lipodystrophy Path.
(ˌlɪpəʊˈdɪstrəfɪ)
Also as mod.L. ˌlipodyˈstrophia.
[f. lipo- + dystrophy.]
Any of various disorders of fat metabolism; intestinal lipodystrophy, a rare disease (usu. called Whipple's disease) of uncertain ætiology, chiefly of middle-aged men, presenting with joint pains, steatorrhœa, wasting, and lymph node enlargement; progressive lipodystrophy [tr. mod.L. lipodystrophia progressiva (A. Simons 1911, in Zeitschr. f. d. ges. Neurol. u. Psychiatrie (Orig.) V. 36)], a condition in which there is a progressive loss of subcutaneous fat, usu. from the upper half of the body while the lower half retains its fat. So ˌlipodyˈstrophic a.
| 1907 G. H. Whipple in Bull. Johns Hopkins Hosp. XVIII. 391/1 In searching for a name to designate this condition great difficulties were encountered. It would seem that no suitable name can be applied to it until the etiological factor is determined. The term Intestinal Lipodystrophy is suggested. 1925 Q. Jrnl. Med. XVIII. 224 Progressive lipodystrophy is a rare disease characterized by symmetrical and progressive loss of subcutaneous fat over the face, neck, arms, thorax, and abdomen, with a relative or absolute abundance of subcutaneous fat over the lower limbs. Ibid. 231 The active stage having ended, the lipodystrophic process becomes stationary. 1933 Lancet 23 Dec. 1417/1 The blood chemistry in lipodystrophia progressiva is normal. 1946 Ibid. 18 May 730/2 There is no satisfactory classification of the lipodystrophies. Ibid. 731/1, I venture to argue how Ziegler's lipodystrophic case might have a similar disturbance of fat-metabolism without an obvious lipæmia. 1964 Pediatrics XXXIII. 609/1 The syndromes of partial and total lipodystrophy have been reviewed... For inclusion in the syndrome of partial lipodystrophy symmetrical loss of fat from the face with or without truncal loss, but with retention of distal adipose depots was required. In total lipodystrophy fat loss was generalized. 1971 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 28 Dec. 2/1 Lipodystrophy means a disturbance in the metabolism of fatty tissue. |