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Polyphagia is not a disorder by itself; rather, it is a symptom indicating an underlying medical condition. It is frequently a result of abnormal blood glucose levels (both hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia ), and, along with polydipsia and polyuria , it is one of the "3 Ps" commonly associated with uncontrolled diabetes mellitus .
Symptoms include: shortness of breath, breath that smells fruity (such as pear drops), nausea and vomiting, and very dry mouth. Chronic hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) injures the heart in patients without a history of heart disease or diabetes and is strongly associated with heart attacks and death in subjects with no coronary heart disease ...
Polyphagia and weight loss are two concurrent symptoms that have multiple causes, including: diabetes mellitus, malnutrition, malabsorption, and maldigestion. If these symptoms occur serum thyroxine levels should be tested to confirm or exclude a diagnosis of hyperthyroidism. [2]
Initial treatment generally consists of intravenous fluids to manage dehydration, intravenous insulin in those with significant ketones, low molecular weight heparin to decrease the risk of blood clotting, and antibiotics among those in whom there are concerns of infection. [3] The goal is a slow decline in blood sugar levels. [3]
The most common symptoms in cats are polyuria, polydipsia, and polyphagia due to diabetes mellitus; however polyphagia can be the result of growth hormone excess itself. Other symptoms in both cats and dogs include ataxia , asthenia , hepatomegaly , visceromegaly , enlargement of head and distal extremities, heart murmur , degenerative atrophy ...
The cause of this is not known. When a dog has lowered serum levels of thyroid hormones and endocrine alopecia it is harder to differentiate between hypothyroidism and Cushing's. Signs of polydipsia, polyuria, and polyphagia help to differentiate as these symptoms do not occur in hypothyroidism.
Primary polydipsia describes excessive thirst and water intake caused in the absence of physiological stimuli to drink. This includes both psychogenic primary polydipsia and non-psychogenic primary polydipsia, such as in patients with autoimmune chronic hepatitis with severely elevated globulin levels.
The treatment plan may then include further investigations to clarify the diagnosis. The method by which doctors gather information about a patient's past and present medical condition in order to make informed clinical decisions is called the history and physical (a.k.a. the H&P). The history requires that a clinician be skilled in asking ...