A new bizarre condition has made a boy immune to hunger and thirst

A new bizarre condition has made a boy immune to hunger and thirst Doctors were stumped and flabbergasted to find the boy’s condition where he was completely disinterested in eating or drinking anything. They are now considering keeping 12 year old Landon Jones on feeding tubes and appetite stimulators to help him eat.

Little Jones lives in Cedar Falls, Iowa. When he woke up early morning on October 14, 2013, he experienced chest congestion and dizziness. When his chest was x-rayed later, it showed that the boy was suffering from a bacterial infection in the left lung. The infection later healed automatically, however, since that day, Jones has lacked the desire to eat or drink. He can still smell and taste the same, but he does not feel hungry or thirsty anymore. His weight has hence, dropped from 104 pounds to 68.4 pounds. Jones’ parents have to constantly remind him to eat and drink. It is easier to make him eat on time, but knowing exactly when the boy is dehydrated gives their parents a tough time. The disease is very unusual and Ashesh Mehta, a neurologist at the North Shore Hospital says that he has never heard of such a case before.

Hunger and thirst according to Doctor Nehra, are a section of the larger circuit controlled in different parts of the brain. An issue anywhere in the circuit could have caused this problem.

According to another Neurologist Dr. Marc Patterson at Minnesota, Jones might have a problem at the hypothalamus – a pea sized area in the base of the human brain, which controls a number of essential functions of the body including hunger, thirst, sleep and many others. It is possible that the bacteria, which had infected his lungs, could have crossed the permeable membrane (also called the blood-brain barrier) all the way to his brain.

An endocrinologist Caroline Messer also seconds this idea and believes that this infection of the hypothalamus could be the only plausible reason behind the loss of hunger and thirst. Even though his parents do remind him to eat and drink every time, he cannot ingest so many calories by himself and the doctors might have to install a feeding tube very soon. However, they’ll need to be careful because these tubes are very much prone to infection and carry too many complications. Landon might even benefit from a drug named megestrol acetate, which stimulates appetite. It is also given to cancer and AIDS patients. This disease may even upset the electrolytic balance of Jones’ body. This can eventually lead to many other neurological and psychological problems.

Related Article: http://www.researchomatic.com/New-Research/Hunger-from-Memory-170411.html