Feeding starvation victims

panache45 · February 14, 2009, 5:17am

We’ve all heard of Concentration Camp victims who died when well-meaning liberators fed them food or candy bars. The supposed reason was that their digestive systems were no longer used to digesting food (or especially sugar?) and went into shock.

Physiologically, what effects did the food have, and what exactly caused the victims’ deaths?

astro · February 14, 2009, 8:04am

This was interesting

Section III
Starvation

What to Expect.–Most of the survivors after long exposure are suffering from starvation. The effect of starvation is much like that of severe thirst. It may be so severe that unconsciousness or shock will result and no attempt to give food or water by mouth should be made until the shock has been treated. Usually the victims have lost a great deal of weight. They may have fever and breathing may be shallow and fast. Keeping them at rest in a warm bed is of the greatest importance in treating both starvation and extreme thirst. If they have trouble in swallowing, dry mouth, and difficulty in urinating, you must treat them for thirst before giving soft or solid foods.

Feeding a Starved Survivor.–In general, the feeding of starved victims is like feeding a person who is just recovering from a serious illness. Give them small amounts of easily digestible foods at frequent intervals. For stimulants, give hot tea or coffee with sugar added. Victims who have been starved for three weeks or more and those who have been on a poor diet before shipwreck will usually need vitamins. To supply vitamins and fluids, give sweetened fruit juices (fresh orange juice, fresh lemonade, and canned grapefruit juice). The juice from ordinary canned tomatoes may be given and is usually less apt to cause an upset stomach than tomato juice cocktail.

Effects Produced by Lack of Vitamins.–Extreme lack of vitamins often causes sore mouth, swollen and bleeding gums, ulcers of the eyes, skin troubles, and swollen legs and arms. The sores in the mouth may be very troublesome, causing ulcers and difficulty in eating. Concentrated vitamins (of the kind that contain several vitamins including vitamins B and C) should be given. Two or three times the usual daily dose should be given. Remember that the lack of vitamins is more apt to cause trouble in warm and tropical climates. If you do not have vitamin pills, the treatment for starvation which is described below will help until the victims get medical attention.

First, Second, and Third Day of Treatment.–On the first day of treatment, give either fresh milk, condensed milk, or canned evaporated milk. Water must be added to the canned milk so that it has about the thickness of fresh milk. Sugar should be added to the fresh milk and evaporated milk, but it need not be added to sweetened condensed milk. Do not give cream or greasy foods for the first few days. Clear soups and broths are good if they do not contain much fat. Gruel, such as oatmeal, cream of wheat, or other well-cooked cereals with sugar and milk added are good. Usually on the second day toast and bread can be added to the victims’ diet, and by the third day regular full well-balanced meals can ordinarily be given.

Nutritional or Famine Edema (dropsy). – A condition known as nutritional or famine edema (dropsy) may be seen in victims who have been starved for a period of two months or more. It is a result of not getting enough meat and other protein foods. In addition to the starved appearance, there is a swelling of the feet, legs, hands, and arms. To treat such cases give foods having a high protein content, such as eggs or meat. At first, give egg drinks and broth or soups. Try to get such cases under medical attention as soon as possible because they usually need hospital care.

Bowel Movements.–Survivors who have been on small food or water rations or without food or water for several days often become alarmed because they have few or no bowel movements. This is to be expected and no first-aid treatment is necessary. However, if desired, for such cases an enema may be given for the treatment of constipation.

puppygod · February 14, 2009, 12:17pm

Milk on first day? Jesus Haploid Christ, with my severe lactose intolerance I doubt I would survive that. I hope that modern guidelines improved since then.

LSLGuy · February 14, 2009, 2:42pm

Recent thread with some posts on point What happened in WWII concentration camps immediately after being liberated? - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board

epiphany14 · August 31, 2014, 12:39pm

I am severely allergic to dairy products. Drinking milk would KILL - not save me. I hope there are better procedures in place nowadays to accommodate people with similar concerns.

jtur88 · August 31, 2014, 1:41pm

In some Asian and African countries, lalctose intolerance runs as high as 90% of the population, and feeding a starving population milk would itself be tantamount to genocide.

EmilyG · August 31, 2014, 2:37pm

Are zombies lactose intolerant too? Or do they only eat brains?

grude · August 31, 2014, 3:01pm

Heh I’ve had concerned grocery cashiers tell me don’t buy that fresh milk, do you want to be pissing out your butthole?(well they phrased it more delicately).

My wife finally asked me once ok what is with the massive amount of milk you buy, are you drinking it? She thought I was LIEING about being able to drink a gallon of milk in a day and be fine gastrointestinally. She was like oh sure white people have super milk powers and aren’t shooting diarrhea twenty feet.:rolleyes:

iljitsch · August 31, 2014, 3:20pm

Nice derailing of the thread, guys.

You want to watch out for refeeding syndrome. Interestingly:

Mangosteen · August 31, 2014, 4:03pm

Do the people on *Naked and Afraid *have to have special treatment after their 3 week ordeal? From the looks of things, they only eat a few hundred calories during the entire time they are out in the bush.

grude · August 31, 2014, 4:06pm

Where are they? I could scrape up a few THOUSAND calories in a few hours of effort in the wild, love living on the equator.

EDIT:On a beach the other day with little traffic there was a almost human tall pile of coconuts washed up in a drift.

Mangosteen · August 31, 2014, 4:20pm

Have seen the show? The participants are screened and are knowledgeable in survival techniques, but all of them are hurting after a couple of weeks or less. They are completely naked and only have a machete and fire starter between them. They are usually in a tropical area.

http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/naked-and-afraid

grude · August 31, 2014, 4:25pm

That is hard to believe honestly, I don’t know about Namibia but I once lived for a week off nothing but uncultivated mangoes. It is hard to believe they can find nothing to eat.

EDIT:I’d let them keep the firestarter, no need you aren’t going to freeze to death in a tropical area. And Fish can be eaten raw.

Gbro · September 1, 2014, 12:16am

This issue is dealt with during the 2010 The Chilean Mine Rescue.
The Chilean Mine Rescue - YouTube
14 minuets into this video feeding those starving miners is discussed.
I have watched that rescue about 40 times
I was on a mine rescue team for many years and participated in National
competitions.

SecretaryofEvil · September 1, 2014, 1:31am

It’s a lot harder than you’d think. For example, without a fire to create some smoke most of the contestants get eaten alive by bugs. Plus you need a fire to boil your drinking water. Lots of times there’s no fruit to be had because it’s the wrong time of year.

Mangosteen · September 1, 2014, 2:52am

You may not freeze to death, but if you are naked, with a very make shift shelter, wet from the rain, not eating and its in the 50’s (Fahrenheit) and its windy, you are going to be close to hypothermia.

Catching fish with one’s bare hands is possible, but its certainly not a piece of cake.