Talk:Starvation

message: Dictionaries define starvation as death or suffering caused by of lack of nutrition (http://onelook.com/?w=starvation&ls=a). Here, starvation is defined as the lack of nutrition itself. Isn't the first definition better? OpenScience (talk) 13:16, 6 October 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: Agreed. The current definition suggest that any "severe deficiency in caloric energy intake" is starvation and is "the most extreme form of malnutrition". Which implies that fasting and most diets which involve healthy nutrients intake with caloric restriction, are form of malnutrition i.e. cause health problems. --87.68.79.160 (talk) 21:41, 9 October 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: So what? I don't understand your point. If I restrict my caloric intake for a sufficient length of time, I'm not starving because it's voluntary??  I disagree and I think you should rethink that. More globally, starvation could be (but as far as I know, is not) defined as a sustained negative calorie balance between nutrition and calories expended. If I could adjust an animal's calories, day-after-day, so that the calories I allowed it were 1 calorie less than what it used, it would eventually die. That is the (hypothetical) reality; that would be starvation. Usually starvation is more acute and immediate, but my point is it doesn't have to be. On the other hand, I doubt there is any way to determine whether starvation was "the" primary cause of death. Why? Because it's like falling off a cliff: it's not the fall that kills you; it's the sudden stop. Meaning it's not the starvation itself that kills, it's the loss of biochemical and physiological function. Starvation results in immune system dysfunction, organ damage, and inability to maintain core body temperature - all of which can be, and eventually will be, fatal. Generally, the best that can be done is the determination that together with cause X (most often infection), malnutrition symptoms were observed. That is to say, the starvation was a co-factor (with significant but undetermined effect).174.130.71.156 (talk) 08:43, 12 January 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Definition 

message: How long does it take to actually die from starvation? I have looked around and can't find a timeline. I just find 'starvation can be used to kill people', which is obvious. I would imagine the time would be about 3 weeks to a month. Hopefully not more. I don't think I can imagine staving for that long.
I suppose it does depend on how much mass you have.  Piepants 10:37, 14 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, a highly obese person may survive several months with only water, since they have large stores of fat in their adipose tissue, which can readily be broken down into fatty acids and metabolized. It would also depend on other factors, for example proteins are also needed, which required amino acids. Some can be synthesized from basic monomers, but others are essential in the diet so would could only be created by breaking down existing muscle. More information is needed on this in the article, eventhough there can be no precise answer. Richard001 07:01, 14 May 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, I think this article should have some data on this elementary question.  I came to this article to find out how long an average person would take to starve to death, for a paper I'm writing, and found no information at all.  Readers have complained about it on this Talk page before. --ChetvornoTALK 23:40, 5 October 2014 (UTC)

text: It depends basically entirely on fat reserves and maintenance of micronutrients and electrolytes. Angus Barbieri's fast is the record; he lost 276 pounds fasting for 382 days, with non-caloric supplements and close medical supervision. The fattest man alive, Jon Brower Minnoch, weighed 1400 lbs, so extrapolating he could potentially have fasted for over 1,700 days (over 4.5 years) if he was careful. Most people would not try this experiment. (Edit: Minnoch's article estimates 900 lb of his weight was retained fluid from edema, so his actual potential fast is probably no more than 2 years or so.) Comment997345401 (talk) 15:49, 22 January 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  How long to starve? 

message: ""Collecting recipes" is the most significant behavioral alteration due to starvation (for westerners). That is why it is the topic sentence of this paragraph. We sincerely hope you will finish reading this paragraph in spite of the poor choice of relevant or accurate information included."
Could someone please rewrite this? That's not encyclopedic style by any stretch... 134.82.97.14 22:06, 12 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Behavior Section 

message: Good day. I cleaned up the paragraph, but I wanted someone's opinion on my paragraph before I entered it in.
I appreciate the time to look over my paragraph. 
My paragraph:
The glycogen storage is used up and the level of insulin in the circulation is low and the level of glucagon is very high. The main means of energy production is lipolysis. The  TCA cycle helps the gluconeogenesis convert [[glycerol and fatty acids the acetyl CoA produces the energy used. Two systems of energy enter the gluconeogenesis, proteolysis provides alanine and  Lactate produced from pyruvate. Too much Acetyl CoA produces  ketone bodies, which can be detected in an urine exam. The brain starts to use  ketone bodies as a source of energy.
I took out during a starvation or prolonged fast because I thought it was already self explanatory with Biochemistry of starvation as a title. I added the two lactate and proteolysis sentences together because it sounded better to both systems that enter the gluconeogenesis. I also kind rewrote the citric acid sentence as well because it was a hard read. It was understandable, but a hard read.Rem Nightfall (talk) 16:38, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Biochemistry of Starvation 

message: The sections 'Recovery' and 'Treatment' need to be cleaned up, and merged.
Possibly more information and medical professional link to sources?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.5.162.99 (talk) 22:53, 7 August 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Treatment and Recovery sections 

