It is natural to feel hunger after workouts, physical exertion, illness or during pregnancy. If you are overindulged and cannot control excessive hunger, the craving to eat may be the result of mental or emotional health issue. Hyperphagia is the medical term, that is used for abnormal increase in hunger.
To treat the patients of hyperphagia, the doctors need to diagnose the underlying causes. If it is the side-effect of medicines, the doctor either provides low calorie diet plan or suggests discontinuing the medicine. In case of mental or emotional concern, patients are given physical or psychological treatment to find difference between mental pressure and actual hunger.
Hyperphagia is an extreme level of hunger that may appear when brain part “ hypothalamus” gets damaged or functions improperly. As a result, the person feels an irresistible desire to keep on eating even if he/she is not hungry. In most of the cases, people swallow foodstuff without proper chewing. Abnormal eating affects male and female. The condition may sustain for a greater time period or fade away and appear with intervals.
The consequence of unbalanced food consumption is obesity and overweight. State of overeating can be the indication of bulimia, grave’s disease, pre-menstrual syndrome, anxiety or hyperthyroidism. Medical history and symptoms should be checked to diagnose the cause.
Most of the symptoms of Hyperphagia are similar to Bulimia; however Bulimia condition is followed by self-loathing, feeling of illness and vomiting.
1. Hyperthyroidism is the basic factor that leads to hyperphagia. Due to hyperthyroidism, the thyroid gland increases the level of hormones that are responsible for metabolism. As a result, the person feels more hunger than usual.
2. Hypoglycemia is another factor that becomes the reason of overeating. In this condition, low blood sugar level send signals to hypothalamus that body requires food to get energy. Starvation, diabetes, pancreatic tumors, kidney disease and alcoholism are some of the reasons of hyperglycemia.
3. Sometimes, hyperphagia condition may be the offshoot of medications, such as Cyproheptadine or Corticosteroids. Such medicines are used to overcome allergy and inflammation. Moreover, antidepressant remedies also boost up the appetite.
• The treatment starts when doctors diagnose the original cause of overeating. In case, the abnormal state of eating is the result of some medications, doctor discontinues the particular medicine. If the use of specific medicine is necessary, low-calorie food plan is suggested to prevent obesity.
• Therapy is an effective way of treatment to control mental or emotional health issues that increase the food craving. Patients are given guideline in order to cope with the problem. Moreover, patients are given psychological counseling to control depression and identify abnormal food compulsion and physical hunger.
• Hyperphagia patients are given guideline for recognizing the low blood sugar level and taking right steps to maintain the sugar level.