Hyperphagia in intestinal disease

Abstract

Six patients with hyperphagia (ingestion of 5-11 000 Kcals/day) associated with severe malabsorption and steatorrhoea are described. The cause of the malabsorption was coeliac disease in three patients, Crohn's disease with ileal resection in two, and carcinoma of the pancreas in one patient. There was no evidence of neurological or endocrine disease (apart from mild diabetes mellitus in the patient with carcinoma of the pancreas) but three patients suffered from severe depression. This association may be commoner than previously realized and be revealed in patients with steatorrhoea of unexplained severity by careful dietary assessment. Its detection has therapeutic implications since restriction of caloric and fat intake decreased steatorrhoea without weight loss in several of the patients described.