message: I didn't see anything about child abuse and neglect. This definitely happens. If nothing else, a link to neglect, abuse or child abuse in the 'see also' section should be there.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.253.134.49 (talk) 00:19, 26 August 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Abuse 

message: There seems to be too much overlapping information. It is suggested that we split the hunger article into hunger(motivation) and hunger(malnutrition). We could then merge the hunger(malnutrition) article with this starvation article. Nicehumor (talk) 19:34, 26 August 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Merge 

message: From the Stats section "In 2007, 923 million people were reported as being undernourished, an increase of 80 million since 1990-92.[5] It has also been recorded that the world already produces enough food to support the world's population — 6 billion people — and could support double — 12 billion people." 
12 billion is surely a slight exaggeration. I believe that 12 billion is a figure for the supposed carrying capacity of the earth, but this is short term carrying capacity and means at 100% land use. It means all natural areas given over to farming- no forests, no mountains, no bogs, no wilderness, how long would the ecosystem last then?  Strictly 'carrying capacity' could be increased even further to over 30 billion simply by covering over the oceans. :) 
Alternately carrying capacity could be driven even further using ultra industrial scale artificial-biomes, deep in the realms of sci fi the Earth could support 100 billion or even 1 trillion people. 
Realistically if long term survival including a natural biosystem is required the number is somewhere probably less than 5 billion, climate change would reduce this by about 1/3 to 1/2. I suggest a look at the Wikipedia page Carrying Capacity which carefully tries to avoid giving figures at all. BTW 12 billion is a figure I think came from a science extrapolation book written by Isaac Asimov, called 'Extraterrestrial Civilizations' . - Lucien86 (talk) 02:39, 12 April 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Statistics on 'Carrying Capacity' 

message: "According to the World Health Organization, hunger is the single gravest threat to the world's public health"
"The World Health Organization cites malnutrition as the greatest single threat to the world's public health"
Forgive me if this is not a contradiction, malnutrition is lack of nutrients as well as excess of nutrients, starvation is not. CJ Drop me a line! • Contribs 21:14, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Contradiction with [[Malnutrition]] 

message: The article states "From the beginning of civilization to the Middle Ages, people were immured, or walled in, and would die for want of food." Really? They'd die of dehydration long before starvation became an option. and if the walling in was airtight, you could factor in asphyxiation. But 99 times out of 100, dehydration would kill you first. Peter Greenwell (talk) 02:55, 18 February 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Being walled in 

message: How about its function to lose weight? 129.180.1.214 (talk) 11:44, 26 October 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: That's fasting, not starvation. Comment997242902 (talk) 02:39, 22 January 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Weight loss strategy 

message: Hello! This is a note to let the editors of this article know that :File:Starved Vietnamese man, 1966.JPEG will be appearing as picture of the day on May 29, 2016. You can view and edit the POTD blurb at Template:POTD/2016-05-29. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page. — Chris Woodrich (talk) 00:34, 12 May 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[:File:Starved Vietnamese man, 1966.JPEG]] to appear as POTD soon 

message: The bloated stomach, as seen in the adjacent picture, represents a form of malnutrition called kwashiorkor which is caused by insufficient protein despite a sufficient caloric intake.[5] Better medicine will prevent the pictured symptoms in which included is weight loss and muscle wasting from further taking form.[5]</br>
This entire passage seems unencyclopedic to me, especially the second sentence - it makes no sense to mention what better medicine will amount to as regards to the symptoms of this particular condition, at least, not in the intro. Can it be moved somewhere else in the article? Currently, it strikes me as a relic from an older era of Wikipedia, or as a passage from some propaganda brochure to end world hunger.--Adûnâi (talk) 21:10, 23 April 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Unencyclopedic style concerning kwashiorkor in the intro 

message: Thermal energy? Is there also Joulic energy? Is kinetic or potential energy also caloric energy? Darsie42 (talk) 15:07, 23 May 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  What is caloric energy? 

message: The following text in the "Biochemistry" section is self-contradictory and unclear:
:Starvation ensues when the fat reserves are completely exhausted and protein is the only fuel source available to the body. Thus, after periods of starvation, the loss of body protein affects the function of important organs, and death results, even if there are still fat reserves left unused.
How does death from starvation ensue "even if there are still fat reserves left unused" when starvation only ensues "when the fat reserves are completely exhausted"? One or the other statement needs to be modified and reconciled. If this intends to mean death can ensue (perhaps during a subsequent malnourishment event) after starvation is interrupted and fat reserves are re-established, then this needs to be clarified because that's not the clear meaning conveyed. Comment997242902 (talk) 02:34, 22 January 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Contradiction on fat reserves 

message: If one were to use Starvation as a suicide method (Starvation in the sense of only consuming water), how long would they last before cessation of body function? Also, what are the stages of Starvation leading up to death, and how does Starvation affect the body? 
Context: I am writing a paper on suicide methods throughout history and the way they kill. They include starvation, dehydration, self-immolation, and a few others. 2600:6C44:237F:E5C1:855:9758:ECAD:F232 (talk) 05:06, 13 January 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Suicide by Starvation (Content Warning: Mention of Suicide)