Related articles: Increased appetite
Definition
The increase in appetite is a symptom that is manifested by the feeling of hunger and the consequent ingestion of food, often in greater quantities than the norm.
The causes can be multiple. In some cases, this is a physiological reaction induced by particularly demanding activities. Other times, instead, the increase in appetite depends on diseases of the digestive tract (gastric and duodenal ulcer), some nerve lesions (tumors of the brain stem) or metabolic disorders (diabetes mellitus) and the endocrine system (hyperthyroidism and acromegaly).
Other possible causes include premenstrual syndrome, food intolerances, hypoglycemia and obesity.
The increase in appetite may also present symptoms of psychological origin. These include anxiety states, depression and eating disorders, such as bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder.
The increase in appetite can also derive from the use of some drugs, such as corticosteroids, oral contraceptives and tricyclic antidepressants.Possible Causes * of Increased Appetite
- Acromegaly
- Anxiety
- Bulimia
- Major depression
- Postpartum depression
- Diabetes
- Dysthymia
- Bipolar disorder
- Cyclothymic disorder
- Uncontrolled feeding disorder
- Pregnancy
- Food intolerance
- Hyperthyroidism
- Graves' disease - Basedow
- Obesity
- Prader-Willi syndrome
- Premenstrual syndrome
- Pancreatic cancer
- Pituitary tumors
- Duodenal ulcer
- Gastric ulcer
- Peptic ulcer
