suggest that excessive hunger is due to bulimia nervosa, hysteria, manic phase of bipolar affective disorder.
  • Diarrhea? - suggests disorder may be related to a malabsorption syndrome, intestinal bypass or a gastrointestinal fistula.
  • If diarrhea, what is the nature of the stools? - e.g. fatty, pale colored, extremely smelly stools that float in the toilet and are difficult to flush away is called steatorrhea due to excess fat in the stool and are characteristic of malabsorption of nutrients which may be due to celiac disease, chronic pancreatitis, previous gastrectomy and cystic fibrosis.
  • more symptoms...»

See Diagnosis Checklist for Excessive hunger (17 listings)

Home Diagnostic Testing and Excessive hunger

Home medical tests possibly related to Excessive hunger:

Stories from Users for Excessive hunger

Real-life user stories relating to Excessive hunger:

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Symptom specific forums: The following patient stories in our interactive forums and message boards relate to Excessive hunger or relevant symptoms:

Videos for Excessive hunger

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See full list of 4 related videos

Patient Surveys for Excessive hunger

Medications or substances causing Excessive hunger:

The following drugs, medications, substances or toxins are some of the possible causes of Excessive hunger as a symptom. Always advise your doctor of any medications or treatments you are using, including prescription, over-the-counter, supplements, herbal or alternative treatments.

See full list of 305 medications causing Excessive hunger

Drug interactions causing Excessive hunger:

When combined, certain drugs, medications, substances or toxins may react causing Excessive hunger as a symptom. Always advise your doctor of any medications or treatments you are using, including prescription, over-the-counter, supplements, herbal or alternative treatments.

  • Accupril (Quinapril) and DiaBeta (Glyburide) interaction
  • Accupril (Quinapril) and Glynase (Glyburide) interaction
  • Accupril (Quinapril) and Micronase (Glyburide) interaction
  • Accupril (Quinapril) and Diabinese (Chlorpropamide) interaction
  • Accupril (Quinapril) and Glucotrol (Glipizide) interaction
  • Accupril (Quinapril) and Orinase (Tolbutamide) interaction
  • Accupril (Quinapril) and Tolinase (Tolazamide) interaction
  • more interactions...»

See full list of 232 drug interactions causing Excessive hunger

Definitions of Excessive hunger:

Ingestion of a greater than optimal quantity of food.
- (Source - Diseases Database)

Organs affected by Excessive hunger:

The list of organs typically affected by Excessive hunger may include, but is not limited to:

  • General constitution

Detailed list of causes of Excessive hunger

The list below shows some of the causes of Excessive hunger mentioned in various sources:

See full list of 49 causes of Excessive hunger

How Common are these Causes of Excessive hunger?

This information refers to the general prevalence and incidence of these diseases, not to how likely they are to be the actual cause of Excessive hunger. Of the 49 causes of Excessive hunger that we have listed, we have the following prevalence/incidence information:

  • 5 causes are "very common" diseases
  • 3 causes are "common" diseases
  • 2 causes are "uncommon" diseases
  • 0 causes are "rare" diseases
  • 0 causes are "very rare" diseases
  • 47 causes have no prevalence information.

See the analysis of the prevalence of 49 causes of Excessive hunger

Conditions listing symptoms: Excessive hunger:

The following list of conditions have 'Excessive hunger' or similar listed as a symptom in our database. This computer-generated list may be inaccurate or incomplete. Always seek prompt professional medical advice about the cause of any symptom.

A

  • Amphetamine abuse ... hunger
  • Amphetamine withdrawal ... increased appetite
  • Anterior pituitary hyperhormonotrophic syndrome ... increased appetite

    B

  • Bulimia nervosa ... abnormal urge to eat

    D

  • Diabetes ... excessive hunger
  • Diabetic hypoglycemia ... excessive hunger

    G

  • Glycogen storage disease type 6 ... hunger
  • Glycogen storage disease type 6A, due to phosphorylase kinase deficiency ... hunger
  • Graves Disease ... increased appetite

    H

  • Hypoglycemia ... excessive hunger
  • Hypoglycemic attack ... excessive hunger

    L

  • Lawrence-Seip syndrome ... increased appetite

    M

  • Malnutrition-related diabetes mellitus ... Polyphagia
  • Mania ... increased appetite
  • Marijuana abuse ... hunger
  • Methamphetamine withdrawal ... increased appetite

    P

  • Puberty ... increased appetite

    S

  • Subacute Thyroiditis ... increased appetite

    T

  • Tapeworms ... hunger
  • Troell-Junet syndrome ... increased appetite
  • Type 1 diabetes ... excessive hunger
  • Type 2 diabetes ... excessive hunger

    Conditions listing complications: Excessive hunger:

    The following list of conditions have 'Excessive hunger' or similar listed as a complication in our database. The distinction between a symptom and complication is not always clear, and conditions mentioning this symptom as a complication may also be relevant. This computer-generated list may be inaccurate or incomplete. Always seek prompt professional medical advice about the cause of any symptom.

    S

  • Sleep deprivation ... increased appetite

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  • Causes of Excessive hunger Based on Risk Factors

    This information shows analysis of the list of causes of Excessive hunger based on whether certain risk factors apply to the patient:

  • Diabetes - history of diabetes or family history of diabetes?

    Doctors and specialists: Who should I consult about Excessive hunger?

    Depending on the seriousness of the onset of Excessive hunger, you may want to consult one of the following medical professionals.

    Important:In extreme cases, always seek advice from emergency services :

    What are the alternative names for Excessive hunger:

    Hyperalimentation, Hyperphagia
    - (Source - Diseases Database)

    Classifications of Excessive hunger:

    Medical Conditions associated with Excessive hunger:

    Eating symptoms (1711 causes), Appetite changes (1050 causes), Digestive symptoms (4367 causes), Food symptoms (1681 causes)

    Symptoms related to Excessive hunger:

    Food symptoms (1681 causes), Weight gain (211 causes), Thirst (105 causes), Overeating (17 causes), Undereating (42 causes), Loss of appetite (926 causes), Weight loss (1848 causes), Thinness (465 causes), Cravings (13 causes), Indigestion (29 causes), Hypoglycemia (131 causes), Diabetes mellitus (183 causes), Hyperphagia, Amphetamine abuse, Depression (352 causes), Tapeworm infestation

    Medical articles on signs and symptoms:

    Doctor-patient articles related to symptoms and diagnosis:

    These general medical articles may be of interest:

    See full list of premium articles on symptoms and diagnosis

    Medical News summaries about Excessive hunger

    Our news pages contain the following medical news summaries about Excessive hunger and many other medical conditions:

    News Archives for Excessive hunger

    Medical news articles related to Excessive hunger include:

    Source: HealthDay News

    Evidence Based Medicine Research for Excessive hunger

    Medical research papers related to Excessive hunger include:

    Research More Evidence-Based Medicine at TripDatabase.com

    More Ways To Research Medical Signs and Symptoms:


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